My Challenge to defeat prostate and bone cancer

First Published 30 September 2023

Well, here I am again. Another blog about cancer but this time it’s me! It is more than 11.5 years since I added the final chapters to the “Wendy’s Army” blog, so this is very much Déjà Vu. I don’t know what I have done to upset those “upstairs” but they sure are making sure I get tested in this life. They managed to take Wendy, sadly, but they are not going to get me without the same degree of fight and determination shown by her.

As Wendy would be the first to acknowledge, these journeys cannot be undertaken alone. No cancer patient can undertake the trip without the support of loved ones.

As many will know, Kim and I being together at this stage in our lives is a story, which goes back over 30 years. Maybe we will tell that story at some point. So many have said we should!

I want to start this blog by acknowledging Kim, who is as up for the challenge of beating this cancer as I am. I simply could not do this without the caring nature of Kim, her inspiration to support me and lead the effort to get through this and we cannot wait for the day we will be told I’m in complete remission.

Kim is my rock! She is right here with me, and I couldn’t be a luckier man to be facing this with her. I love her with all my heart and, together, we are going to be successful in fighting and defeating this disease!

Before I start to tell the story and start the journey, let me explain why I have created this blog. There are three main reasons:

  1. Firstly, and most importantly, the majority of my family, my friends and my former colleagues are now aware of my diagnosis. Naturally, they all wish to be kept informed about my ongoing treatment and, rather than constantly tell people individually, it makes sense to keep everybody that wishes to be kept up to date informed on a consistent basis. When recounting detail, it is very easy to forget what you have said and to whom.
  2. I find it very cathartic. Telling the story gives me the chance to reflect on what is happening, rather than just repeating facts about the treatment and, just as importantly, some of those reading the blog will have people they know that have been on the same, or a similar journey. I think sharing experiences is so valuable and I have already found others that have been able to provide valuable insights and connections, which I will cover later.
  3. Thirdly, I’m not the only one undertaking this type of cancer journey. I have already met other men who have experienced prostate cancer and there will be many more in the future. My experience may just help other guys on their own journey. In Australia, over 24,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, with 1 in 5 men at risk of being diagnosed before they turn 85. And it is far from being confined to Australia. In the UK, Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. More than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year on average – that’s 144 men every day. Every 45 minutes one man dies from prostate cancer – that’s more than 12,000 men every year.

  • Still keeping my cancers at arms length!!

    Kim & I visited Gary Tincknell, my oncologist, this morning for the quarterly ckeckin. I had my bloods taken last Friday. The 90 minute journey in torrential rain and high winds, followed by a 60 min delay, as Gary was runnng very late with his appointments, was all so worthwhile. Gary revealed that my PSA

    Continue reading this update

  • Had another oncology review today!

    At the risk of boring you all, I spoke to my oncologist earlier and he and I were delighted with the latest blood tests, which continue to show my PSA at 0.01. As you will know by now, this means the prostate cancer remains undetectable. There couldn’t be better news. I have devcided to change

    Continue reading this update

Space

The last three weeks, since the 4th chemo session, have been quite quiet on the health front, thankfully. My stomach has been a little less tolerant of the chemo, as expected. I’ve taken around 6-8 imodium to help, whereas I had previously only had to take a couple. The cancer nurse, when I discussed it with him, said this was to be expected and that I should anticipate increased issues before things improve again once the chemo is finished around the end of January.

I had chemo session 5 on Wednesday 13th, which went well. I had my bloods taken the previous day and the nurse said, “your bloods are better than mine”! I was delighted that all the key markers are great. I didn’t get a PSA score this time.

Next steps:

  1. Pre chemo bloods to be taken on Tuesday 2 January
  2. 6th and final, hopefully, chemo session on Wednesday 3 January.
  3. Appointment with Dr Stephen Chin, radiology oncologist, on Friday 2 February. This meeting will determine whether I need follow up radiotherapy treatment on my prostate and bone cancers. With my PSA down to 0.09 and with no pain in my bones, since the treatment started, I’m hopeful no radiotherapy will be required.
  4. Bloods to be taken on Friday 9 February ahead of a meeting with Dr Gary Tinknell, medical oncologist, on Tuesday 13 February, when he will review the outcome of the chemotherapy and hormone treatments and determine next steps.

Our Home

You may recall that, due to the anticipated side effects of my treatment, Kim and I decided that looking after three horses and a 10-acre property was going to be too much for us to cope with.

As previously mentioned, the horses were rehomed, and we placed our home on the market.

As we now know, the side effects have been minimal, and I have coped so much better than anticipated. As it has transpired, the increase in interest rates has had a dampening effect on the housing market, which I know is not unique to Australia. We had not one viewing in the three months it has been on the market, despite several “expressions of interest”.

So, we have taken the decision to take it off the market and stay here for the foreseeable future – a decision we are absolutely delighted with. We have spent a lot of time, effort and money getting the property as we wanted it and if we don’t need to move, why would we?

We couldn’t be happier that we can continue to enjoy our home, hopefully for many years to come.

As this will be the last update before Xmas, Kim & I would like to wish everybody a great festive holiday and a happy & healthy 2024. We are certainly happy to leave 2023 behind us!