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Storyline on EastEnders tonight

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User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 20:45

If you didn't see tonight's episode or read the leaked news about the storyline, this may be a spoiler.

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It’s just been revealed that Stan Carter has prostate cancer and has been hiding it from his family.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pw0b8

Since the storyline was established we've been working with the show to help them make sure it's medically accurate. We're also aiming to work together with them and use this storyline to inform the public about prostate cancer and point people who are concerned towards our information and services.

Did you see the show tonight? What did you think?

 

User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 21:21

Such a pity they chose a stereotypical "old" man for this old man's disease http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif

 

An opportunity wasted but at least it will generate some publicity, even if it reinforces those stereotypes http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif

Nil desperandum

Allister

User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 22:31

 Sadie,

Just watched the episode and tend to agree with Allister that it's a shame the character with PCa is in his late seventies.  I sure that this was the choice of the scriptwriters rather then PCUK.

I hope, maybe, the information about symptoms and the fact that younger men generally 50+ are at risk is brought out in future episodes as the storyline develops.

It's nice to see it's featured on such a high profile programme anyway, to bring PCa to the attention of the general public.

Steve 

User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 23:17

Totally agree with the others, What a waste!!!! this would have been such a vehicle to get a very important message out there to a mass audience.  This is something that I have been banging on about for ages, educate women that younger men get pca , really cheesed of that the opportunity has been missed.  Knowledge is power but sorry this story line wont educate anyone.

If it had been Alfie or Mick then three quarters of the women in the country would be talking about it and the other quarter would know about it tomorrow morning. Total waste.

BFN

Julie X

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON
User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 22:24
Hi I agree with Alister what a missed oportunity it is not an old mans

problem as we all know on this site lately.

I spoke to Erics son (40) he just laughed Im to young for that .

To me that's why it would be better with someone younger.

Carol

User
Posted 18 Nov 2014 at 00:21

Any publicity is good publicity, but they have definitely missed a trick not using a younger man.

I personally know two men in their forties with PCa one age 43 and one 47.

I was told by my specialist nurse that due to myself having PCa my son is at more risk and should start getting PSA checks when he reaches 50, but I have told him to start at 40 as it can strike in the early forties.

I think if an old person gets cancer it is kind of expected and accepted more due to their age. But if a younger man gets cancer especially in his early forties it can be devastating, if he has a young family and is the breadwinner with a mortgage to pay etc. it can ruin the whole families life.

User
Posted 18 Nov 2014 at 13:23
Carol

my love I feel your sadness and your pain, your Eric and my Mick both trod the same path, no symptoms very aggressive cancer which did not respond to anything. Neither of us have them here any more. We are not alone there have been many before us and will sadly be many in the future,but we are very much in the minority. I guess the story has to be aimed at something treatable or manageable to get a point over without scaring the bejeezes out of too many. I agree with Julie and others as well a bit of a wasted oportunity, having a younger actor portray the part would have been much more effective as far as public and especially female awareness is concerned. It will be interesting to hear how the story plays out I do not watch the programme but my Karen does and she will keep me posted.

There has been another portrayal of PCa recently when Billy (Neil Stuke) in "The silk" had it ..that was written in by a script writer who's own Father had died of PCa. I am guessing that characters age would have been in late 40s early 50s. Neil did a great job of portraying the fear and anxieties especially whilst he was waiting for results etc.

Any publicity especially that to a very wide audience will help.

Hope you are OK Carol I think of you and your family often.

xx

Mo

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User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 21:21

Such a pity they chose a stereotypical "old" man for this old man's disease http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif

 

An opportunity wasted but at least it will generate some publicity, even if it reinforces those stereotypes http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif

Nil desperandum

Allister

User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 22:24
Hi I agree with Alister what a missed oportunity it is not an old mans

problem as we all know on this site lately.

I spoke to Erics son (40) he just laughed Im to young for that .

To me that's why it would be better with someone younger.

Carol

User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 22:31

 Sadie,

Just watched the episode and tend to agree with Allister that it's a shame the character with PCa is in his late seventies.  I sure that this was the choice of the scriptwriters rather then PCUK.

I hope, maybe, the information about symptoms and the fact that younger men generally 50+ are at risk is brought out in future episodes as the storyline develops.

It's nice to see it's featured on such a high profile programme anyway, to bring PCa to the attention of the general public.

Steve 

User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 23:08

I was only thinking yesterday that as far as I was aware, PCa hadn't been covered in a soap. I don't watch them, but good on EE for doing so. Did they cover any symptoms, or hint at them, that may have led to diagnosis? For me, any sign of change of peeing habits, however small, is key. That's what enabled me to get diagnosed early when I am sure many men would have ignored the symptoms.

Stay Calm And Carry On.
User
Posted 17 Nov 2014 at 23:17

Totally agree with the others, What a waste!!!! this would have been such a vehicle to get a very important message out there to a mass audience.  This is something that I have been banging on about for ages, educate women that younger men get pca , really cheesed of that the opportunity has been missed.  Knowledge is power but sorry this story line wont educate anyone.

If it had been Alfie or Mick then three quarters of the women in the country would be talking about it and the other quarter would know about it tomorrow morning. Total waste.

BFN

Julie X

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON
User
Posted 18 Nov 2014 at 00:21

Any publicity is good publicity, but they have definitely missed a trick not using a younger man.

I personally know two men in their forties with PCa one age 43 and one 47.

I was told by my specialist nurse that due to myself having PCa my son is at more risk and should start getting PSA checks when he reaches 50, but I have told him to start at 40 as it can strike in the early forties.

I think if an old person gets cancer it is kind of expected and accepted more due to their age. But if a younger man gets cancer especially in his early forties it can be devastating, if he has a young family and is the breadwinner with a mortgage to pay etc. it can ruin the whole families life.

User
Posted 18 Nov 2014 at 12:13
Hi as I have stated this storyline won't have the impact about Pca there is a great opportunity to carry the storyline on with the males in the family some having a psa test the others thinking its an old mans thing or not having any symptoms.

Well if you know my Eric's story he had no symptoms .

And I don't have him here anymore.

Carol x

User
Posted 18 Nov 2014 at 13:23
Carol

my love I feel your sadness and your pain, your Eric and my Mick both trod the same path, no symptoms very aggressive cancer which did not respond to anything. Neither of us have them here any more. We are not alone there have been many before us and will sadly be many in the future,but we are very much in the minority. I guess the story has to be aimed at something treatable or manageable to get a point over without scaring the bejeezes out of too many. I agree with Julie and others as well a bit of a wasted oportunity, having a younger actor portray the part would have been much more effective as far as public and especially female awareness is concerned. It will be interesting to hear how the story plays out I do not watch the programme but my Karen does and she will keep me posted.

There has been another portrayal of PCa recently when Billy (Neil Stuke) in "The silk" had it ..that was written in by a script writer who's own Father had died of PCa. I am guessing that characters age would have been in late 40s early 50s. Neil did a great job of portraying the fear and anxieties especially whilst he was waiting for results etc.

Any publicity especially that to a very wide audience will help.

Hope you are OK Carol I think of you and your family often.

xx

Mo

User
Posted 18 Dec 2014 at 19:57

I tried avoiding this topic but I just saw East enders and the old guy who has Pca and who must be in his 70's was acting as Santa and said "I wish I was 20 years younger as I wouldn't be dying from prostate cancer".

It seems the support from PCUK with this story line was not robust after all. Never ever forget that this is not an old man's disease

Bri

User
Posted 18 Dec 2014 at 20:37

Hi Bri,

I agree this is definitely NOT an old man's disease.

I was at my local prostate cancer support group today, and one of the Prostate Cancer UK specialist nurses was there giving us a talk.

I asked her when my son should have his PSA tested, as before a nurse had told my son and me not to bother until he is 50. I didn't agree with this as I know two men in their early forties (43 and 45) who have the disease and one even has several metastasis. I told my son to start getting checked at 40 as due to the genetic link with me he is 2 1/2 times more likely to get the disease than normal. I asked the nurse about this at todays meeting and she said he should definitely be tested at 40, they have been doing this in Canada (checking PSA from 40) she said and using the PSA as a base line to look for rises or doubling rates in the future. I believe she said they are talking about doing it in the UK but I don't know when it will start. The sooner the better I say, it's bad enough getting it when you are old, but men in their early forties deserve the chance to know if they could possibly have a killer disease, and be given the chance to do something about it before it is to late.

Good luck and best wishes to ALL who are fighting or affected by cancer.

Regards,

Gerry

User
Posted 18 Dec 2014 at 20:52

The current storyline has probably done more harm than good for furthering awareness and raising the profile of PCa for all the relevant risk groups.  Any other suggestion otherwise may politically more palatable, and nice?

 

Why did they opt to reinforce the idea that PCa is an older mans disease?  Who on earth advised that as a good idea?  

 

They had the opportunity to alert millions of men, of relevant age groups to the supposed "fact" that "PCa is an old man's problem" is actually a  myth.

 

One could argue that many men in their 70's will now be rushing off to clinics to check themselves out, excellent.  What about the men who do not think they are at risk, do not get checked and die prematurely?  Those men who do  not make it to their 70th birthday when they had their first PSA test booked?

 

Dress it up as you wish, it's, at best, a huge missed opportunity, and at worst, irresponsible.  Would have been a better idea not to bother that storyline if all it does is mislead and may contribute to early, unnecessary and avoidable deaths.    

 

Dave

User
Posted 18 Dec 2014 at 22:42

Whole heartedly agree with Bri and Dave, this story line is actually going to allow the misconception to be perpetuated. It could have helped save the lives of MEN instead it has sadly failed to educate anyone. I was aghast at tonight's  episode and Stan's comment and I am so disapointed with PCUK who could have infact should have pointed out the fact that MEN are dying from PCA as young as 50.

Of course I don't know how this story line is going to pan out and there is still time and an ongoing story line yet to be written that could put the facts out there to the general public.  Of course then there is the synical view that maybe it was a deliberate choice to portray an elderly not very much liked character after all we wouldn't want GP surgery's across the land inundated with hoards of 50 something MEN asking for a PSA test. 

BFN

Julie X

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON
User
Posted 19 Dec 2014 at 18:59
If you want to see a much more realistic and honest TV show dealing with PCa watch the last series of Silk and get ready for the next series in the New Year.

East Enders is a rubbish soap, I hate the fact that people watch these and think they are real.

xx

Mo

User
Posted 19 Dec 2014 at 23:00

I don't think it's just a matter of people thinking they are real.or not Mo...I just think the programme producers should portray the true picture about such things

If PCUK have been involved in this storyline, which I know they have, I feel they have let the younger generations down badly...such an opportunity lost

Bri

User
Posted 20 Dec 2014 at 00:04
Mo what do you mean it's not real. The next thing you will tell us is there is no Santa lol

Roy

User
Posted 20 Dec 2014 at 13:12
Roy, I know I do get a bit voicy with that but I would never rumble Santa ... xx

Mo

 
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