How has prostate cancer impacted you mentally?

@Bryanthemercman‍  Hello, thank you for comment and for sharing your experience. I'm glad to hear your cancer hasn't taken a toll on you mentally. The 12th is coming up very soon, do let us know if you get to enjoy your car! 

Take care,
Courtney

I had just come back from a family holiday down south for my 60th birthday & had my usual cholesterol /Thyroid test, I had no symptoms so I was initially shocked but by the time I was officially told we had come to terms with it. Don't think it had much effect on my mental health mainly thanks to my wonderful family. I also think talking about it helped, I told family & friends, I put it in groups on Facebook & really believe all the good wishes helped. I have ME so this has caused some of the  side effects to be worse but having managed this for 20yrs makes it easier to manage the new problems but do suffer sometimes with depression seems to come out of nowhere for day or two, but I talk to my family about it & they help me through it.

Update on my continued observations. Had my usual 6 monthly psa blood test on Monday 24th August. Just had my first telephone consultation this morning Thursday 27th at 9.20am. Been a bit apprehensive waiting for the result. However, all is well, psa level is still steady at 0.01, been this since 2017. How time flies by. Next consultation 6 month's time.

Had my latest telephone consultation today, 25th Feb 2021, psa level still at less than 0.01. Such a relief that it is stable and no hint of cancer. My next appointment in 6 months time.

Hello @mikesalmons‍, that's so good to hear that you're doing well and your PSA is continuing to stay low! 

Take care,
Courtney

Hello everyone,

How are you doing today?

I wanted to bring this intriguing topic for discussion back to the table.

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In what ways has your journey with prostate cancer affected you psychologically? Are there fears of recurrence or progression that haunt you in your dreams? Has the diagnosis left you feeling downhearted, or has it maybe inspired motivation within you?

We'd love to hear your experiences and stories on this matter.

Take care,

Somya from the Carenity team 🌼

I was diagnosed February 2023, I had no symptoms and only got tested as my younger brother had been diagnosed. My first PSA was 3.9 and the dr sent me for more investigations. My biopsy, the most painful experience of my life, came back with a gleason 7, 4+3. They immediately put me on ADT, hot flashes sometimes 2-3 a day some days every hour, waking up in the middle of the night having to change bed sheets because i had sweated so badly. 0 libido which was terrible as I had a partner 30 years younger than me and we had a very sexual relationship up to this point, that disappeared almost overnight. I opted for seed brachytherapy as surgeon said he couldn't do nerve sparing surgery, although I had to fight even to see a radiotherapist, the urology dept at my local hospital said I had no choice except radical prostatectomy. The ADT affected me the most, penile shrinkage was the most soul destroying effect, it wasn't even mentioned until the day of my op, and mild ED. Blue tablets and a pump have mostly remedied that situation, but my lack of confidence in being able to "do the job" are still very much with me. I stopped working, felt terrible from the weight gain and on numerous occasions asked myself if I even wanted to live like this. I spend my time exercising and have now lost 20kg and back to a good level of fitness. My relationship broke down after 10 years, mostly due to my mental health from the treatment and it's side effects and I struggle to come to terms with it. I know I am lucky, I can still get an erection but it's not like it used to be and I don't want to meet anyone new. I have worked hard all my life and at only 58 I still struggle with not working or wanting to anymore either. My latest PSA was 2.1, after dropping to 0.03, 0.17 and 0.34 after op, I have another PSA this coming week and hopefully the last one was just a bump, which I am told often happens after seed brachytherapy along with ADT. Recently my urgency to urinate has increased quite considerably and my flow rate has decreased too. The thought of having to go back for more treatment, especially ADT has stopped me from making any plans for my future.

I probably sound very depressed, I'm not, I always look on the bright side but I also would rather have quality of life over quantity of life.