Cheshire Chris's Treatment Thread

User

Posted 26 Jun 2019 at 15:51

I still get occasional mucus 2 years post radiotherapy, also was diagnosed with radiation proctitis.

Last time I saw my oncologist I mentioned the mucus. Answer: reduce your fibre intake!

I ignored that advice.

Ido4

User

Posted 26 Jun 2019 at 17:06

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

I still get occasional mucus 2 years post radiotherapy, also was diagnosed with radiation proctitis.

Last time I saw my oncologist I mentioned the mucus. Answer: reduce your fibre intake!

I ignored that advice.

Thanks. Good to know I’m not alone in experiencing these late side-effects. Yes, I have occasional bouts of proctitis, too. Generally lasts a few days and then subsides again. A bit uncomfortable, but by no mean debilitating.

Cheers,

Chris

User

Posted 26 Jun 2019 at 19:47

Hi Chris,

It's good to read of someone retiring early even if it wasn't what you originally planned. It sounds like you made provision for retirement. Two people I worked with had words I thought worth bearing in mind, they were:

'If you retire and have 7 days of Saturdays you'll be alright, but if it's 7 days of Sundays then it won't be.'

Although that was when Sunday's were closed.

'Take all you can get and take it as early as you can.'

That person thought the retirement offer I got at 55 wasn't going to be repeated and he was right. I would never do the extreme and cash my retirement fund or even part of it.

I live a bit north of you and had imagined you work in the chemical or pharmaceutical industry but if you work at home perhaps not. It sounds more like the publishing or could be banking industry. It's interesting to try to guess about people on here. All the best and keep writing. Regards Peter

User

Posted 26 Jun 2019 at 19:52

I work in IT, Peter, so I spend all my days at the keyboard. That's something I shan't miss!

Cheers,

Chris

User

Posted 26 Jun 2019 at 22:07

"Take all you can get and take it as early as you can."

That was the advice of our FA when we discussed John retiring last year - as he is unlikely to live another 30 years, the sooner he started drawing out the better.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 01 Aug 2019 at 15:30

Today is both my 57th birthday and the first day of my retirement! I must admit that I’ve been a little nervous about it, as the time has drawn near, but I’m sure I’m doing the right thing, and I’m looking forward to being able to enjoy all my hobbies now. I’ve signed up for an “over 50s keep-fit” class in my village. I need to shed some of the weight the HT has put on me!

Health-wise, everything is pretty good. I’m having the occasional dose of mild proctitis, but I think I need to accept that that’s something I’m probably stuck with now. It’s a small price to pay if my cancer has been sorted out by the RT.

Now I’ve retired I’ve lost the “safety net” of private medical insurance, so it’s NHS treatment for me from this point forward. I’ll have my first taste of that when I go for a (hopefully routine) CT scan as a follow-up for my kidney cancer treatment on 30th August. As far as the PCa is concerned, no more PSA tests until the middle of November, which will be 8 months from the end of my RT.

Cheers,

Chris

User

Posted 01 Aug 2019 at 19:01

Happy retirement Chris. I retired last September at 58 years old. No regrets.

Ido4

User

Posted 01 Aug 2019 at 19:44

Brilliant - congratulations

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 01 Aug 2019 at 19:59

Nice one Chris. I was retired at 46 and have worked solid from 49. I’m now 52. God being retired is Soooo boring. Depends on your personality. To be fair if we didn’t have a 9 yr old we would prob have a camper van and be holidaying 24/7 , but we are a bit tied. That’s why I want to work and get enormous joy from my present job.

Happy retirement mate

If life gives you lemons , then make lemonade

User

Posted 01 Aug 2019 at 20:24

Congratulations.

I'm the same age, and stopped working shortly after being diagnosed, to put my efforts into learning about the disease, treatments, side effects, etc. I didn't decide if this was to be retirement or just a break. It would depending both on what I wanted to do after treatment (in turn, depending on prognosis), and if anyone would give me a job at that point. As it happens, I'm wanted back where I was working before, and it's looking like I'm going to do this. If my prognosis changes direction, then I'll re-evaluate.

I have taken a few long breaks in my career, and really enjoyed them. Never found any shortage of things to do. First one was 6 months. Next one, I planned so I could take a year out. This one will be a year too, if it doesn't turn into retirement. I thoroughly recommend it if you can plan for it.

User

Posted 02 Aug 2019 at 08:54

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Thanks, Chris. No danger of being bored. I’m going to go back into full-time study and do a Master’s degree, which is something I’ve had planned for years, so I’ll be very busy indeed!

All the best,

Chris

User

Posted 02 Aug 2019 at 08:58

My pension lump sum showed up in my bank account this morning, so that relieves my “what if they don’t pay me?” anxiety. I’m all set now!

Chris

User

Posted 18 Aug 2019 at 10:54

Yesterday was the anniversary of starting my HT. A year on 150mg/day bicalutimide and I'm feeling pretty good. No significant side-effects other than weight gain (which I'm tackling!). Fortunately I seem to have avoided hot flushes, and other common side-effects. I did feel very "woolly-headed" for a few months after starting to take it, but that wore off, fortunately.

I'm due to be on it for another year, although my oncologist said that he may reduce the length of the treatment to 18 months in total (ie another 6 months from now) - he's going to make that decision when he sees what my PSA level is in November, which will be 8 months after finishing RT.

Everything seems to be going very well at the moment. I'm enjoying retirement and life feels good. What a contrast to the way I felt when I was diagnosed; things couldn't have felt any bleaker then. If anyone else is going through a rough time mentally after being told that they have cancer, my advice would be that difficult as it may be to believe, you will come out of the other side of it one day.

Cheers,

Chris

User

Posted 18 Aug 2019 at 14:08

Well said Chris. All the best,

Ido4

User

Posted 10 Sep 2019 at 10:32

Feeling slighty stressed today.

I had a CT scan on 30th August as a follow-up to my nephrectomy operation last year, and the radiology report has come back saying:

"There is a 2.7cm soft tissue "mass" lying inferior to the site of the previous nephrectomy. It is not possible to say whether this represents post-surgical scarring or recurrent tumour. This could be biopsied if considered clinically appropriate."

I emailed my consultant about this (I'm fortunate in that he's happy to have me email him directly with any concerns) and he very kindly phoned me back 10 minutes later and said that the scan results were going to the MDT this Friday, but that he personally felt this this was 90% likely to be scar tissue, because he believes that this "mass" is unchanged from the previous scan 3 months ago. The MDT will compare the images from this scan with those from November last year and April this year to see how (if at all) it has changed.

I know I'm very fortunate to have such a considerate consultant who does contact me. He said he'll try to phone me after the MDT on Friday and let me know the outcome.

I know I shouldn't worry, but it's hard not to. Worry is just a part of "life with cancer", I think.

Keeping my fingers crossed for Friday.

Chris

Edited by member 10 Sep 2019 at 10:35 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 10 Sep 2019 at 15:49

A very stressful situation Chris. I hope you get good news after the MDT.

Ido4

User

Posted 10 Sep 2019 at 16:08

Thanks, Ido. Me too! I know I need to stop worrying and just wait for the results, but that's easier said than done. I'm sure that many of us here find waiting for results to be in some ways the worst part of this whole cancer journey.

Chris

User

Posted 13 Sep 2019 at 13:11

Just had an email from my consultant:

Hi Chris,

Good report.

Just discussed the scans at MDT. There is no change from the previous studies so we will just repeat the CT scan in 6 months. I will do a letter to you and your GP about it.

That's a relief!

Chris

User

Posted 13 Sep 2019 at 13:18

That’s great news Chris, enjoy your studying and retirement

Dream like you have forever, live like you only have today Avatar is me doing the 600 mile Camino de Santiago May 2019

User

Posted 13 Sep 2019 at 13:31

Thanks, irun. When I read about people with uncommunicative consultants I realise how lucky I am to have one who takes the time to send me an email right after the MDT because he knows I'm worried about it. It is a weight off my mind.

Chris

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