Prostate cancer

RobMCFC said:
Thanks. It’s been two years of medication for me, which included surgery and 15 radiotherapy sessions along the way. It’s great to wake up and not have to down tablets then wait an hour for breakfast :)

Being honest though, it’s been fairly easy and hasn’t stopped me doing everything that I want. Yes I’ve been tired and still have hot sweats, but hopefully I’m back on the road to feeling normal again over the next few months to a year.

I’ll just use this as a reminder to everybody of a certain age to get checked out. The earlier cancer is found, the better the chance of recovery and the less agressive treatment can be.

If you have any doubts, or are over 50 and haven’t been tested, get one done ASAP - it might just save your life.
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This ^^^^^^^^^^Struggling myself with tiredness and hot sweats especially during the hot spells I’m 18 months post op for colon cancer
 
Big Joe Corrigan said:
Hi Rob, I’m 63 and have never had any sort of test for prostate cancer, do I just ask my doctor, and what exactly do I ask for? Cheers.
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Pre covid I used to have a range of blood tests, including PSA about every 18 months. There was a gap during covid so about 3 years between tests, but Iasked for a full range and it was just PSA that raised issues. So if you haven't had a standard set of blood tests for a while I'd just ask for a routine set of blood tests and ask for PSA to be part of them.
 
Cassandra said:
Pre covid I used to have a range of blood tests, including PSA about every 18 months. There was a gap during covid so about 3 years between tests, but Iasked for a full range and it was just PSA that raised issues. So if you haven't had a standard set of blood tests for a while I'd just ask for a routine set of blood tests and ask for PSA to be part of them.
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Cheers Cass, will contact my doctor.
 
Big Joe Corrigan said:
Hi Rob, I’m 63 and have never had any sort of test for prostate cancer, do I just ask my doctor, and what exactly do I ask for? Cheers.
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I think it’s more than reasonable to ask for one at 63.

I did it solely because I was 55 - I had meant to do it at 50 but kept putting it off. Anyway, I got a mini questionnaire to fill out on my phone. I answered it honestly but it was probably the “going to the toilet 3 or 4 times a night” that alerted them. Anyway, with my answers they asked me to come in for a test.

I understand that doctors say the PSA isn’t an ideal test, but my PSA was 23 when it should have been around 3, so I’d say it was an ideal indicator of cancer in my case. Note that a high PSA does not necessarily mean cancer.

Anyway, if you contact your doctor’s surgery, they will tell you what to do.

Kirkstall Blue said:
This ^^^^^^^^^^Struggling myself with tiredness and hot sweats especially during the hot spells I’m 18 months post op for colon cancer
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Hope it’s going OK for you in general. I accept the tiredness and hot sweats as part of the treatment. It’s certainly not a moan on my part. When you hear what some people have to put up with during treatment, this is a doddle, if a little uncomfortable :)

Best of luck to you to going forward. I think what this thread is showing is that plenty of people lead a relatively normal life post-cancer. I know it doesn’t always work out that way, but it is heartening to read everybody’s experiences.
 
RobMCFC said:
I think it’s more than reasonable to ask for one at 63.

I did it solely because I was 55 - I had meant to do it at 50 but kept putting it off. Anyway, I got a mini questionnaire to fill out on my phone. I answered it honestly but it was probably the “going to the toilet 3 or 4 times a night” that alerted them. Anyway, with my answers they asked me to come in for a test.

I understand that doctors say the PSA isn’t an ideal test, but my PSA was 23 when it should have been around 3, so I’d say it was an ideal indicator of cancer in my case. Note that a high PSA does not necessarily mean cancer.

Anyway, if you contact your doctor’s surgery, they will tell you what to do.


Hope it’s going OK for you in general. I accept the tiredness and hot sweats as part of the treatment. It’s certainly not a moan on my part. When you hear what some people have to put up with during treatment, this is a doddle, if a little uncomfortable :)

Best of luck to you to going forward. I think what this thread is showing is that plenty of people lead a relatively normal life post-cancer. I know it doesn’t always work out that way, but it is heartening to read everybody’s experiences.
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Thanks for the information Rob, I’ll contact my doctors surgery this week.
 
RobMCFC said:
Thanks. It’s been two years of medication for me, which included surgery and 15 radiotherapy sessions along the way. It’s great to wake up and not have to down tablets then wait an hour for breakfast :)

Being honest though, it’s been fairly easy and hasn’t stopped me doing everything that I want. Yes I’ve been tired and still have hot sweats, but hopefully I’m back on the road to feeling normal again over the next few months to a year.

I’ll just use this as a reminder to everybody of a certain age to get checked out. The earlier cancer is found, the better the chance of recovery and the less agressive treatment can be.

If you have any doubts, or are over 50 and haven’t been tested, get one done ASAP - it might just save your life.
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Great news Rob can’t believe it’s 2 years
 
RobMCFC said:
Finished my medication last week, just on the last steroids this week and that’s my prostate cancer treatment complete. Regular checks from now on to see how it goes.
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I'm just at the start of my journey with this - Started Bicalutamide this week which will run until early Dec. In between scheduled for radiotherapy every day for essentially the month of September. Early days but all good so far.

Just to repeat what others have been saying - get checked as soon as you can - make it a matter of priority - My PSA was what would be considered relatively low at 4.28 but it turns out I have a small prostate and it was felt that some further investigations were needed ( I do have a family history so I have been fairly proactive)

MRI identified early cancer and this was confirmed with biopsy but thankfully CT and bone scans o.k.

Really didnt fancy the idea of surgery (had appendix removed as a child and surgeon was a bit concerned about scar tissue and adhesion) so made the decision to go for radiotherapy

Met loads of other men in the same boat and sharing experiences has been somewhat comforting
 
TShed said:
Great news Rob can’t believe it’s 2 years
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I know. But on the other hand I've been so used to getting up, taking the tablets, waiting an hour for breakfast. A minor change of routine that has become second nature. In truth, I still get up several times for the toilet most nights, so I just usually keep some tablets upstairs so I can scoff them at 4.30 in the morning :)

Anyway, it's been nice the last few days not having to thing about this!
uncle fester said:
I'm just at the start of my journey with this - Started Bicalutamide this week which will run until early Dec. In between scheduled for radiotherapy every day for essentially the month of September. Early days but all good so far.

Just to repeat what others have been saying - get checked as soon as you can - make it a matter of priority - My PSA was what would be considered relatively low at 4.28 but it turns out I have a small prostate and it was felt that some further investigations were needed ( I do have a family history so I have been fairly proactive)

MRI identified early cancer and this was confirmed with biopsy but thankfully CT and bone scans o.k.

Really didnt fancy the idea of surgery (had appendix removed as a child and surgeon was a bit concerned about scar tissue and adhesion) so made the decision to go for radiotherapy

Met loads of other men in the same boat and sharing experiences has been somewhat comforting
Click to expand...
I took the Bicalutamide for a while to soften my body up for the hormone treatment to come.

Sounds like they've caught it early with you which is great news. That relief when you get the MRI scan results say that it hasn't spread is enormous.

I agree with the comment about the surgery. I was "lucky" in that the cancer was just a little bit more advanced so the treatment option was more obvious.

Are you having hormone injections along with the radiotherapy?
 
RobMCFC said:
I know. But on the other hand I've been so used to getting up, taking the tablets, waiting an hour for breakfast. A minor change of routine that has become second nature. In truth, I still get up several times for the toilet most nights, so I just usually keep some tablets upstairs so I can scoff them at 4.30 in the morning :)

Anyway, it's been nice the last few days not having to thing about this!

I took the Bicalutamide for a while to soften my body up for the hormone treatment to come.

Sounds like they've caught it early with you which is great news. That relief when you get the MRI scan results say that it hasn't spread is enormous.

I agree with the comment about the surgery. I was "lucky" in that the cancer was just a little bit more advanced so the treatment option was more obvious.

Are you having hormone injections along with the radiotherapy?
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No injections just the Bicalutamide tablet everyday for 3 months, tamoxifen every other day then 20 hits of the radiotherapy whilst continuing with the tabs for another 3 months - still talking cure at this stage so still quite hopeful
 
uncle fester said:
No injections just the Bicalutamide tablet everyday for 3 months, tamoxifen every other day then 20 hits of the radiotherapy whilst continuing with the tabs for another 3 months - still talking cure at this stage so still quite hopeful
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Yeah, that sounds quite a "low" level of treatment. It's amazing how the treatment these days it tailored to the type and level of the cancer. Whilst some cancers are harder to treat, it should give people a lot of hope going forward.

Best of luck with this.
 
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