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Post by rainbow on Jan 5, 2014 10:01:23 GMT
Hi everyone,
I found this forum recently and thought I would like to talk about my experiance of prostate cancer. It was only found because my wife made me go to the doctors.
To cut a long story short a few weeks after seeing my doctor, I was told I had prostate cancer with a high psa but that luckily it was still contained within the prostate. I ended up having two years of hormone therapy along with 37 radiotherapy treatments. My psa tumbled right down to a low of 0.01, the lowest they can measure, so I count myself as being very lucky. I had first class treatment from all the medical staff who were fantastic.
I believe my wife, by her insisting on me going to see the doctor has saved my life. I would encourage, indeed plead with anyone who thinks they may have cancer, or even any unusual medical syptoms to go to and see your G.P. straight away and not make excuses like I did to my wife for several months. I know cancer is a scary subject but with modern treatments, the sucess rates for most cancers are improving all the time. The sooner you get your problems diagnosed, the sooner treatment can be started and hopefully like me, you too will have a sucessfull outcome.
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Post by Paul Huggett on Jun 19, 2014 21:48:58 GMT
Welcome rainbow and hi to all our readers.
I am so sorry to hear of your family experiences with this terrible illness. It seems like every day we hear of more and more people being diagnosed with Cancer. This illness doesn't care who it goes to or how many times it may hit one family.
Like you and many others I have experienced sad losses to the disease and I have worn the shoes that many people are wearing. I have lost 2 wives, 2 uncles, a cousin, my mother and friends (not everyone dies from this disease - there are many successes and lets hope there are many more).
From your story you are an inspiration to us all and I am so pleased you are able to share it with us.
Please, we would love to hear of many more successes to encourage the patient, family and friends.
I started the Charity after walking the long, lonely road of living with someone with Cancer. I needed to talk to somebody - non medical, who had first hand experience of what I was going through. "There was nobody there" only people who thought they were making the right noises.
On here and at our support groups and home visits, we talk openly and truthfully of how we feel and are coping and it gives other people a chance to take away new ideas to keep them going.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank rainbow for his courage in posting our first 'Post'. I would encourage again for people to come forward by writing on this page or phoning the Charity for support (01273 834912). I know this will be hard to do as we are not the ones with the Cancer but we need as much support as the patient. Once again thank you rainbow.
I look forward to hearing from you all.
Regards Paul
CEO Founder of Cancervive
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Post by rainbow on Jun 22, 2014 9:22:39 GMT
Hi Paul,
Many thanks for taking the time to welcome me and for your kind words. So sorry to read you also have lost so many family members to cancer. You talk about walking the long, lonely road of living with someone who has cancer, and I thought how true that was. I was very lucky in that I had fantastic support from my wife and family but I do know from talking with other people, when cancer rears its ugly head, a lot of families find it so hard to talk to family and friends. Which is why I think this forum is a great idea for it provides somewhere for people to talk with others traveling the roller coaster ride that is cancer.
We are often not very good at talking about our inner fears and feelings for fear of further upsetting our loved ones. But on here, we can talk annonamousely with people we will never meet and thus be able to help each other.
Thanks again Paul, take care and all the best for the charity and this site, Rainbow.
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Post by rainbow on Jun 28, 2014 15:27:00 GMT
Hi everyone
Just thought I would relate something that happened to me when I was having radiotherapy treatment for my prostate
cancer. I was in the waiting room one day talking to another prostate cancer patient and his wife and they confided
in me that they were very worried as his PSA was quite high at 30. So I told them not to worry as mine was 70 when
I was first diagnosed and yet through the horemone therapy had come right down to 3.18 by the time I started my
radiotherapy and expected it to come down a lot more. He replied, "I am sorry to hear yours was that high but it has
made me feel a lot better". It brought it home to me how a few words can change how we feel and I was reminded
of this the other day when I came across this quotation which I would like to share with you.
Best wishes to you all, Rainbow.
P.S. Clicking on the attachment enlarge's it.
Attachments:
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Post by rainbow on Jul 10, 2014 14:13:49 GMT
Hi everyone,
Just had the results of my latest PSA test. It is now three years since my last treatment was completed and slowly my PSA is rising, just like my consultant said it would, but it is still very low at 0.72 so am not at all concerned. He said he didnt think it would rise beyond 3.5. I feel very lucky in that my prostate cancer was (due to my wife's insistance) caught in time. Had I left it much longer before going to the doctor, the outcome could have been radically different. Rainbow
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Post by rainbow on Jul 23, 2014 11:38:28 GMT
Hi Everyone,
I would like to share with you how since recovering from prostate cancer, I have changed in many ways. I have joined several cancer charities as I feel the need to put something back which is something I would never have considered pre-cancer. I have spent many moments trying to understand why I have changed and have come to the following conclusion. A lot of people have told me when they hear those words "It's cancer I'm afraid", It's like being given a death sentance. Just the very word "cancer" strickes fear into our hearts and our minds always imagine the worst scenario. I remember when I heard those words, many thought flashed through my mind in a matter of seconds. Things like, I must get my will finnished plus all those jobs around the house I have promised to do, I'm not going to see my grandchildren grow up and my wife could end up as a widow were just a few of the things I remember thinking.
So I think when we are given good news or the all clear, it's like a heavy weight is lifted off our shoulders. It's often said, we never really appreciate what we have untill we are about to lose it, well this applies so much to the cancer scenario. I now appreciate the simple little thing in life we tend to take so much for granted. Like hearing birds singing and children laughing are just a couple of things. I consider my self very lucky and feel that cancer has changed my life for the better. I have also found I like quotations these days and would like to share one or two with you all. Thank you for reading this, best wishes to you all, Rainbow.
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Post by rainbow on Feb 15, 2015 9:55:30 GMT
Hi everyone,
Just a quick update on my six-monthly blood test for prostate cancer. My psa has only risen very slightly from 0.72 to 0.85 which is a very good result. It's now 3 1/2 years since I finishd my hormone therapy and my oncologist said my psa would gradually increase. So overall I am very happy with the results and I hope anyone reading this who may have cancer will take heart from my results, Rainbow.
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Post by rainbow on Mar 1, 2015 11:21:50 GMT
Hi Everyone,
It is so easy to let simple little things get us down when we or someone we love has cancer, so I thought I would share something with you all. Over two years ago, I learnt of a lovely lady who had cancer and who kept a diary. Each day she would write in it things that had gone right. She said that concentrating on the positive things in her life, meant the nagative things seemed small by comparison. This made her feel much better.
So now, even though I dont keep a diary, when I do feel a little down, I think of all the good things and good people I have in my life and this lifts my spirits back up again.
Take care, best wishes to you all, Rainbow.
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Post by rainbow on Jun 20, 2015 9:15:54 GMT
Hi everyone,
Just a quick update about my psa result. It has gone up slighly to 1.4 but this is still very low so I am not concerned at all. Rainbow.
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Post by rainbow on Sept 3, 2015 18:08:17 GMT
Hi folks,
Just wanted to share my good news with you all. My last PSA count had gone up from 0.84 to 1.4 so I wasvery keen to find out my latest result. I wa elated to find it has gone down to 0.87 and just shows the last result was just a blip. It is even better when you take into consideration my last treatment ended over four years ago, Brian.
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