I don’t do much fighting, to be honest as I take things one thing at a
time and don’t get stressed-up. I just take it easy and if I get whacked
at the end of the first week of chemo then I don’t fight it, I just go to
sleep. I do what my body wants to do.
It does take over one’s life somewhat, I find but I do try to look beyond
the other side of the treatment and think about what I am going to do with
myself then. Trips that I have always wanted to do and that sort of
stuff. I try to stay upbeat and keep a smile on the face. When I do get
down it is not me, it is drug induced and I just have to let it pass before
I get back to normal.
I think one thing I have in my favour is that I am not frightened of
dying. I would rather not but if push comes to shove I don’t have a
problem with it. I keep ambivalent over that subject and don’t dwell on it.
The thing that is normally formost in my mind is how very lucky I am to
have such a wonderful band of professionals looking after me with such
kindness. I may be ill but I have a warm house, enough food to eat, a car
to get me about and some nice clothes to wear. I do not live in a refugee
camp in the Lebanon, living in a tent and waiting for the daily food hand
outs without ever having a hope of getting out of that situation. One can
feel too sorry for one’s self without thinking properly about the luck one
has with one’s situation.
Luckily so far I have not been hurt by the disease. No one likes pain, do
they ? The only time I was hurt was by the biopsy which, while it was
going off, immediately rose to the top of the list of things I would rather
not do twice in my life…
I’ve only just seen this thread - but my own experience does echo that of many others, and I’d like to confirm their good advice.
I too was given a routine check-up and blood test by my excellent GP (MT) late last year, which found high PSA. My GP phoned the local hospital specialist there and then and I was immediately booked in for scans (in which they also discovered a kidney stone) and then a biopsy in January. They found cancer cells but I am lucky - very early stage and not very aggressive (Gleason 3+3) so I’ve ended up on one tablet per day (to control the size of the prostate) and monitoring every 6 months.
I’m also of course being treated for the kidney stone - and in general, my experience of the French health service has been wonderful.
A friend of mine who happens to be a urology nurse has also recommended I drink ‘white tea’ - specifically a blend of Ying Zhen Silver Needle and Pai-Mu-Tan. I make a pot of this every day now - I don’t know enough about medical matters to comment on it’s claimed health benefits - but it tastes good anyway!
I feel a bit awkward here among the blokes, but you might like to hear the wife’s point of view. During a visit to the UK a few years ago I pushed my husband to go to the doctor over leg pains (still no idea what caused them). Various tests were prescribed and I asked the GP to request an HbA1C and a PSA as well. Only these two came back with worrying results and within a few weeks he had to choose between surgery and radiotherapy for prostate cancer. The hormone implants were done by the local nurse in France, and we stayed in the UK for the radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital, where Philip was part of a trial as his cancer showed a definite “focus” rather than being throughout the gland. He will be observed for life (how else will they know how many extra years the treatment has given him?) and has phone consultations every 6 months, with PSA tests done in France and sent across to the RMH.
Looking back, the cancer was not that new, but some of the symptoms could apply to either prostate cancer or the Type 2 Diabetes diagnosed as a result of the same blood test. He had no strong symptoms then, and so I can’t really say he feels better for the treatment, only that I’m extremely glad that we found out about the prostate cancer when we did. My father had it, as did my paternal grandfather, in Dad’s case it spread to the bowel, and in Grandpa’s to the bowel and bones before it was diagnosed. It was cited as cause of death for both of them.
PSA testing is not perfect. High results can be down to multiple reasons, as can such symptoms as there are. Many GPs say it isn’t worth screening all men, but that’s no excuse for ignoring the possibility that the cancer is there. It is very common indeed. Yes, the first examination is very intimate (but no worse than your wife’s cervical smears) and then there is a biopsy before diagnosis is clear, and several scans. Please discuss it with your GP next time you see them, and make an excuse to do so if you don’t regularly see a GP. Phil found cataracts more distressing than prostate cancer. RMH are investigating genetics in relation to prostate cancer and both my sons are on their contact list as both sides of their family have had it: both are Type 1 diabetics so have blood tests regularly anyway.
Philip has supported me through all the ups and downs of life, but the most important thing he has ever done for me was to have that first PSA test and follow through with his treatment. He is the biggest coward in the world where medical matters are concerned, so if he can do it, any man can. Please talk to your doctors about it. It matters - as you do.
Thanks so very much for your contribution Diana - it means so much and helps us to remember that any serious illness affects those around the ‘patient’ in many different ways. Hand on heart - I don’t think I would be where I am today without the love and support of my magnificent girl - I would have gone crazy (even more so!!).
Us boys are generally rubbish about addressing medical issues - especially where it concerns our ‘bits’ or anything below the belt! Lots of fear and, something pretty unique to prostate cancer, inappropriate jokes - mainly from other blokes who are frankly misinformed. One day we’ll get to the same place as you girls when dealing with the likes of breast cancer. Open discussions and routine testing and examinations that save lives.
‘Young’ men in their 40’s and 50’s are diagnosed with prostate cancer - normally when symptoms present and sometimes agressive. Best not to wait for those symptoms - a simple blood test is all it takes. Much, much less than most of the things our ladies have to deal with throughout their lives!
When I chat about PSA testing I hear lot’s of 'Ah buts…’ or ‘My doctor said…’ and my response is always - It’s YOUR life.
Nobody waits until they’ve had six months of tooth ache before visiting the dentist. Everybody goes to a dentist for a check-up regularly and pro-actively. It’s commonly understood that pro-active checks stop things going bad to a point of no-return.
If all men apply that logic over something as (relatively) trivial as a tooth surely you would apply the logic to fend off something that could kill you.
“Where free screening is offered for any life threatening disease be it prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer etc - anyone would be mad not to take it up.”
Actually it is not that straightforward.
Prostate cancer is very common in men if we live long enough, if you get into your 80’s or 90’s you almost certainly will have a small prostate cancer in there.
The problem is that we do not fully understand the natural history of these small cancers - which might never cause symptoms or grow larger than a few mm, nor what makes some enlarge and/or spread.
Having investigations for prostate cancer is not totally benign - there is a real risk of infection from prostate biopsy for instance, for this reason it is not currently felt that screening the whole population is a good thing to do - you wind up diagnosing a whole lot more prostate cancer, that is for sure but it is not clear if you reduce deaths from prostate cancer or prolong lives overall.
I would encourage anyone who has symptoms to seek medical advice and if their doctor thinks they need tests to follow it through. A good doctor should discuss the implications of the test with you before it is undertaken. But if you are wondering why such an “obviously good thing” is not done routinely the answer is that it quickly starts to get complicated when you look at offering otherwise healthy men screening and it starts to look much less “obviously” a good thing to do.
I was 53 when diagnosed last year. My completely random PSA test most definitely saved my life (so far!). The reality is, much younger men than me are also diagnosed with prostate cancer which tends, but not always, to be agressive.
My PSA test was simply part of my routine annual full bloods which started when I turned 50. Thank goodness my french MT was and is on the ball. As I’ve stated before, a high reading from a PSA test does not automatically signal prostate cancer - it could by down to many other things. What is does do however is flag up ‘possible’ issues. In France and the UK, prostate cancer is the most prevalent of all male cancers and, after lung and bowel cancer, is the biggest killer.
Absolutely! But why on earth wait for the symptoms? I had none whatsoever - nada, niet, rien. I never felt physically ill for one second either before, during or after my amazing treatment here in France. It’s even more important for blokes with any history of prostate cancer in their family to get tested - my younger brother was, the day after my official ‘You Have Cancer’ diagnosis.
I have only just seen this thread, mainly because i was looking for specifically items to do with France… but thanks everyone from Simon ( OP) to Diana for their contributions.
I am personally a wuss with most things of bodily invasion… and yes I worked in IT at a large hospital for 10 months going around all the departments, from wards to Oncology, theatres ( not during ops). i have a pathological hatred of blood tests that i cannot explain. They made me not quite pass out, but close to it. Within a year, ( this year), i have been and had about 4, for different reasons… more times than in my previous years of life combined. Now i am at the stage where i can go and keep my pulse rate down, but still have to lie down in the chair.
i went to the docs because I felt really strained during lovemaking, and had to stop. The doc sent me for PSA and one other test ( for infection i think)… that result was a 7.1 ( i think), then sent me for anothera month after first, which was about a 0.1 less i think. Oh yea, i love blood tests - did i say that.
So at the moment we are at or about 7… he said had it been in the teens, we would be going for other tests. Also after my 2nd test, we arranged that i would also have the “finger” test - yes wasn’t looking forward to it, but there we go, and that test seemed ok. So now we are at a 6 month PSA , and so on.
I am a person that reads the symptoms / prognosis etc etc and scares myself silly - so i don’t do that much now.
Oh by the way - when you reach 60 in the UK now, you automatically receive a bowel cancer screening option should you wish to do it. I would recommend it - yes you have to use a “kit” but for the piece of mind I would. That test ( if clear) lasts for 2 years and you get another , etc until 70 i think.
Hi Glenn and thanks for your input - just great that you’re having regular PSA tests - despite your hatred of blood tests - can’t be easy.
Interestingly, my PSA level was 7.16 when I was referred for a DRE and, based on the (poor) results of that, for an MRI and biopsy - and so my journey began. Lots of tests, scans and consultations with my amazing team of 3 surgeons / urologists.
Bowel cancer screening starts at age 50 in France - shit by post!
OH had a PSA quite by chance, during a routine blood test… PSA was 22.2 (norm being 0-4)… and that was the beginning of quite an eventful year… but thank heavens we found out in time…
Nowadays, we both take whatever scans, tests etc are offered…if there’s a problem let’s find it and sort it…
It’s a bit like keeping the car in good nick and ticking over properly, rather than running it into the ground…and then being cheesed-off when it collapses in a heap in the middle of the dual carriageway…
Simon - pleased to hear that things were caught in time for you (and everyone else who had problems picked up in time). You are quite correct that prostate cancer in young men sometimes runs a more aggressive course.
But it is a genuinely tricky question. France seems to not want to do screening and to leave it up to individuals or their doctors. The evidence for screening is shaky and the incidence of prostate cancer in the 50-54 age group only about 60-70 cases per 100,000 population per year so it’s not incredibly common at that age.
I’m almost exactly the same age as Simon so it does hit home quite hard :-/
I have noticed in the last few years…more and more opportunities for screening against all sorts of things. (including PC)… being advertised in Surgeries, Pharmacies and in the medical leaflets, Mutuelle info etc…
I would say that France does seem to be proactive rather than merely reactive… and even years ago…when they needed to react, wow… they reacted “swiftly and with style” thank heavens
'France seems not to want to do screening and to leave it up to individuals or their doctors.'
Personally, I’m not sure that France could do much more. I suppose they could send the gendarmes around to frogmarch every man within the target age group, those who have received but ignored the information and invitation that arrived in their post box offering a comprehensive and free check, to their nearest doctor but surely the individual has to take responsibility.
One of the scary things for me is that, had I still lived in the UK, I most probably wouldn’t even know I had prostate cancer unless I’d started presenting with symptoms. Heck I didn’t even know exactly where my prostate was or what it did until my MT added the PSA test to my annual full bloods when I turned 50!!
I just thank my lucky stars that I was living in France through this ‘challenging’ phase of my life.
