Prostate Cancer Archives - About My Prostate Cancer

More About My Follow Ups

I’ve already mentioned my prostate cancer follow-ups. Now, I want to bring you up to date with the latest follow-up.

I got a “blood form” last year so that I could arrange a new blood test. This needed to be in time for my next test which was scheduled for November 2022.

I had the blood test at the end of October but this time there was no phone call as it was arranged that I was considered suitable for remote monitoring. Because of the Covid-19 situation, I didn’t need to attend the hospital for my follow-ups.

Thankfully my PSA number has remained very low (0.06) this time so it looks as if the Consultants promise to cure me has actually come true. Just out of interest my number has been very low every time I have had a PSA test since finishing the radiotherapy treatment.

The actual numbers have been: <0.01, <0.01, 0.03, 0.09. 0.07 and this time it was 0.06. I am very grateful to everyone at the at the Christie Hospital and the staff of the Macmillan cancer centre. I have now been monitored by the Urology team at Leighton hospital since 2020

My Follow-ups

I have been very satisfied with my follow-ups.

Since I finished the treatment back in 2018, my follow-ups have taken place every 6 months. The most recent one was at the beginning of November this year (2020).

I got a “blood form” last year so that I could arrange a new blood test. This needed to be in time for my next appointment which was scheduled for the 9th November 2020.

I had the blood test at the end of October and took the phone call as arranged on the 9th. Because of the Covid-19 situation I didn’t need to attend the hospital for my follow-ups.

Thankfully my PSA number has remained very low (0.09) this time so it looks as if the Consultants promise to cure me has actually come true. Just out of interest my number has been very low every time I have had a PSA test since finishing the radiotherapy treatment.

The actual numbers have been: <0.01, <0.01, 0.03 and 0.09. and I am very grateful to everyone at the at the Christie Hospital and the staff of the Macmillan cancer centre. I have now been discharged into the care of the Urology team at Leighton hospital.

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Intermittent Catheterisation

Once I’d been shown what to do with a catheter, intermittent catheterisation was quite easy.

All it involved was shoving a catheter into my bladder twice a day to ensure that I was draining the pee away fully. Nervously I started doing it at home with my long suffering wife by my side “in case I fainted”.

To make it worse it had to be measured each time and a record kept for my next visit to Urology.

However it soon became second nature and the visits to Urology were just part and parcel of the ongoing treatment which continued until around Christmas time when I stopped the morning one and was just continuing with the one before bedtime.

My first visit to Urology after Christmas was when I stopped the intermittent catheterisation altogether.

Since the I’ve had a roller-coaster of a time with my bladder but its getting better now after another 10 months of ups and downs.

Now as I write this in October 2019, it is becoming a distant memory and other things have been happening since stopped the intermittent catheterisation to cheer me up.

Removing the Catheter

I had an appointment scheduled for the removal of the catheter at the Urology department of Leighton hospital on 12th November 2018.

All went well, or so I thought until a few days later when I had trouble peeing. So back I went to Urology, where I was told that I would need to have “intermittent catheterisation” which I must do my self every night and morning .

That was fine until the nurse showed me what I had to do, however it wasn’t as embarrassing as it sounds, standing there with my trousers around my ankles, but pleasant it wasn’t.

More About My Prostate Cancer Treatment

In April this year (2019) I had a hormone injection,which unbeknown to me was unnecessary.

The day after the injection my appointment at the Macmillan Cancer Centre was due, so I went along to it.

While I was there they sent me for a further blood test, despite my having had the hormone injection, so I presumed it wouldn’t count. Any way it did and I’m very pleased to say that the PSA number which had been as high as 4.05 actually read <0.01 WOW!!

My wife and I were in tears when the letter came through about 3 weeks after the bloods were taken.

Since then, I’ve obviously had no more hormone injections but I have had another blood test – actually when I thought I might have had a water infection. Thankfully there was no infection but the GP had ordered a blood test which included the PSA test and again got the reading of <0.01 which is basically undetectable WOW!

The New Catheter

Once the mistake of putting a catheter somewhere it should never have been was discovered it was a panic to put it right.

Urologists, Specialist Nurse Practitioners and doctors all appeared, to try to sort out the catheter. After being subjected to all sorts of poking and prodding, while they tried different ideas until it was sorted. WHAT A RELIEF that was!!

The New Catheter

When the first two or three attempts failed the brought in a Specialist Urologist from Manchester University Hospitals who initially failed and said that the answer may be a suprapubic catheter. This would have meant inserting it through my stomach wall in the operating theatre.

At the last moment he remembered another method where he would insert a 1.5 metre length of wire. This would then be used to guide the catheter.

THANK GOD IT WORKED. The relief was immediate and I found out that I’d had almost 3 litres of urine in my bladder, which is a heck of a lot of liquid.

However, now its the 23 October as I write this and I still have the catheter inside me; its called an indwelling catheter.

Yesterday I learned that the catheter will be removed on Monday 12th November – almost 16 weeks from when it went in! Happy Days!

My Treatment & The Pain

I wanted to tell you about My Treatment & The Pain: As I said in a previous post, the catheter had been inserted in the WRONG PLACE. I discovered this on Wednesday the 1st of August in the morning. I’d had a night of sheer agony while they thought there were blood clots blocking the drain. The drain bag was full of blood, so they tried “irrigation” which meant a lot of pain for me.

My Treatment & The Pain

Apparently they thought there were blood clots blocking the drainage and they decided to “blast” them away.

So although there was saline drip already attached to the catheter tubes, a junior doctor came along to do it more vigorously with a syringe. He filled it with saline from another source. That was then pumped into the catheter tube before attempting to suck it back out into the same syringe.

The first three or four times were painful…

After that every attempt was even worse. He must have continued for about 30 or more attempts to remove the blood clots and I was writhing in pain and screaming at him to stop.

He didn’t stop… Neither did he check whether I was OK!

After maybe an hour he realised that nothing was happening and left he ward I was on. Not a word to me. I had a very difficult and painful night and I’m sure nobody else in my ward got much sleep either.

As it turned out, I was sent for a scan on my bladder and kidneys next morning (Wednesday 1st August) and the Consultant who did the scan couldn’t see the catheter in my Bladder!!

About My Prostate Cancer Treatment (2)

My Prostate Cancer Treatment has now started, for which I am grateful, they said they will cure me!

I have now had 6 months of hormone treatment; I had the first injection on 20th February 2018 and the next one was on 15th May 2018. My next hormone injection is scheduled for 7th August 2018.

Yesterday – the 25th July 2018, I went to The Christie Hospital for the first time as a patient, for the pre-operative assessment which took 3 hours altogether, but at least I saw the Consultant Radiologist as well. I’m now getting ready for the first stage of Radiotherapy.

This stage will mean I go into Christie’s for one night on Monday 30th July 2018 to have the high dose radiation brachytherapy, which involves having a radioactive source, iridium pellets placed in the prostate, through hollow needles, under general anaesthetic (3 hours).

I have to be there for 7.30 am and I live 35 miles away!!

What makes it worse though is the fact that my wife (who goes through everything with me) will not be able to visit me. There is NO VISITING because of the radiation.

After all of this it will then be followed by a CT scan on 6th August to plan the next stage, which is when I will have 15 sessions of External Beam Radiotherapy daily over 3 weeks at the Christie Hospital, probably starting 7 – 10 days later.

I am confident of a successful outcome now, but I know I am going to be pretty worn out by the end of it, not to mention trying to park the car anywhere near to Christie’s, although that wasn’t a great problem yesterday, being quite early in the day.

About My Prostate Cancer Treatment

The appointment at the Macmillan Cancer Unit at Leighton Hospital in Crewe was to discuss what treatments were available to me.

I thought that I would have to make a decision about my prostate cancer treatment so I had read as much about the options beforehand so I could make an informed decision.

However, when I met the Oncologist, who told me that surgery was not an option because of a hernia repair I’d had done in February 2016, I didn’t know what to think.

Thankfully, they had a plan which I knew would include radiation therapy of one kind or another.

They floored me when they said that it would be 6 months before the radiation therapy would be started; instantly my wife and I were so worried, but then the consultant outlined the plan fully.

Instead of just one treatment I was going to get three – one after the other!

About My Prostate Cancer Treatment

Their aim is to cure me with this treatment:

The 1st part is 6 months of hormone treatment; I have already taken anti-androgen tablets for 3 weeks which minimise any effects of the hormone injections. (I had the first injection on 20th February 2018 and the next will be on 15th May 2018).

The second stage will be a session of HDR Temporary Brachytherapy (I’ll explain what this is later) and,

Thirdly I will have 15 sessions of External Beam Radiotherapy daily over 3 weeks at the Christie Hospital.

I am confident of a successful outcome now, but I know I am going to be pretty worn out by the end of it, not to mention trying to park the car anywhere near to Christie’s.