My Older brother

oldfella · Jun 7, 2013

My older brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a month ago. Needless to say this was a bit upsetting to me. He told me that it was detected early and had made the decision to have surgery rather than chemo. (sp) He is 59. He had his op 2 days ago and has come out very well. His doc seems to think that they got it all and the cancer was contained to only his prostate. So In that I am very relieved. He is home recovering well. He is a strong man and a wheelchair athlete so his recovery will be fast. I am keeping my fingers crossed for him that the doc was right. My Grandfather on my mothers' side had it and never spilled the beans to us until it was too late. Since my father was killed at a young age of 43 he was never tested so no idea if he had it. My brother has had it, yes caught early and treated with surgery. So now down to me. I need to go and get this checked as I am headed for 54 in a couple of months. I am worried that the blood test will show high PSA levels due to exogenous test use and give a false indication. I have heard of biopsy's opening up the cancer to the rest of the body. All sorts of shit going through my head right now and basically yes...... I am scared!! (if that's the right way to word it?) I have just come off of a bit of a downer in my life, giving up body building, training, dieting and most things. I have just got myself back in the game and picking up things nicely. Maybe I have nothing to worry about. Maybe I am fine. But where I live at the moment is not really a place to have surgery of this type or even reliable tests done. A distinct lack of specialists here and skilled surgeons has me concerned. We are likely to move from here within a couple of months to a bigger city where I would be much more at ease getting better medical attention. Yes all my brothers, I am worried! I just needed to put this out there for my own sanity. Any and all comments welcome. I really am glad to be back here after a long, long break. This place was and is my home away from home. My family so to speak. Thanks everyone!

Aliendogstar · Jun 7, 2013

Father-in-law was just diagnosed and he's doing radiation tx. No sense driving yourself crazy. All you can do is follow the process. Just do what you need to do to give yourself some peace of mind

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

gabe walker · Jun 7, 2013

Highly likely most of us will get it at some point in our lives.. It is easily treatable by surg and chemo... All you can do is take preventative measures, routine PSA screening, early diagnosis/treatment and your good..

50% of males 50 y/o have cancer cells in their prostate and 80% of 80 year old males have it, and even if you do get it it most likely will not become invasive and only 3% of male die from it... Doctors act like its a surprise men get prostate cancer and you need to be aggressive to treat it or you'll die..

Prostate Cancer in Elderly Men
Prostate Cancer in Elderly Men

NIH-Role of Active Surveillance in the Management of Men With
Localized Prostate Cancer
NIH Conference: Role of Active Surveillance in the Management of Localized Prostate Cancer
"Active surveillance has emerged as a viable option that should be offered to patients with low-risk prostate cancer. More than 100,000 men a year diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States are candidates for this approach."
"Although most prostate cancers are slow growing and unlikely to spread, most men receive immediate treatment with surgery or radiation. These therapeutic strategies are associated with short- and long-term complications, including impotence and urinary incontinence. Only a small number of men choose observational strategies, which may delay the initiation of curative therapy or avoid it completely. Given the high prevalence of low-risk prostate cancer, there is an urgent need to clarify the role of active surveillance and other observational strategies as alternatives to immediate treatment."

Fear Often Overpowers Reason When Choosing Prostate Cancer Treatment
Fear Often Overpowers Reason When Choosing Prostate Cancer Treatment

renewlyf · Jun 7, 2013

It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there's nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized.
-Dr. Wayne Dyer

Worrying is like paying on a debt that may never come due.
- Will Rogers

Oldfella,

It's good to have you back on Pro Muscle!!

I'm not making light of the situation. My attitude today, after a lifetime of worrying about things that rarely came to fruition, is that I'll put my energy into it, when I'm faced with it. Whatever it, may be.

If you're moving in a couple of months closer to medical care that you have more trust in. Than decide that when you move you'll go get the "old geezer" check up. Then wait to see if you have anything to worry about at that time!!
In the meantime try to put those thoughts on the back burner. No amount of worry ever changed the outcome of anything!

I have a couple of friends with cancer, one being prostate. The guy with the prostate cancer had surgery and it got everything as far as they can see. His PSA #s came back a little bit elevated but significantly less than before the surgery. So he decided to go ahead with radiation just to be sure it's all gone. He is very upbeat and the Dr.s are very confident he will live free of this form cancer for a long time.
My other friend's situation is a bit more serious. Pancreas cancer, it was in remission for 1.5 years then came back. He is going to The Cancer Treatment Center of America. They are hitting it with everything they have. He is very optimistic as well. Only time will tell what happens.

Get to the gym and put all that energy into the iron!

reebokrunner456 · Jun 8, 2013

oldfella said:
My older brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a month ago. Needless to say this was a bit upsetting to me. He told me that it was detected early and had made the decision to have surgery rather than chemo. (sp) He is 59. He had his op 2 days ago and has come out very well. His doc seems to think that they got it all and the cancer was contained to only his prostate. So In that I am very relieved. He is home recovering well. He is a strong man and a wheelchair athlete so his recovery will be fast. I am keeping my fingers crossed for him that the doc was right. My Grandfather on my mothers' side had it and never spilled the beans to us until it was too late. Since my father was killed at a young age of 43 he was never tested so no idea if he had it. My brother has had it, yes caught early and treated with surgery. So now down to me. I need to go and get this checked as I am headed for 54 in a couple of months. I am worried that the blood test will show high PSA levels due to exogenous test use and give a false indication. I have heard of biopsy's opening up the cancer to the rest of the body. All sorts of shit going through my head right now and basically yes...... I am scared!! (if that's the right way to word it?) I have just come off of a bit of a downer in my life, giving up body building, training, dieting and most things. I have just got myself back in the game and picking up things nicely. Maybe I have nothing to worry about. Maybe I am fine. But where I live at the moment is not really a place to have surgery of this type or even reliable tests done. A distinct lack of specialists here and skilled surgeons has me concerned. We are likely to move from here within a couple of months to a bigger city where I would be much more at ease getting better medical attention. Yes all my brothers, I am worried! I just needed to put this out there for my own sanity. Any and all comments welcome. I really am glad to be back here after a long, long break. This place was and is my home away from home. My family so to speak. Thanks everyone!

I am very sorry to hear that. How much are you willing to change in terms of diet? If someone told me 13 months ago that there is but "one" disease and "one" cure, I would have said your fucking nuts... but I keep an open mind to everything and to my surprise, the research the statement just made sense...! Fast forward to today, and I'm feeling better than ever. Not that I had cancer... but it's all the same. Anyhow, if you are interested in the details please pm me and I will send you the link to the book and another short 30 pg. document that cuts to the chase and tells you all you need to do to achieve perfect health and/or regain your health. Do be forewarned that it will involve giving up the traditional high-protein bodybuilding diet... but hey if your outlook is pretty grim and all else fails, and you want to take a look info., then shoot me a PM.

pesty4077 · Jun 8, 2013

My older brother use to make fun of me when I was eating healthy. In the mean while he drank a lot, smoked and ate like crap. He died 2 years ago of a heart attack at 52. I actually was thinking of him today and missing him when I read this.

Cherish all the times with your family and have the best life you can when you can. You are at least trying to be proactive. I agree with Renewlyf, make the best of things and try not to stress about things you can not control. I will pray for you and your Brother, God bless both of you.

OuchThatHurts · Jun 8, 2013

On a long enough timeline, no man is going to escape prostate cancer. It's a matter of prolonging the inevitable as long as possible. I recently had prostatitis and it SUCKED so f-ing bad! (due to a UTI from passing a kidney stone). Fortunately, the prostate itself wasn't infected! That would have lasted for many weeks or months!

triathloncoach · Jun 8, 2013

In the early 90s my best friend told me his 75ish year old father was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. I told him it's generally a treatable and slow moving cancer so old age will get him before the prostate cancer. My friend's father is now 96. Really.

Best wishes to your brother.

oldfella · Jun 8, 2013

First of all thank you everyone for your thoughts and input. I do value the opinions and advice of our members here.
Reebokrunner, thank you for your offer and I will keep that up my sleeve. renewlyf, you are correct. That is possibly one of the things that kind of worries me, that fact that I do not put much energy into those things beyond my control. I mean most guys would probably dwell on this and make knee jerk reactions. I have never really been that kind of person. The one thing that really got me thinking (and worrying) about all of this was of course my brother and the news that my Grandad had it as well. Perhaps I am more worried about the outcome of the test more than not knowing if I am positive or not. I mean ignorance is bliss right....LOL. But to say I do not have concerns about all of this would be fooling myself for sure. Believe me, I am not losing any sleep over it but it does occupy some space in my daily thoughts. Being able to come here and discuss this with old and new friends is a real blessing. Oh I will def be waiting until I am in a bigger city to go and get the exam and tests. Until then I am and will be getting my fat ass to the gym and return to some semblance of the oldfella that once was.
As always, Pesty, OTH and Triathlon, Thanks guys. Its'good to know you guys are still here. Alien, gabe I appreciate your input and please keep it coming.