Diagnosed at 46 in the UK, curious what US doctors advise on diet & exercise after a prostate cancer

Stevenson953

Hi everyone,

I'm Mark, writing from the UK. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer (2021) at age 46, and since then I've been digging into the kinds of lifestyle advice people are given especially around diet and exercise after they’re diagnosed.

Over here, the focus from medical teams tends to be almost entirely on treatment, with very little said about how diet, fitness, or day-to-day habits might help recovery or long-term health. I have a Substack that's starting to grow a wider US audience, and I’d really like to understand how things are done your side of the pond.

If you're happy to share, I’d love to know:

• Did your doctors or care team talk to you about changing your diet? If so, what kind of advice did they give?
• Were you encouraged to do certain types of exercise before or after surgery/treatment?
• Was any of this support part of your standard care, or did you have to seek it out yourself?

I’m looking to gather personal experiences to help inform and inspire others, and I’d really appreciate anything you’re happy to share. You can check out my story here if you're curious: https://prostatecancer.substack.com

Thanks so much,
Mark (UK)

Marlon

Interesting question, and I'm guessing things might work differently in the UK. My experience has been that care is compartmentalized. My urologist just gave out some pamphlets that talked about diet, and referred me to therapist for exercises specific to continence control. The hospital nurses gave me advice on temporary diet issues at discharge, mostly about avoiding constipation. Questions about larger scope diet and exercise were mostly the responsibility of my primary care doctor (GP) and not necessarily related to my surgery. I did ask my urologist specific questions about doing certain activities, like bicycle-riding. But no pro-active advice was given from him.

Arx001

Hello I thing I saw internationally (not UK or US) was the huge but silent role of litigation. As a cancer patient we are totally different from a sinusitis patient from a risk perspective. Thus a medical complaint / lawsuit is always possible by us/family/hospital/government and shapes not only the treatment but also the behavior of all doctors to varying degrees. It makes the doctors to take less risk, talk less, suggest less. Furthermore clinics have their own styles. They may not reformulate a chemo cocktail but will have preferable treatment options over others. My surgeon told me “they” don’t like "anymore" partial removal (in rectal cancer) to give as an example.

To answer your Qs:

• Yes I was suggested a diet during the treatment
• I was suggested to be kept physically active
• I was told to avoid alcohol

Yet no one told me specifically how to do such a formula as below possibly because there is no medical proof about it. Here’s my post aiming to discuss medically proven supplements/vitamins etc. to avoiding recurrence, based on a doctor’s post:

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/329003/what-do-you-do-to-prevent-recurrence

Yet lack of medical proof is not necessarily something bad. It may not mean one takes strange pills to treat cancer. It may simply mean no one made a blind, controlled study where one group eats berries and the other avoids them. To me that’s a huge gray area…and that’s why petri dishes and animals prove immense insight…

Clevelandguy

Hi,

I had my Prostate removed in 2014, was not overweight or did I drink alcohol other than a occasional beer. Don’t remember any eating or exercise programs that were recommended other than to a pelvic floor specialist if needed.

Dave 3+4

Stevenson953

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1722539#Comment_1722539

Thank you Marlon

Stevenson953

Good point, never considered that perspective.