Living With Prostate Cancer – Now What?

Prostate cancer can have an impact on your daily life, career, and relationships. Even after you've finished receiving treatment, you may still experience side effects and be concerned over cancer making a comeback.

I have had hundreds of conversations with my father about PC. He got it at age 72, and on March 6, 2022, he turned 88. I have gotten so much insight from him over the years.

Life can change in many ways

As you all know, your life may be altered in many ways based upon the type of prostate cancer that you have. Prostate cancer frequently progresses slowly, and it might go unnoticed for years. You may not require treatment at this phase, but you want to start getting tested early.

When prostate cancer is more inclined to spread, some may consider surgery or radiation to treat it. Most treatments, though, might have some adverse side effects. We’ll investigate some common side effects of treatments.

Erectile and urinary side effects

Consult a doctor in case you have erectile dysfunction. A medicine called phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors may help with erectile dysfunction.

There are some treatments that may make you feel like you must go to the restroom all the time. Talk to your doctor about this. They might suggest some basic exercises to help you control your bladder. As with anything, you might have side effects that last for a short while or a long while.

The emotional toll

Having this disease can be hard on you mentally and emotionally. It can impact the way you feel. You could start feeling sadness and despair, and a loss of interest in the activities you used to like doing. Being sad or depressed can cause you to worry. Some men say they can’t sleep and have no appetite. My father told me there were so many times he felt angry and irritated. He was very active at 72 but found it hard at times to finish things he had been doing his whole life.

Unfortunately, my father is very stubborn. I begged him on so many occasions to cut down on his work schedule or even just stop working completely. I thought he needed some time to recover and just think about things. He had a landscaping business that he loved, and I felt he didn’t want to disappoint his clients. He finally quit working at the age of eighty-three.

Finding support

Regardless of the stage of your PC, be sure to be available for things you like to do and spend as much time as you can among those who love you the most. As you all know, there will be good days and bad days; let’s make the most out of the good days and somehow manage to deal with bad ones.

As a woman who belongs to a prostate cancer support group, I find there are men who prefer to cope by themselves. They don’t even want to accept support from others. If this is you, that’s okay. One thing I have heard from men is that some would rather be alone.

I had a young man tell me once that he didn’t want to frighten or upset loved ones if he really told the truth of how he was feeling. Just keep this in your mind. If you want support, it can be available on this site and elsewhere.