Overwhelmed

Hello Woodie987 .

I am so sorry to hear of your recent loss and, having lost a husband many years ago, I can imagine how raw it still feels. I am now travelling the prostate cancer journey with my current husband and understand the fears and anxiety you are experiencing. The decision you are expecting to have to make is one of the most common on the forum and I am sure many will come along to tell you their experiences but what most people recommend is to make a list of the pros and cons of each treatment and then decide your own personal priorities. Both options have very similar outcomes. The side effects from surgery can depend on the extent of it so questions for the surgeon would be whether it is nerve sparing. With radiotherapy there are different types so this is a question for the oncologist, but not all techniques are available in every area e.g. Brachytherapy. At the moment keep all your options open and maybe find a local prostate cancer support group which might help you with your decision making.

My husband took the HT and EBRT route as he was not eligible for surgery. Despite having radical therapy to the whole pelvic area 4 years ago he has had few side effects from it and it was successful. The main side effects are from the HT, with fatigue being the main one, but he is on HT for life. 

We have two people on the forum who have travelled different paths. WifeWinnie - her husband has recently had robotic prostatectomy. Alpine Wanderer is our inspiration for Brachytherapy. If you click on their name then it will give you an idea of their journeys.

Please come back with any questions and I hope this friendly, but sometimes wacky group can help you with your decision making.

Hello Woodie987 and a warm welcome to the forum, though so sorry you have to be hear and for the loss of your wife my sincerest condolences, I went down the hormone therapy HT, and radiotherapy RT route as unable to have surgery, HT you may start the day of your consultation, usually bicalutamide which is an antiandrogen a 1 month course 1 tablet daily and sometime while still taking them or at the end you will start HT injections, usually a 1 month injection first followed by 3 monthly injections, with radiotherapy RT up to 6 months later, there are variations in RT i had 20 fractions "rounds" Monday to Friday over 4 weeks, of aggressive EBRT to the whole pelvic area as my prostate cancer was advanced, We can't tell you which treatment you should choose, that is for you, best wishes.

Eddie

Hi Woodie987

Good afternoon and welcome to our prostate cancer family I am very sorry to have meet you under these circumstances though.

I am glad to see that your cancer is early stage and that it hasn't spread to your bones/spine.

I'm also very sorry to hear that you are still grieving for your wife who passed away recently due to cancer.

My cancer journey started last June 2023  but unfortunately mine is terminal (Treatable)

The treatment that I was offered is Hormone Therapy and this has reduced my PSA from 1000+ to 0.9 currently.

My next course of treatment will be chemo once the PSA starts to rise "hopefully not soon"

There's always new treatments coming out daily/weekly so fingers crossed I will be able to have some of these!!!

We have got many members who have been through what you are currently experiencing so I do hope that they will be in touch with you soon.

But in the meantime if there is anything that I can help/support you further with please please let me know???

Prostate Worrier.

Hi,

Thank you to everyone for their kind words, I'm feel most on this forum have been troubled/involved in this or a very similar the dilemma either for themselves or a loved one which can only make it more difficult. I personally tend to keep most things to myself but, that's not working. This is the 1st forum I have ever joined and the support/advice you all provide is outstanding considering everything. I'm still trying to get my head around it all, trying to run through multiple scenarios before this weeks appointment. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing to do but, just want to get as much as I can out of the consultation rather than only taking notes, not understanding the options, side effects etc & going home with my head all over the place. Hopefully everything will become clearer following the consultation when I will (should) have a clearer understanding of what treatment is available to me in my area (north east). Will do a bit more research before then though. 

Hello again.

I don't know whether you have come across PCUK but they have many very good links to information but I have put this up as a starter.

https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information-and-support/treatments/choosing-a-treatment

For many of us this is the first time we have joined a forum, mainly because we are overwhelmed by the initial diagnosis and need to know that we are not alone. It is a way of getting information from others who have been there, done that and worn the T-shirt but what we have also found is that we become part of a family who understand what you are going through and the emotions involved. We celebrate success and pull each other up when we are down or have the wobbles. Macmillan have a lot of resources available so don't be afraid to ask, but this is our forum where people want to give back the help they received to try and make the journey easier for others.

Hi Woodie, we have all been where you are and it is an awful time just before 1st meeting with consultant, getting all your results and treatment starting, I just wanted to suggest if you are near Leeds or Newcastle and can get there, they have Maggie's centres, www.maggies,org a cancer charity you can just pop in Mon-Fri 9am-5pm no appointment needed and talk to professionals or guys like us, many guys on the forum go there,

Eddie

Hello Woodie987 

A warm welcome to our online Prostate Community from me too - I am so sorry to find you here and it must be hard having lost your wife to cancer.

Your question is the $64000 one. The honest answer is it's personal opinion. All I can advise you to do is research the treatments from trusted sources, here, Prostate Cancer UK but NOT Dr Google.

Make a list of the pros and cons as they affect you and ask questions on here - most of us have "been there - got the  T Shirt" and will be happy to answer questions. Most Community members have a profile and if you click on their name or avatar you can read their individual journey. (mine is HT/RT with a few extra issues!!).

No question is too trivial - I wish you the best of luck.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Woodie987

may I add my condolences to you too for your lost and I’m sorry that you now find yourself in this position now.

i have Gleason 7 (3+4) prostate cancer and I am up for my operation on the 5th of next month.

As you say, it’s a personal choice but I’ll give you my reasons for choosing the op over the hormone therapy.

1/ for me I’ve been told that having the op will be a 99% chance of getting rid of the cancer, and my recovery period will likely be 6 to 8 weeks especially if I keep on top of the pelvic floor exercises

2/ for me I was looking at 18 months of hormone therapy and radio therapy and all the side effects that may come into play across that period, and I don’t want cancer inside of me for that long if I can help it

3/ the big one for me though is that if I’d chosen the hormone / radiotherapy route and it didn’t work by tge end of the 18 months then a wouldn’t be able to choose the operation route anymore as there would be too much damage done to that area. So the question that I found myself asking myself was, why would I cut out a possible route to a cure?

Anyway, that’s me, good luck, you are due some and I hope it all goes well for you

Best regards 

John

Hi Eddiel, Yeah, waiting game is terrible, my wife & I previously found this a big struggle, yet here I am again. I have learnt is that it's all part of the process & PC appears less likeley to advance during these delays as other types of C. I had my bone scan at the freeman hospital & had intended to go into the Maggie's centre then but, just couldn't pluck up the courage to actually go in. Of course it would have been fine but, as previously mentioned talking about things is not in my nature, I have convinced myself that has to change & I will be over that way 1st week in July (if not before) & will be popping in this time.    

Hi Woodie987 , so sorry you find yourself here and condolences for your recent loss.  Great advice already given by the others (as always).  I would just like to pick up on a couple of points.  Do you have anyone who could go with you to the appointment? I found (particularly in the early days) I was just overwhelmed and couldn’t take everything in, so 4 ears are better than 2, if not then maybe you could ask to record the conversation?  Secondly, once you get onto HT there isn’t any rush to make a decision, in fact the HT needs to work for a few months, so you need to wait.  Plenty of time to decide which route to take

Us guys aren’t generally good at opening up, but feel free to ask or say anything on this site.  Best wishes, David