I have spent the last hour reading this forum and decided that I might benefit from your help. Six months ago
I was an active 80 year old in what I thought was reasonable condition considering my year of make. Today I am hobbling round with an elbow crutch, constant, but varying, pain in my left hip and thigh and no definite idea about what I am suffering from or what the future holds for me.
To fill in the gaps in my story, in the early part of this year I started to have pain in my left hip which I put down to wear and tear and my age. In May I consulted my GP who thought as I did and sent me for an X-ray to confirm. I had the xray in May and was told by my GP that nothing had been disclosed. The pain persisted and following a further visit my GP put me forward for the Musculoskeletal Clinical Assessment Service which I attended on 15th July. At this visit the pain was confirmed as was. some tenderness around the trochanteric bursa. My bloods were normal. I already had some prostate trouble but had been discharged by that clinic a couple of years previously..I was referred on via Patient Choice. Things then totally quiet until I went back to my GP. In late August to see what could be done about the increasing pain. I was advised that I was on the Hip replacement waiting list but if I wanted earlier treatment a private consultation was the only option. I contacted a local orthopaedic surgeon who saw me very quickly and called up my NHS xray and suggested that I had another one there and then as he found immediately something that concerned him. The new xray also showed some sort of problem and he kindly fitted me into his next nhs clinic a few days later. He also called up an MRI scan that I had had the previous year for a gall bladder is problem and pointed out the same anomaly on that. Things moved along fairly quickly then - another MRI followed by a CT scan. I was told that indications were that I had prostate cancer and that it had damaged my pelvis which was causing the pain. I was passed into the care of the Urology clinic who did an internal examination of my bladder and indentified a thickening (hospital speak for a lump) in my bladder wall. This is to be removed surgically on Friday 21 - one month after it was found. The Urologist also requested a NM Bone Whole body scan on 31 October. The orthopaedic consultant had previously arranged to see me tomorrow 11/11 so I am hoping that he will be able to tell me what the last scan revealed and that he will not just tell me to wait until the Urologist has had a look. Thank goodness I am able to sleep thanks I think to the slow release Morphine and occasional liquid morphing that my GPS has prescribed.
I am rapidly discovering that PCa is a very broad brush description and everybody's case is in some way unique. I suppose I am relatively fortunate in that I don't let things get me down (that might be the Morphine!?) but this long drawn out process has me wondering if this is as good as things are ever going to be again?
Hopefully tomorrow will bring some answers.