I thought I had kidney problems, so I went for a full check up and my PSA score came back high. That’s how I found out I had prostate cancer.

My initial feelings were a mix of fear, sadness and surprise. I wasn't expecting it.

I opted for chemotherapy and hormone therapy as it is what the oncologist recommended. But I am fearful on whether the treatment will work. Thankfully, my treatment is subsidized.

I had 6 rounds of chemo, 1 every 3 weeks. Each treatment lasted about 1 hour. Then, hormone injections every month and hormone tablets every day, 2 in morning and 2 at night. The medications I’ve taken are docetaxel, darolutamide and degarelix.

Peripheral neuropathy from chemo was the most severe side effect I had. It's just with you all the time. Besides that, I also struggled with fatigue and hair loss. I wish I’d known about the side effects from chemo before starting treatment.

To manage these side effects, I exercised more frequently and went for acupuncture and massages.

What changed the most was how often I exercise. I used to exercise a lot before diagnosis, but lost a lot of conditioning during treatment.

What I found particularly useful was my pensioner concession card.

Over the course of my cancer journey, I’ve struggled with my self-esteem/self-image and my social life and relationships with loved ones. However, challenges in my day-to-day life had the biggest impact on me. I just pushed through it and it was hard work.

My greatest fear was finding out my cancer was terminal and whether treatment would work. I’ve not really done anything to overcome this. I’m just trying to go back to normal living after treatment and exercising every day.

Today I still feel fearful and sad. My cancer has been diagnosed as terminal.

I will say going through chemo was not the best experience and hormone treatment is hard with fatigue and muscle soreness. My practical advice would be to have a nice comfortable place to recover after chemo treatment.