It’s been a good month from my perspective; yeah, the weather has been a bit wet and it’s not been cold enough, but I’ve carried on increasing my fitness, eating the right foods, losing a little more weight and generally feeling alright. Enjoying life even… what a change; I used to hate the dark months! No real changes on the cancer front for February: I’m still experiencing fatigue, hot-flushes and brain-fog, although I’m dealing with these problems much better and…
Some of you may have read my previous blog. I started it in 2022 to record and share my experiences following my diagnosis of Stage 4 prostate cancer. Things were going so well, but then the wheels fell off. I became so completely exhausted, in pain and desperate during the treatment that I needed to focus all my energy on getting through each day. This generally meant consuming loads of painkillers, considering whether I wanted to carry on, and trying…
2023 is certainly missing from this blog, for now, but it’s the year where I faced the lowest points of my life and also enjoyed some of the best times. From the fatigue and pain caused by the chemotherapy; the nausea and incontinence of radiotherapy, being almost unable to get out of bed owing to crippling neuropathy and crushing depression, to a sunshine filled day surrounded by family and great friends as my wife and I enjoyed our triple celebration….
The posts below this banner were originally written in the days and weeks following my initial diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer (Mid to late 2022). I became quite ill during the later parts of this period, although I didn’t realise how ill at the time. Unfortunately, I drifted away from writing; survival had become more important! These posts will be archived under the “Cancer Life” tab.
And so we move on to the next chapter of my unwanted adventure. I am defining this as the phase where I go through the more “Heavy duty” treatment: basically, the chemotherapy and the radiotherapy. The chemotherapy consists of 6 cycles. Each of these will last for approximately 3 weeks. Then there will probably be a 4-6 week break before we begin the 20 sessions of radiotherapy. I think that means the heavy duty treatment will take until April of…
I’d really wanted to draw things together before I moved on to the next chapter of this adventure however, as is often such in life, things got in the way, I became allergic to keyboards, I ran out of time, etc, etc. I now find myself writing this under the fog of chemo… but the chemo story belongs in the next chapter! So, what’s been going on? Why have I been too busy to write? As throughout July and August,…
Spoiler alert… The Bad is bad and The Plan will probably change. The Good is bigger and tougher than The Bad and harbours far fewer monkeys. The Bad Let’s get this out of the way first. Everyday symptoms of prostate cancer and its treatment are a drag: Fatigue, discomfort, the urge to go to the loo, rogue drips, hot flushes (20+ times every day), lack of sleep, etc. And that’s before the chemo starts. It’s hard to accept that I…
That’s what the last week has been… a rollercoaster The reality of my situation is beginning to sink in. Until 10 days ago, there was still a small chance that my cancer may have been locally advanced rather than metastatic (i.e. still within the prostate area and curable, rather than having spread and being incurable). Even in the immediate days after the oncologist delivered this news I felt ok about it. I saw it as a challenge, and if I’m…
After waiting for what felt like an eternity, yesterday was the day that I met with my oncologist for the first time. I had already done my research and was very happy to have learnt that Dr. John is an expert in urological oncology and one of the main-men at the Christie. I knew that I was with the right person. The latest diagnosis Dr. John spent some time listening to my recent history and brief list of symptoms: these…
The biopsy I had been dreading this procedure but had managed to put it to the back of my mind until the night before. Yesterday morning soon arrived and it was time for breakfast, some last minute worries and a shower; I wanted to be sparklingly clean as this was going to be an up-close and personal experience. I drove our car to the local hospital and, to Sam’s concern, set myself the goal of driving back home. Jo (an…