Not My First Rodeo

By victor

1 min read

Prostate Cancer is not my first rodeo.

In 2012 I was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer named Multiple Myeloma

The median survival for that cancer was 3.5 years at the time for someone who was stage 3 like I was. Dealing with that cancer thought me to research and learn how that cancer affected me specifically and allowed me to make choices that I believe have allowed me to survive 8 years so far.

Then in 2019, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer

Last year I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. Fortunately, it was only in the left side and slow-moving. This allowed me to get second and third opinions and to choose the treatment that I felt was best for me.

I wanted nothing to do with a surgery that begins with the word radical! I had communicated with several patients that were still dealing with issues two or more years after the surgery that all seemed to be side effects of the procedure. My biggest concern was having to be on hormone therapy. This would reduce my testosterone and could put me at risk of relapse with my Multiple Myeloma.

Importance of knowledge and advocating for yourself

I needed to beat this cancer the same as I did with my first cancer. Arm myself with knowledge and advocate for myself rather than simply follow the directions of the first doctor. Cancer is scary, I don't care who you are or how strong you are, but how you respond to adversity is what will carry you a long way.

As a survivor, I run two FB support groups. One is for men only and for all cancers. I could not find a group that was exclusively for men with no women allowed in the group, just men.

Power in connecting with others

I decided to go with SBRT and completed it on July 22nd. So my first follow up PSA will be this next week. I am confident that I chose the right path and that the treatment is successful.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The ProstateCancer.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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Dennis E. Golden Moderator & Contributor
Hi Victor similar story here except in the reverse order. I was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer in 2013 and did the "radical" thing. A few years later it came back and I was able to hit it again - this time with radiation. All was going well until this July when out of the blue like you I was diagnosed with a blood cancer - stage 2 Non-Hodgkins and apparently highly treatable when caught early. I applaud your words and so agree you need to speak up, learn about what you are facing and be your own advocate. Keep us informed its always nice to see folks who do not let cancer control their lives. Dennis(ProstateCancer.net Team )
Richard Faust Community Admin
Hi victor. It is great that you do research and advocate on your own behalf - no one will look out for you like you. I just wanted to follow up and see how things are going. Hoping the first post-treatment PSA went well. Best, Richard (ProstateCancer.net Team)
July4boomer Member
Victor, we have something in common. In 2019, I was diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma, stage 4b, then follicular lymphoma, a subtype of non hodgkin's lymphoma. Now my psa is 14.1 and urologist wants to biopsy. So I have some decisions to make. But my journey with lymphoma has made me much stronger and even happier. Difficult for sure, but I have grown so much.
Diane Talbert Moderator & Contributor
Hello <inline-mention username="victor" user-id="3271720"/> , Thanks for sharing this with the community. So much great information. Diane (Team Member)
victor Member
Diane, I run a few support groups on FB and one of the things that I found is that guys are not open in groups that are dominated by women. I don’t know if it is the over mothering thing or if they just are not comfortable sharing intimate information to a group of women. I created a mens only group because of this and found that I cannot get guys to open up a lot there either, but when they do, we have each other’s back. I am a 10 year survivor of an incurable blood cancer known as Multiple Myeloma and now a 3 year survivor of prostate cancer. The choices we make are just as important as those the doctors do. Cancer is a tricky thing and there is no one book on what to do and even doctors do not always agree, so as survivors, we need to dig in and learn and advocate and make important decisions in our own care. Men are fixers and they are lost when it comes to fixing themselves. I have a slight advantage being I am also a caregiver, but we just need to go back to school and learn a new trade, it’s called taking care of us so we can be there for those who need us.