Stage 4 advanced lymph pelvis spine

Good Morning Cabinet 

A warm welcome to out little band of brothers (and sisters too) although I am so sorry to find you joining us.

Your team look like they are taking the best route to deal with your diagnosis and I appreciate it can be hard at the start of the journey when you have been given a Stage 4 diagnosis out of the blue.

As your Radiotherapy is coming up here's a link to a thread you might find useful:

 What you wish you had known before starting Radiotherapy? 

I notice your last comment:

Cabinet said:

Feeling very down.

* Do you have a "Maggie's" near you. This is a cancer charity where you can call in - have a brew and a chat with someone to discuss how you are feeling.

* How do you fancy having a "Buddy" call you on the telephone once a week to have a chat - it can be about your cancer journey - the price of fish - or football - anything you want - here's the link you need:

Macmillan-buddies.

* There's also our Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 (8am to 8pm 7 days a week) - give them a call - they can help with your feelings.

I hope the above helps - there's always someone around on here to chat about your journey, 

There's also plenty of support on this thread should you just want to chat to others with a cancer diagnosis:

 Awake and up all night 

No one travels this journey without help at sometime - I have had some fantastic support from the members of this group when things have looked grim!!

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Cabinet sorry you have joined us as a stage 4.  It is one hell of a shock.  I was told at the start that I was being given palliative care!  I wrote a post last year to help folk in our position.  Follow the link.

 The end - straight to palliative care! 

If you click on my name you can read my profile and see that I was also diagnosed stage 4 over 8 years ago.  Treatments are improving all the time and outcomes are getting better. Feel free to ask any questions the people on here are amazing.

It’s good that you can admit you feeling down, talking is the best therapy.

Theres a profile page for you at the top left of this (and every page) which you can add info to help us help you. Your vitals, your treatment plan, clinic appointments and diagnosis.

We all have an anonymous profile page which you can look at too. Just nudge the green profile sofa button (or profile picture) and you’ll see what we all have wrong and right with us.

Good luck

Hello Cabinet, nobody wants a cancer diagnosis! A lot of us here are in our later years and can remember the days when receiving a cancer diagnosis was a death sentence. But, if you think about this, we all are under a death sentence - it’s more a matter of whether this occurs sooner or later in life!  I can also remember being told, when I was a child, that I must not go near someone who had received a cancer diagnosis because it might be ‘catching’!

How things have changed!  Now, 1 in every 2 people are predicted to receive a cancer diagnosis! Cancer is now considered a long term condition which can  either be cured or managed. For prostate cancer specifically, we have watched through my husband’s grandfather and father and, then, his own experiences, how much better diagnosis and treatments have become far more sophisticated, targeted and effective. 

We all ( wives and partners too!) react in some way to receiving this cancer diagnosis. I’m sure I could have filled a reservoir with my tears! I was scared silly for my husband and the thought I might lose him! He, on the other hand, withdrew into silence and refused to engage with anybody and everybody about his diagnosis, treatment plan etc. ( i had never felt so lonely in my life!) We are human and this means we have our own feelings about what is happening to us and around us. We are entitled to have these feelings and admit to them.

So , I hope you can take some hope from the fact that your treatment has started, the cancer has now been stopped in its progress by the drugs, many people are living fulfilled lives with their cancer well controlled - and, most importantly, you have every chance of doing so too.

in those early days , with a silent husband and massive anxiety , I stumbled on this forum. It was, for me, a life saver. I hope that now you have found us and owned your very normal reaction to the diagnosis you will get the same support, encouragement and advice that I did when I so needed it!

my last words of advice is to share your burden with your nearest and dearest if possible! Some people do prefer not to talk and that’s ok but when we spoke with our family the support we received was amazing - so loving, kind, encouraging and thoughtful that just writing this and the memories brings tears of joy and pride in our family to my eyes still! Talking helps!

Thank you David  

Thank you  

Thank you for your kind words