My name is Phelim. I found out I had prostate cancer in September 2023 after a health examination. Actually, both my late parents had cancer. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer at 51, but beat it and lived to 85. She got breast cancer late in life but it was manageable and didn’t cause her passing in 2021. My dad had a cancerous kidney removed in 2004. As a result, he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) but he managed it fine. He also got prostate cancer later in life but again, this didn’t cause his passing in 2020 aged 86.
I’ve since undergone radiotherapy and am now on hormone therapy.
The news took me by surprise. As I’d no symptoms at all, I reckoned it was an issue that would be dealt with and that it couldn’t be cancer since I felt so well.
Treatment-wise, I opted for radiotherapy and hormone therapy. My oncologist explained the reason for my treatments and I immediately trusted him. My own utter belief I would get through it and my immediate faith in the oncologists assigned to me made me feel optimistic.
I had 39 sessions of radiation over a two month period in December 2023 and January 2024. My hormone treatment is a 2 to 3-year cycle and I am 13 months into it. The medications I’ve taken include Abiraterone (Zytiga), Prostap injection, prednisolone and Calcichew. My treatment is subsidized.
I got good news recently. Given my PSA has been undetectable for over a year now, if that continues until October (2025) when I’ll be two years on hormone treatment, the consultant said I’ll be discharged from their care as (her words) “cured and cancer-free”.
I struggled with fatigue because of the cancer treatment. To cope, I just rested for four months, listening to my body.
Two weeks into my hormone treatment, a below average intake of alcohol left me feeling unwell the next day. The second occasion it happened I decided to cease taking alcohol. That was the biggest change in my lifestyle.
For now, I plan to keep doing what I’m doing to the best of my ability and be a better person.
Honestly, I didn’t fear anything. I was totally positive my treatments would work. Fear wasn’t permitted to enter my mindset.
Now I feel optimistic. My radiation was deemed a success by the oncologist and my hormone treatment has also kept my PSA below 0.03 for the past ten months. I feel as well as ever, other than some fatigue.
In fact, I had a few “signs” that I was going to be ok. It’s too long to go into detail, but that was something unexpected that I wish I’d known before starting treatment.
Listen to your medical team(s). Talk to your loved ones about what’s ahead.
Retain hope. Have absolute faith in your medical people. Shun and avoid negativity. Surround yourself with positivity, bring those who are struggling with your diagnosis with you in terms of that positivity. Laugh and laugh often. Find and keep perspective. Perspective is my best mate. Train your mindset to be optimistic. Be kind to yourself if you are struggling. Listen to your body. Talk to people who’ve had cancer, doesn’t have to be the same as your own. Talk. Sing. Laugh. Believe.
This patient's story is published and shared with their full consent. Any personal data that can be used to identify the patient has been omitted.
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