Saying hello

Hello thisisnotmyname.

It looks as though you are lucky to have found out about your PC early.

Stress and anxiety are normal reactions and talking is always good, either 1 to 1 or on a forum like this.

Like you, I was diagnosed with PC early thanks to COVID. (You can read my profile by clicking on my cat). 

If you want to post your stats or have any questions please let us know. There are some wonderful people here that can offer support and or advice. 

Take care

Peter 

Thank you Peter,

I hadn't picked up about putting stats in my profile so I've just done that. You're right I have been told many times I'm lucky and intellectually I understand that is very true, but not all of my brain has yet accepted that.

Sean.

Hello Sean.

I think I was in denial when first told I had PC. It took about 6 months before I actually accepted it. It has become easier to deal with since even though it's not the news anyone wants.

Your stats look very similar to what mine were at diagnosis. 

Being diagnosed early does have its advantages though, if PSA rises or any change on MRI for example, then you should be offered treatment sooner. 

I had my biopsies done under general anaesthetic after they tried to do them with local anaesthetic... so painful.  Something to do with the meds I have to take reduce the effects of anaesthetic.

2 months after my second biopsy I had had a full body bone scan, a PET CT scan, and was put on hormone therapy (daily tablets and 3 monthly injections) followed by radiotherapy.

Wishing you well on your journey

Peter

Hello Thisisnot my name, sorry to hear of your test results - not what you wanted to hear! That said, this is a very early diagnosis and you will now be carefully monitored. This means that if your cancer progresses you will receive treatment in good time. My husband was monitored for some 10 years before treatment was necessary . His treatment has been with ‘the intention to cure’ - radiotherapy and hormone therapy. He will be 76 this year. We are, obviously, hoping for cure but, if not, we are hoping that his treatment this far and the armoury of drugs available will , at the least, have bought him time and, at best he will live a lot more years and, as we all must face, die of something else!

receiving any cancer diagnosis is a shock and changes our whole way of ‘being’. We move from ‘somebody without cancer’ to ‘somebody with cancer’. It’s a seismic shift and brings us face to face with our own mortality. It’s frightening! I have been through all sorts of emotions since my husbands diagnosis last autumn ( he had not hitherto been offered scans etc - only regular PSA tests due to high family incidence of breast and prostate cancer) . I wept buckets, alternated between panic, anxiety, depression….the lot.  I think I’ve been through something of a ‘grieving process’. I half wondered whether I needed some magic pills to overcome this sense of my whole world collapsing around me at one point. The people on this forum literally kept me going!  I’m sure everyone here will support you in the same way!  ( I managed without the magic pills btw)

I don’t know anything about the ‘spitting trial’ but it suggests this might have been some sort of genetic testing? Whatever, can I advise you to let any of your close family members know your diagnosis so they can be checked out and, like you, receive an early diagnosis. Men who have family members with prostate cancer are at higher risk of getting it too. The sooner it is diagnosed, the better the outcome!

good luck and hope this helps!

Hi 

Your stats look good so active surveillance looks a good option at the moment,

I was on AS for 4 years before having RT.

Just keep your eye on tumour size it's normally on the MRI report in mm.

Just for info mine went from 3mm to 13mm in the 4 years.

Good luck and come back with any further questions.

Steve 

Thanks Steve, it is useful to have that example. I am even luckier in that my tumour is so low volume it's not visible on the MRI.

Sean.

Thank you worried wife,

Engaging with this forum is really helping me, as my nurse suggested at the time of diagnosis, I should have done it then - but I think I opted for denial.

The Barcode study looked at a large number of DNA SNPs (each a genomic variant at a single base position in the DNA), to investigate the role of genetic profiling for targeting population prostate cancer screening. My understanding is that because there are, literally, hundreds of SNPs being looked at scattered around the genome, it may not have a huge bearing on inherited risk. That said, my dad died with (but not of) prostate cancer, at 81.

I have shared all of this with my brothers, who are both younger, so they're aware of keeping an eye out for possible symptoms and talking to their GPs about PSA tests; and of course with my wife and sons.

Best wishes to you and for a good outcome for your husband.

Sean.

Hello Sean, my husband is now going through genetic screening to test for the faulty genes that are associated with both prostate and breast cancer. We are awaiting the blood results. If he has the faulty gene then we will tell our 4 children so they can then decide whether or not to be tested. I’m pleased to hear you have advised your family members. The more people get checked regularly, hopefully the more of these cancers will be caught at an early stage and cured.  

im glad you have found this forum useful. For me, it was a life raft when almost drowning in very stormy waters!

Hi this is not... 

Talking Therapy does help.  After my Radiation treatment ended I sought counselling through a charity called "Coping with Cancer".  These are based in Newcastle.  I had about 15 sessions which lasted sometimes over an hour ( well they all did), all over the phone with the counsellor (covid restrictions were still rife).

All the talking and listening made me into a better, stronger person.

I used to think there was a stigma with counselling, but I was totally wrong.

Even talking about any problems in this forum helps a lot.

I know it is a lot to get your head around.

Keep us all informed with your progress.