Bipolar 8 chemo

Hello Jan99E  A warm welcome to the Prostate Cancer Community.

I am sure we have plenty of Community members who will be along to give you the much needed help and advice. To ensure you get the right advice can you please update your partners profile with details of his journey so far, his diagnosis and any other medication he takes. To do this go to the home page, click on the chair in the top right, then "profile" and then "edit". (You can read my profile by clicking on the icon of the beach - but we don't need that much detail).

That's great - once you've done that we won't be asking you the same questions and we can give you a proper reply.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello Jan99E.

A warm welcome. Can I suggest that as a starting point you put your question to one of the Macmillan nurses who might be able to give you more tailored advice. We can help with the nuts and bolts of the different treatments but there may be a limited number of people who have actual personal experience of the interaction between the drugs used to help bipolar people and the prostate cancer treatments, or the effects those treatments may have on them. Also, I don't know whether your partner has a mental health nurse (I ask this only because someone I know with bipolar is supported by one) and they might be able to point you in the direction of more relevant information. Can I also suggest that you ask if anyone on the Prostate Cancer UK PCUK forum has any personal experience as this might broaden your search area.

You are obviously very concerned about your partner but it is important that you look after yourself as well during this challenging time.

And here's the link to pose your question to Ask A Macmillan nurse: Just click on the link provided then the +new in the black box.

Ask a Nurse 

It may take a day or two for the reply to come through.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thank you - indeed it is challenging especially for someone you love & get pushed away. 

Jan99E, I know how challenging it is for the partner of someone who has mental health issues as my husband suffers from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Keeping our partners on a level keel every day is bad enough without having the extra problems that things like prostate cancer being added in to the mix can create. Pushing away is possibly your partners way of trying to cope, he is hurting, the same as you are. I found the first six months after initial diagnosis over 3 years ago very difficult but things did settle down, and we now have a good quality of life. I found it helped to make sure that I spent time doing the things that I enjoy doing. Prostate cancer is very much a couples journey so it is important that you have all the support you need as well. There is an organisation called Maggie's which is there for all the families of people who have been diagnosed with cancer. They are often associated with hospitals and have a wealth of experience and support for both of you - maybe you have one near you.

I have put a link in for you.

https://www.maggies.org/about-us/how-maggies-works/our-approach/#:~:text=How%20does%20Maggie's%20help%3F,way%20they%20live%20with%20cancer