“Secret Men’s Business” Cancer

[Tony]

By the time most of you read this, I will be on the operating table having a radical prostatectomy to remove my cancer riddled prostate.

I have decided to share my experience to help raise the awareness of prostate cancer, not to gain sympathy or support. I have all of the support I need from my wonderful family and friends. There are many people with cancer much worse off than me.

I am a very fit 55yo who enjoys bushwalking, long distance/ mountain running and road bike racing, I was in good health and I did not have any symptoms. I did not start prostate cancer tests (PSA) until last year at the age of 54. At the first test, my PSA reading was at the higher end of normal and at my 12 month follow-up, my PSA reading was well above normal. I was then told that I had a one in three chance of having prostate cancer and that I needed a biopsy to find out. 6 weeks later and after the biopsy test, I found out that I had cancer; I was one of the one in three. It was explained to me by the urologist that the cancer appeared to be in its early stages and if I was to get prostrate cancer this was the one to get but at my age one thing was for sure, doing nothing about the cancer was not an option.

After the results of some further scans came in, they showed that the cancer was a bit more advanced than I was first led to believe, but I might be lucky. The cancer appears that it could still be contained in the prostate and it had not yet spread to my bones, but the surgeon could not guarantee that some cancer cells have not spread outside of my prostate.

Because my cancer was not detected early enough, I possibly will have some long term consequences. I will lose some nerves which mean that I will have 60-70% chance that I will be impotent and a 5% chance that I will be incontinent for the rest of my life. I have decided that I will deal with these problems when needed. I am hoping that the physical and mental toughness built up from many years of bushwalking and endurance sports will help me get through what I have been told will be a difficult time.

I was one of those men that always thought that prostate cancer will not happen to me, sadly while a lot of my friends have seen their GP and had the tests a few will not as they think it will not happen to them.

I would like to urge all men over forty who read bushwalk.com who have not already started, to see their GP and get annual PSA checks; it is as simple as giving blood once a year. If you think about the fact that “One in 9 men in Australia will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime” and consider the number of bushwalk.com male members, which is a lot of members of bushwalk.com who may develop prostrate cancer.

I hope to be back on bushwalk.com forum soon (Friday if all goes well) and bushwalking soon after that.

Tony

Below is some information and statistics from the, The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) http://www.prostate.org.au/articleLive/

Caught in its early stages prostate cancer can be cured, especially when the cancer is still confined within the prostate gland. Testing through a blood test - the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA ) or DRE (digital rectal examination) offers the best opportunity to determine the presence of cancer.

Early detection is the key to enabling better outcomes and potential cure of prostate cancer. Accordingly, PCFA (The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia) recommends that men at 50 with no family history of prostate cancer, and men at 40 with a family history, should seek voluntary annual assessments in the form of a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test together with a Digital Rectal Examination (DRE).

Each year in Australia, close to 3,300 men die of prostate cancer - equal to the number of women who die from breast cancer annually. Around 20,000 new cases are diagnosed in Australia every year.
Each day about 32 men learn news that they have prostate cancer - tragically one man every three hours will lose his battle against this insidious disease.

One in 9 men in Australia will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Australian men and is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in men.

As many men die from prostate cancer as women die from breast cancer but... a national survey by PCFA in 2002 showed that while 78% of women felt well informed about breast cancer – only 52% of men felt informed about prostate cancer.

The chance of developing prostate cancer increases:

As men get older.

If there is a family history of prostate cancer eg a man with a father or brother diagnosed with prostate cancer

Prostate Cancer Statistics

What is the chance for a diagnosis of prostate cancer:

For a man in his 40s -
1 in 1000
For a man in his 50s -
12 in 1000
For a man in his 60s -
45 in 1000
For a man in his 70s -
80 in 1000

[flatfoot]

Thanks for having the courage to tell us about this very personal battle. I was not aware that PSA tests are needed that early. I will heed your advice as I will be forty in the near future.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Hope it all goes smoothly and you have a speedy recovery Tony!!

[Nuts]

..

[Drifting]

I'm sure you'll be back on the trail in no time. Thank you for sharing this with us- it is an important story to tell.

[Penguin]

Agree with al the above.

Tony, thanks for being happy to tell your story.

All the best and a speedy recovery.

Penguin

[johnw]

Tony, All the very best for a speedy recovery and thanks for sharing that. I'm the same age and also quite fit (except for a buggered knee), but definitely neglectful of the same health issues. Only just got around to taking a bowel cancer test; I will take your advice. Hope to see you back in action soon.

[corvus]

Dad had Prostate Cancer it in effect did nor kill him it was long term bed that did it, pneumonia the silent killer that did it, so get it checked every year ,I do.
corvus

[flyfisher]

All the bestTony, hope to hear you are back in the bush and in good health very shortly.
ff

[nickL]

thanks for sharing your story tony

my doctor told me you recently i didnt need to get checked until 50 - i think your advice is much more sound particularly when it is only a blood test - this goes to say something for the power of sharing info and experience

all the best
nick

[Robbo]

As others have mentioned, thanks for sharing this. All the best with your recovery and trust you'll be back in the bush soon.

I am in the valley of decision re this very thing - have an appointment tomorrow with my urologist. I do not have cancer but an enlarged (very) prostrate and so suffer from a number of the symptoms already. It is not so much a matter of if, but when, to have surgery - a 'rebore' is not an option for me.

A very handy reminder to all of the male BWT readers! Better to start your checks earlier rather than later - especially if there is any history of it in your family.

TR

[Ent]

Hi Tony

Thanks for the willingness to raise awareness of the silient killer that we men tend to avoid talking about. More than one health professional has commented that if men's health standards applied to women's health then there would be rallies in the street to call for action. Instead we tend to avoid such things thinking that they do not apply to us.

Anyway best wishes for a speedy recovery and the minimal long lasting ill effects. For me it means I better find that letter from the GP to get my check up done. It is somewhere on the diner table, I think. What was I saying about men looking after their health?

Cheers Brett

[Taurë-rana]

I hope everything went well Tony, and thanks for the wake up call.
While men typically tend to be less careful about their health than women, there are still plenty of women who need the same jolt, and I suspect that those of us who keep ourselves fit and healthy are possibly the worst offenders. Regular inconvenient and uncomfortable checks for breast and cervical cancer are very easy to put off, and the same goes for checking for bowel cancer for both men and women.
Rachel

[sirius Tas]

G,day Tony,
Hope everything has gone really well and that your recovery is swift and you can get back to doing what you love.
A definite wake up call to us all...many thanks for your great courage in sharing this with us all.
Once again...hope all has gone well...take care...Cheers sirius.

[Tony]

I have just arrived home. I would like thank everybody for your wishes and encouragement.

The operation went very well, my fitness has played a big part, even the surgeon has been surprised by the speed of my recovery though the hardest part of my recovery starts now.

Tony

[flatfoot]

Great that you are off to a good start!

[Nick S]

congrats on the speedy recovery tony, hope it goes well in the future.

[Tony]

It has been just over five months since my Radical Prostatectomy operation and I thought that I would give an update.

First I would like to thank all those on BWT/BA who wished me all the best and a speedy recovery.

My recovery is going quite well, though I still have a bit to go, I am still trying to fully recover my continence, this can take from 1 day to years, some never, and the norm is 6-12 months, I look like falling into the latter. The good news is that my physio expects me to fully recover, I have to spend at least 30 minutes every day doing pelvic floor exercises.

The post operation pathology showed that I was very lucky, the cancer had spread outside the prostate but was most probably still contained inside the sack that the prostate is in, only time will tell. I still have to undergo regular PSA tests, so far the two PSA tests that I have had, 6 weeks and 18 weeks, the results are good but I cannot be certain that the surgeon has got all of the cancer.

Because my cancer was so advanced, I had more of my body removed that I would have liked, this has made my continence recovery a bit harder and I lost some nerves that has left me with what will probably be long term ED, as mentioned before the continence recovery is happening and with modern medicine I hope to eventually make headway on the ED.

I am starting to regain my fitness and have been on a few bushwalks, I have been running for a while and last week got on my road bike for the first time, this was not that successful but it is still a step forward, I am going on a 13 hour bushwalk this Saturday and in a few weeks hopefully I will going on a three day walk up Hannels Spur to Koszi and back.

If some of you think it will not happen to you then think again, since my operation a work colleague was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and has since had his Prostate removed, my work colleague who I share an office with, his father was diagnosed with prostate Cancer two weeks ago and my 51 yo bushwalking/fishing mate who finally got around to having a PSA test was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer last Friday, though there is some good news with my mate, while I am upset that he has got Prostate Cancer there is some good news as it looks like he has had early diagnosis which will help him no end with treatment and recovery.

Recently I was listening to a Prostate Cancer specialist talk on the radio and he was saying that there are new treatments coming out that if the Cancer is detected early enough, the Cancer can be treated with no side effects. (oh I wish).

Even though my recovery is not as fast as I would like I look at my self as one of the lucky ones, there are many people out there that are much worse off than me.

Tony

[photohiker]

Thanks for the update Tony, Good to hear the recovery story - it doesn't get a lot of press but its important information.

Time to book my checkup, thanks for the reminder!

[frenchy_84]

Be aware as well that we are now in 'Movember', where a large proportion of the funds raised will go to the prostate cancer foundation of australia. So if you know someone growing a mo please donate. And if you dont know anyone growing a mo please sponsor me. Its a very worthy cause

[flyfisher]

Great to hear that your recovery is going well Tony,good luck with your coming walks.
ff

[Liamy77]

All the best with all of it Tony.

Trade ya a sponsorship frenchy?
im on team Stjohn'schopshop...

[Son of a Beach]

OK, this topic has inspired me to do Movember for the first time. Anyone else doing Movember, please add you link for sponsorship payments to this topic.

And of course, please sponsor ME (or somebody else ) for Movember to raise money for prostate cancer research.

[Robbo]

Hello Tony

As with those who posted, thanks for the update, Tony. Good to hear you are recovering well and that at this stage all the cancer has been removed. The side effects are not good - but much better than the alternative?!

Looking forward to further reposts and trust the planned walks go well.

Cheers

TR

[photohiker]

Time to book my checkup, thanks for the reminder!

Results came in yesterday. Thankfully clear for another year. Cholesterol seems to be stuck at 3.6 - must be all those timtam shooters keeping it down.

[Moondog55]

There is another "Secret" mens cancer out there we don't talk about much, that is breast cancer, i hate the idea of losing my manhood to Prostate cancer but I was one of the 1 in 10,000 who got breast cancer, so i don't do movember I do PINK now

[Moondog55]

Tony I am very glad you caught it in time and that the updates are still in the clear

[Moondog55]

Wrote this last year, been almost a full year now, soon I have to go back for my annual check-up; the "Big C' always needs to be monitored, for me it will be the next 3 years or so.

Well it has been a hell of a month.
Just four weeks ago my partner asked me if I had noticed a discharge from my right nipple, Hell I'm a bloke' I don't pay attention to that sort of thing. CC was very concerned so I thought I should do some research, every Google link I found made me more concerned so I did a quick finger search of the chest area and found a biggish and hard lump just behind the left nipple.

Not good I thought, that wasn't there last year when I had a physical.

I thought it might be related to the attack of Shingles I had on the left side last year but went and saw a doctor that next day.

I’m always worried when a young doctor says "Hmmmm, Interesting!'
Especially when they pull strings and arrange for an urgent Ultrasound the next day.

Go back to the doctor to get the results, almost immediately I have an appointment to see a breast surgeon for an examination, told not to take aspirin or any NSAIDs or eat a heavy breakfast that day; this is a little scary but I put on my brave face and act as if there is nothing wrong, CC is so worried that I think she is close to breaking down.

Anyway the surgeon is a nice bloke but do I actually want a doctor who snowboards? And he collects medical related war material, YES I say to myself, this bloke is cool and he has an engaging and competent manner.

An hour later after a local anesthetic I have 4 big hole in my left tit and a big blood soaked bandage covering my chest and we drive home to wait, with an appointment to see this bloke in a few days time.



Get to the surgery and by this time CC is alreasdy planning my funeral and crying almost non-stop; I feel OK, if I have anything bad I have had a wonderful and lucky life, kids are healthy and my wife will be financially OK if I die; so why worry? We all die sometime.
Anyway I go into the surgery with CC holding my hand and the first words out of the doctors mouth are

""I have booked you in for surgery nest Tuesday; as I have a clinic day at the hospital, and a theater booked already; are you going to go as a private or public patient??""

At that point CC almost goes into shock but the doctor starts to describe the procedure he will perform and I am really interested in the details.
It IS cancer, breast cancer is not common in men but I have it, and it is an early stage, how early he can't say as the biopsy is not clear.

This is a 'No-brainer' you do not *&%$#! around with cancer, cut it out and start what ever treatment is needed.

That was a fortnite ago; I had a mastectomy last Tuesday so for a week I have been in recovery.
I hate morphine, the way it slows you down and bungs up your insides, and the 'Endone' Oxycodine does the same thing, I needed it for the first 3 days so I could sleep, but since then it is panadol only.


So now I am waiting while the surgery heals, they itch like crazy and I cannot scratch, the sticky tape is starting to come off on its own so in a day or so I will be able to see the scar, I am not worried about loosing my left nipple, they are redundant in a man, it is the looking lopsided thing, I may get a cosmetic tattoo in a month or three if I find I feel odd about my appearance.




2/

This is itching like mad and I can't scratch, ever tried not scratching an unbearable itch??

I had to go into the doctors again today for another injection in the buttocks I am on 3 different anti-biotics at the moment, one to stop infection at the surgery site and two for the hospital acquired pneumonia.
But I guess the itch means it is healing.
I have not had a good look at the scarring yet, still got lots of tape covering the site and I am not going to disobey doctors orders on this one.

[Tony]

Hi Moondog,

Sorry to hear that you have BC, I hope you heal very soon and quickly get back to your normal life.

Thanks for sharing your experience, it is very brave of you especially at such a difficult time. I would like to encourage you to hang in there as even though during recovery times, it may get tough you will evetually recover and go bushwalking again.

During the worst of my ordeal I kept thinking of the people that are much worst off than me, I was especially moved by a story on the TV show RPA about a young woman, Felicity who at the age of 19 had BC and under went a double radical mastectomy, through out the ordeal she kept her beautiful smile and even used the reconstruction to have her breasts enlarged, but she eventually broke down when she found out that the cancer had spread and that she was going to loose her hair during the chemotherapy treatment.

I am still healing, I have some continence recovery to go but I am told will eventually recover, the ED could be another story, I still have hope, but live is good, I am competing in the ACT Veterans mountain running championships tomorrow morning, I am back training on my bike and hope to competing in races soon. Two weeks ago I did a 55k walk with 2500m accent, we walked over the highest ten peaks in Australia and a few more, on one day we walk 33k and climbed 1500m, most of it we carried our packs.

I used my inactive time to my advantage being a gear freak I was able to save up to buy some gear that I wanted.

get well soon.

Tony

[stepbystep]

Thanks for sharing Moondog, and in such a wonderfully descriptive way.

The big C effects all of us in some way and your experience can teach us all something, so thanks again.
All the best mate and I trust you will push through this to better and happier days and many more years doing the things you love with those you love.

Best wishes, Dan.

BTW, no more freeze dried meals, that stuff is no good for ya