Post RP and SRT journey - oh joy

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  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    edited January 2021 #202
    Sqeaky bum time again.

    Sqeaky bum time again.

    Gave blood on Monday - results next Tuesday.

    Been an awful stressful year with COVID, losing my mum and unemployment. Hope I at least get good numbers!

  • Josephg
    Josephg Member Posts: 455 Member
    edited January 2021 #203
    Good Luck!

    I wish you the best of low numbers, Hew.

    The same goes for me, as I have both a blood draw and a PET scan this coming Monday.  I hope that my PSA number is low, and that the PET scan actually finds something that can be attacked and killed.

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    edited January 2021 #204
    Cross fingers for both os us

    Cross fingers for both os us for this and for all you guys over there in this current crazy time.

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    #205
    Fine

    Hello you two*,

    Don't worry Hew, you will be fine.
    Your recurrence was not serious and it was treated very early so the likelihood is that it is all gone.
    I have developed a short term attitude to life, I just get on with it from day to day.
    With my initial diagnosis I could be very ill, on extended ADT or even dead by now but I am not.
    So happy days and pour the gin and tonic.
    Current bad news is that the wife has started drinking my beer and the cat was licking the top of the bottle last night.
    The good news is that we are moving to the country, I am hoping that the cat will transfer some of its toilet activities from the litter box to the garden.
    I am planning on a good plot of perennials with bare earth in between that she can use for cat relief and add some fertiliser as well.

    Best wishes,

    Georges

    * I have never heard anyone use this is outside The Archers where it is a frequent script device


  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,701 Member
    edited January 2021 #206
    Let's hope for the best

    Sorry to hear about the lost of your mum. I hope you get a PSA result that pleases you. In any case, the PSA never maintains exactly the same level if the result is above the assay's LLD. It may fluctuate with no particular meaning in tests done in short term intervals. You would need three constant increases to get a meaning.

    Let's be careful with the Covid issue. Yesterday there were more than 10,000 positive cases confirmed in Portugal (a record) where testing is done in lower numbers. UK also reports a high number of newer daily cases. Let's protect our homes from possible invasion by the virus.

    Best,

    VGama

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    edited January 2021 #207
    Hi chaps

    Hi chaps

    It's been hard to have the devil maycare attitude as I have had a lot happen to me in 2020 but I am trying take it one day at a time. The hardest thing is not having a job during a recession and pandemic and feeling like like I am leeching off my wonderful wife who has her job. That plus I hate the career and industry I am in with a passion. I think I may become a street sweeper just to keep away from paperwork and pressure.

    Sadly I am off the booze although I may break that rule on the 20th Innocent

    Stay safe!

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    edited January 2021 #208
    Grim

    Hi Hew,

    Things can get a bit grim round here as well.
    I try not to think about the long term prospects for myself. I had a pretty serious but very localised cancer. I may be cured but the balance of probabilities must be that I will have a recurrence. There may be long term effects from the surgery and radiation that may range from incontinence to all sorts of nasties.
    So these are all things to keep in the dark hole of my mind.
    My wife is not as fit as me, before I was ill I found looking after everything quite easy, now I have the after effects of my own illness to support as well.
    On the brighter side we have a rate of 40 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people every seven days in our area, this compares well with the rate for all of France which is around 280 cases per 100,000 every seven days, needless to say there are black spots in the low thousands.
    But the French are rolling out the vaccination program at a snail's pace of thousands per week, they have no sense of urgency at all, and the rate of COVID-19 is climbing slowly but inexorably with the idiots that supposedly govern the place resigned to a third lockdown with all that will entail.
    Bloody amphibians; they think they are scientists and statesmen like Dalton and Napoleon when in reality they are drunken scribblers like Rabelais or worse.

    Happy New Year,

    Georges

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    edited January 2021 #209
    Feb 2019: 0.07

    Feb 2019: 0.07

    Jul 2019: 0.05

    Nov 2019: 0.09

    Feb 2020: 0.09

    May 2020: 0.05

    August 2020: 0.06

    Jan 2021: 0.07

    Next check 4 months, new machine coming in with undetectable < 0.025 instead of < 0.04.

    Slightly unsettled.

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    edited January 2021 #210
    No significance

    Hi Hew,

    I would not sweat myself about that, really it is not doing anything for the moment, it is probably machine rattle.
    Give the wife a cuddle and try not to think about it.
    PSA results are machine and analysis technique dependent, so it may change a little for good or ill with the next analysis.

    Best wishes,

    Georges

  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,701 Member
    edited January 2021 #211

    Cushions, 

    Congratulations on the continuous remission.  I believe the result gave you some peace of mind.

    Let's celebrate it.

    VG Tongue Out

     

  • Old Salt
    Old Salt Member Posts: 1,505 Member
    #212
    I agree

    that those PSA data are just noisy and do not signify a trend.

    Time to relax...

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    edited January 2021 #213
    Thanks folks. Was rather ill

    Thanks folks. Was rather ill before Xmas and my confidence took a hell of a hit. I shall proceed as if I had a pair :)

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    edited January 2021 #214
    My nurse was fine with a

    My nurse was fine with a longer test gap but offered four months as I am a wuss. Do you think six months is safe as a test gap now?

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    #215
    Why not?

    Hi Cushions,

    I would go with what you are comfortable with.
    If it does not do anything in three months or four months then it will not do anything more in six months or twelve months.
    It could recur but it is fairly unlikely, the chance of recurrence is something we all have to live with.
    Watching it more intently will not make it not recur or vice versa.
    Make yourself a nice cup of tea, light a candle, count your blessings.

    Best wishes,

    Georges

  • GeorgeG
    GeorgeG Member Posts: 152
    #216
    I wish I had your numbers

    I agree, such small variations on such small numbers don’t mean much. Your numbers and trend look good, I wish I had them. That said, I am happy for you. I know how hard it is but try to relax and celebrate days with no confirmed bad news. In the beginning you think that the hardest part is to master all the choices and research and maybe it is but eventually you realize that the biggest challenge is ignoring the “what if’s” and to enjoy all of the many good days. Generally speaking, PC is slow growing and treatable. Most of us have many years or even decades. If a man lives to be 85 he has a very high chance of dying with but not of PC. Many people live a Very long time with cancer, with modern testing and imaging many more of us know about it. The trick is to learn to make peace with it and ignore it if there is no bad news today. I always stretch my testing out to the limit that my doctor advises because it helps keep me relaxed and enjoying my good days.

     

    None of us ever knows for sure what tomorrow brings but what we do know is that for now we get to carry on and if we can manage our fear of what could happen then we can enjoy it.

     

    George

     

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    edited March 2021 #217
    Thanks George. I am mr Worry

    Thanks George. I am mr Worry as you all know :)

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    #218
    Next PSA test is due in three

    Next PSA test is due in three weeks as per the four month window I kind of fell into with the nurse. I'm right up to myh mecl in life at the moment and cannot be doing with the stress of the test so I am goinjg to ask to punt it to July which takes it to the 6 months which they originally offered in January.

     

    Onwards and upwards.

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    edited April 2021 #219
    Disorientated

    Hi Hew,

    I think I know how you feel, we are packing up to move, so the whole flat is full of boxes.
    We are stuck in lock down, so it is like endless French Sundays with only a few shops open, not much traffic, etc.
    Time off from packing is spent on local walks or watching TV.
    Cattifluff is unaware of what is about to happen as she snoozes in the sun in her favourite window.
    Next Tuesday, if all goes to plan, she will be plonked in her cat carrier and shipped off to a house, the evening should see her looking out over her garden.
    There is an excellent chance that your tests are going to be OK and you are long term remission / cured.
    I am still trying to adapt to the thought that I am on the other side, I am in remission and will probably live a long time, maybe another decade or two.
    From that point of view I am one of the lucky ones, but at the same time I have to adapt to the new me, I have paid a price for the treatment.
    We all have to try and look on the bright side, even though sometimes it seems pretty effectively hidden.
    I am hoping for a good summer, no tests on the horizon until October.

    Onwards and upwards,

    Georges

  • hewhositsoncushions
    hewhositsoncushions Member Posts: 411 Member
    #220
    Georges Calvez said:

    Disorientated

    Hi Hew,

    I think I know how you feel, we are packing up to move, so the whole flat is full of boxes.
    We are stuck in lock down, so it is like endless French Sundays with only a few shops open, not much traffic, etc.
    Time off from packing is spent on local walks or watching TV.
    Cattifluff is unaware of what is about to happen as she snoozes in the sun in her favourite window.
    Next Tuesday, if all goes to plan, she will be plonked in her cat carrier and shipped off to a house, the evening should see her looking out over her garden.
    There is an excellent chance that your tests are going to be OK and you are long term remission / cured.
    I am still trying to adapt to the thought that I am on the other side, I am in remission and will probably live a long time, maybe another decade or two.
    From that point of view I am one of the lucky ones, but at the same time I have to adapt to the new me, I have paid a price for the treatment.
    We all have to try and look on the bright side, even though sometimes it seems pretty effectively hidden.
    I am hoping for a good summer, no tests on the horizon until October.

    Onwards and upwards,

    Georges

    Good luck with the move. Hope

    Good luck with the move. Hope it goes well!

    The nurse was very pleased I asked for six monthly and has made the change, having confirmed there is no medical reason not to. I made it clear it was part of my sorting my head out and getting on with life.

    Onwards and upwards to a good summer for all of us!

    H

  • Georges Calvez
    Georges Calvez Member Posts: 547 Member
    edited May 2021 #221
    It is blowing a gale but I have a bottle of Pimms...

    Hi Hew,

    Good for you, I see that the dreaded COVID-19 is on the downturn in the UK so maybe you will snag a few pints in a beer garden, etc.
    It is as dry as a dry thing here, blowing a gale and cold, but I have snagged a few bottles of Pimms for EUR 10 per bottle and when the summer arrives it will be Pimms on the terrace in the sun with baguette and tapenade faite maison.
    We bought a rotary clothes line today, washing machine arrives tomorrow, fixed line internet instead of the current 4G fix Wednesday
    Life must go on!

    Best wishes for a good summer because you deserve it!,

    Georges

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