Attitudes to Prostate Cancer

It's very frustrating that some people do have that opinion about PCa

Regarding the remark by the PM's office...well there's a surprise...actually that is quite a fitting motto for them. So can go from

Conservatives- "together, we can secure a brighter future"

to

Conservatives - "Does it really matter"

I know which one i think is the most appropriate

Bri

Edited by member 19 Apr 2015 at 16:04  | Reason: Not specified

I find this a difficult topic. No cancer is obviously the best cancer but it is common sense to see some cancers as worse than others - lung, pancreatic and ovarian spring to mind. Not because they are inherently worse cancers but because diagnosis comes much later in the process and therefore the time for curative treatment becomes more limited.

Years ago when I had testicular cancer I used to tell myself it was a good one to have because survival rates even in the 1980s was much greater and of course I survived that. Though I have an incurable diagnosis now I have had three years + of reasonable good health and continue to work and I would not swap that and whatever is to come. I think the marketing of concerns about PCa has changed dramatically in the last three years with some great campaigns, some research success and attempts to improve initial diagnosis. But for some their survival remains so short that we cannot escape the downside of any cancer diagnosis. Some will die early either because the cancer is aggressive or is discovered at a stage where palliative care is ineffective. In all such circumstances any remark that seems to downplay the experience of PCa will be viewed as problematic.

But I have chatted to many friends in the past three years and have discovered quite large numbers who have had PCa had treatment, either surgery or RT, and now live their life with no second thought towards PCa as a cancer. I understand that because I lived from 29 to 59 with similar freedom after recovering from testicular cancer.

For me though and this is purely a personal reflection, I have found the last three years paradoxically enervating and in most respects life affirming. I know I will die some day and it is highly likely in my case it will be PCa but I can carry on until then focused on life in ways which I had not realised and for that this diagnosis and my reflections on it are a key factor. For others the experience is proving less positive and in some cases devastating in its consequences. I feel for those who suffer this way and try and reach out and offer as much as I can. We all approach life and its partner death in different ways and we tread our respective paths. We find connection here on this site and that helps so much. Societal attitudes are changing, slowly and haltingly, but we are getting there.

I don't think the programmes, like the one I referenced in a previous post, help when an eminent Harley Street surgeon announces his patient was cured based on his histology. No mention of side effects etc or the fact he will have to have PSA tests for the rest of his life.

I'm pretty sure a lot of those people with a blasé view of this would have a different opinion if they were sat in front of the urologist when he looks you in the eye and utters those dreaded words

Bri

At the time I felt that perhaps I was "lucky" to get it, like winning on the lottery or pools etc but since then I have been absorbed with working out which treatment and what I should do to to give me the best chance of long term survival from this "fortunate" occurance within my body. I think a lot of statements come from the fact that most people see it as not affecting the lives of the patient in an obvious way although several people within the medical profession, including urology, have said the same thing to me.

The public image of prostate cancer should be changed with maybe PCUK running a publicity campaign as well as health information points within hospital as well as individuals that can bring themselves to "come out" with their personal problems.

There is probably a whole raft of things that could be done and my suggestions may be not very good but triggering a debate on here is one way to be positive rather than negative.

Thanks for reading. Cheers Chris

Hi Chris,

the trouble is that men generally are considered to be dreadful at getting themselves checked out. If the medical profession - or organisations such as PCUK - were more truthful about the impact of being diagnosed with PCa then many men would be even more reluctant to get their PSA checked.

Paul, not a GP issue - NICE guidelines coupled with CCG stance in three different parts of the UK - all three girls have faced the same difficulty. But thank you for your kind wishes xx

Edited by member 19 Apr 2015 at 23:21  | Reason: Not specified