hello...wife of a newbie - - Page 4Being diagnosed with prostate cancer

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 15:39

Poor Mick never stood a chance ...he was a man (definitely)

he had a vasectomy (definitely)

he rode a bike (a lot)

he was a pilot both private and commercial

He had type 2 diabetes for over 20 years

There was PCa and Bca as well as small cell lung cancer in his family

He ate RAF aircrew food for 20+ years so almost all processed and enriched with pork pies and Beer.

He drove diesel winches and tractors for 40 years or more at gliding clubs anything from 4 - 40 hours a week

Although his diet once he married me was near perfect, it certainly wasn't in his first 40 years

He never smoked but his parents and grandparents who he grew up with all did heaviy, gliding club bars and RAF crew rooms were always full of heavy smokers so he probably was a 30 a day passive smoker until 20 years ago!

Now we are told one in two will get some type of cancer I reckon his rsk factor must have been about 99% I have given him that slightest of margins as far as I know he had no African/Caribbean blood.

Now I think I need to party like a crazy person before I too fall victim to statistics

Mandy Mo

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 20:36

Not sure if it's down to genetics, environment or what but looking at the diversity of men on here PCa seems pretty indescriminate to me.

Having said that I've had the snip...worked in engineering in my former life.....drank copious amounts of beer in my rugby playing days and beyond and still enjoy a pint or three.....never was fussy about my diet....sat on cold concrete etc when a kid (interestingly was always told not do that)....had various sexual relationships before meeting the Mrs....had a bike as a kid....use the static bike in the gym...mother and father both died of heart related conditions in their 70's

Actually I might go and have a few celebratory drinks for managing to reach 55

Bri

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 22:34

I have been a bit quiet on the forum of late most think it is because I have been busy with our puppies in truth I have been trying to keep Trevor of his bloody Bike.http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif

Just joking he can ride a bike, well sort of he certainly couldn't compete in the Tour de France.

So common denominators in PCA , can Trevor fly a plane , absolutely not he can drive the ride on though. Could he be described as a grease monkey no and he is not very good at DIY either.

So I got to thinking what could it be that he has in common with 67% per cent of Afro Caribean men in the USA apart from the obvious , being crap at ironing, eating Jerk Chicken , and an extra 4 inches. Of course the ironing is just a joke he is actually very good at ironing.http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif

So I did a little bit of studying apparently blacks in the United States have the highest pca rate in the world and nearly twice that of white men the 2-1 ratio is already apparent at the age of 45. So obviously my first thought was OMG have they all got bikes, no but what they do have is a high testosterone at an early age. The report found that the difference occurs in early life testosterone has long been thought to play a role in Etiology of pca. Testosterone and it's metabolite dihydrotestosterone are the principle function of prostate tissue. But can they do the ironing , no. The report does say that circulating hormone levels were 19% higher in black students than in white students and free testosterone levels were 21% per cent higher in the black students.

We all know that lowering testosterone is important in controlling pca so here is my random thought for the day what if high testosterone in young men black or white over stimulates the prostate gland in the early years helps in some way to as Sue would say prematurely wear out the blue print .

This is my thought for the day

BFN

Julie X

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 22:37

Sorry it's not 4 inches, 4 cms.http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 22:48

I have a confession to make to Steve ( Nikon Steve) as I produced a component that you have used all your working life, and I and some of my colleagues have the dreaded PCA all at a young age. Is there a connection?, who knows, I don't think we will ever know. I remember asking if the environment we worked in was toxic, and was told that all the elements produced were within safe levels, but when I pushed them on the cumulative effect they may have I was fobbed off. I personally think it is down to mankind tampering with nature for profit, but only time will tell.

Roy

Edited by member 05 Feb 2015 at 10:38 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 23:57

There may be something in the young men / high testosterone theory Julie - I got pregnant every time John turned the light off :-(

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 10:17

I think there must be connection between hormone production and certain cancers. Men in the prostate and testicles, women in breasts and ovaries suggest to me that the sites of these cancers are linked to hormones production in one shape or another. That much seems fairly obvious but from what has been said it also seems likely that external influences come into play too; riding a pedal cycle for men (but apparently not for women?), undergoing a vasectomy, as I did in my 30s, working with certain chemicals etc. And finally the fact that parents and or grandparents suffered from the disease strongly suggests that it is simply inherited.

Interestingly lots and lots of people don't get cancer in their lives, ride bikes, work in industries where chemicals are used etc. etc. so as usual what works for certainly doesn't not work for all.

I live in a small village where we have many friends. When I was diagnosed a significant number of our friends arranged for a test too, having been TOLD to go by their wives mostly. Strangely out of possibly a dozen men who were tested the only one who came back with a high PSa is a man in his mid sixties who is a vegan and has been, or at least a strict vegetarian, for most of his life. He's very fit but doesn't ride a bike (as far as I know) and works in accountancy - perhaps it's the ink!

Steve

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 16:54

To get down to the heart of this problem, the more statistics available , the better. However to break down the primary cause of any individual PCa must be nigh on impossible. The link between premature births and lung cancer to smoking would have been relatively straight forward to connect, but for PCa there are too many factors involved.

Not only that, environmental factors can change over even a short period of time, as can people's behaviours according to the latest fashions - eg going to the gym and cycling.

One can only hope that a more precise test than PSA comes along sooner rather than later, so that men can be tested routinely and PCa caught early as breast cancer is for females. Until that happens, I can't see any quick fix to bringing the statistics for PCa down.

Stay Calm And Carry On.

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 18:41

Whatever happened to the blood test that was to revolutionise prostate cancer testing. An enzyme had been discovered that when found in a blood sample would provide details of the existence of a tumour, its size, volume and Gleason score etc.

Oh, hang on, it was in the Daily Mail....

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 19:39

" In a large, detailed cross-sectional study of habitual cyclists, we present findings regarding the association between self-reported cycling time and ED, infertility, and prostate cancer. There was no biological gradient between cycling time and ED or infertility, which is at odds with previous suggestions of a causal relationship. The findings suggest a graded association between cycling and risk of prostate cancer, but whether this is a definitive association related to causation or diagnosis remains to be seen."

from

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jomh.2014.0012

User

Posted 07 Feb 2015 at 22:42

I did exactly the same as you. My husband had no symptoms, and I sent him off for a well man check for his 57th birthday. My dad has had prostate cancer for some time, and I thought it was time he got checked out. The GP didn't inform us of the result, so we assumed all was well.

He went back to the gp in sept to have his ears syringed, and the gp suggested that 7.6 was a bit high and we should repeat it. It was 9.2. He had prostatectomy in December, and they found a Gleason of 5 +4. Fortunately it was still contained.

He is now 9 weeks post op, with incontinence and impotence and I too feel terribly guilty.

Louise

User

Posted 08 Feb 2015 at 06:09

Hi Louise,

It sounds like you, ( even more than me) did the right thing sending him for the test. The GP practice seem remiss in not alerting your husband to the raised PSA level result...and it was only looked at again when your husband went back to GP for something else.

The men on this website seem both open and encouraging about the post op recovery stages...from what I've read, its still relatively early stages in the recovery phase re urinary incontinence...and the impotence seems to have a myriad of techniques to help as time progresses.

Like me, you may be feeling that ' now look what I've done' feeling. But, I can truly say you acted (unknowing) in the nick of time....as your husband's prostate cancer was needing to be discovered.

Sending a big hug to you from a fellow member of the 'guilt' club xx

Sue

User

Posted 08 Feb 2015 at 08:58

Louise

i was lucky - my GP was on the ball. I can't believe your OH's original result was not acted upon, let alone the 2nd. There is seemingly a lot os education still needed for the medics.

Paul

Stay Calm And Carry On.

Notification

hello...wife of a newbie - Gleason

Join the online community now.