Cancer - please read!!

To be honest mate, you can have no symptoms at all and still have it. You are more at risk after you reach 50 but of course that isn't specific (I'm 43 and got told before diagnosis I was too young to get PC- How wrong could they be ).
If you think you are p****** more than usual, or so
something ain't quite right then it's easy to be checked. Simple blood test to check your PSA level, then if its raised they will do a DRE ( basically sticking a finger up your backside to feel your prostrate). If they think it needs checking out further you might have a biopsy. That ain't nice ( I've had 2, 1 rectal and one through the perineum ((Really not nice)), but at least it gives them an idea of what they are dealing with.

Anyway, hope that answers a few questions and do what me and Ivor are doing......Spread the word

 

Staines, I had four or five biopsies over the years and insisted on a general anaesthetic. Didn't feel a thing with any of them. You are quite right in that you can have PC without showing any symptoms. My waterworks were absolutely A1 - strong flow, no leaking, no getting up in the night to go, no trouble holding it in when I had to.....

Everything was in place NOT to have the illness. I had lived abroad for nine years eating the recommended Mediterranean foods, plenty of fresh tomatoes and processed tinned tomatoes which, strangely, have far more anti oxidant properties than fresh and strongly (medically) believed to be a defence against PC. In addition, I led a VERY active sex life (thank you, ladies) which again is very much regarded as being a defence against the illness. At that time of my life, I was fighting fit and was extremely lucky that I was given a routine PSA blood test in relation to another small problem, that highlighted the time bomb inside me.

Guys, the moral is: WHEN YOU HIT 40 YEARS OF AGE, GET A PSA BLOOD TEST NO MATTER HOW WELL YOU FEEL. I can't emphasise this enough. It's free, it's painless, it's quick and IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE.

 

hmmmmm thanks guys, PSA blood test here i come

 

Hi Musty. Not realy you just go to your GP and get a blood test and ask him to check the p s a, as well at our age it pays to have a check on the p s a. every yr just in case, they say any one over 45 should have it done, best to be on the safe side than in heaven to early, my first test for cancer was 12yrs ago they said it was benine then I had one 5yrs ago and they found cancer so 7.5 wks of treatment,so Musty go and have a blood test lad to be on the safe side. as there are no real signs unless u got trouble with the water works.

 

Hi Never, All I can say his good luck to the Mrs and hope things will be ok its not a nie thing to have all the best.

 

Guys, I have a book that I bought when I first contracted PC and I found much of it extremely interesting and helpful. The title of the book is "Prostate Cancer - understand, prevent and overcome" ISBN 1 85227 188 4. The author is Professor Jane Plant CBE who also wrote "Your Life In Your Hands", the international best selling book on breast cancer.

She basically states that PC can be related, amongst other things, to diet and lifestyle. The figures and statistics she quotes, from worldwide respected authorities on the illness, are quite astounding. Obviously I can't reproduce many of them here but I am detailing one set of stats and some general conclusions to give you a taster of what is in the book.

Firstly, the incidence of PC in Far Eastern countries is mind-boggingly lower than that in the West. The following figures were produced in the year 2000 and are the Aged-standardised rates (ASR) of PC incidence per 100,000 men. You can read from where the figures were derived in the book. They are as follows:-

CHINA 1.7: KOREA 4.2: THAILAND 4.4: HONG KONG 7.6: JAPAN 11.0: UK 40.2: AUSTRALIA 76.0 (Musty???): CANADA 83.9: NEW ZEALAND 101.1: USA 104.3.

Some of the conclusions are as follows: The death rate from PC shows two distinct groupings. Western countries such as Germany, UK and USA with high mortality rates; and Oriental countries such as China and Thailand with very low rates. INTERESTING - the death rate in Japan is rising as the Japanese become more and more Westernised.

A selected (mine) breakup of the above figures shows rural China at just 0.5: urban China 1.9/2.3: Scotland 28.0: England and Wales 31.2: USA (whites) 100.8 and USA (blacks) 137.0. Factors influencing these figures include, diet, lifestyle, genetics; medical treatment/opinion and other things.

China of course is very interesting. Being a huge country, figures do tend to vary from region to region and in some areas the incidence of PC and breast cancer remains so low that it is not even mapped; a consequence of the distinctive lifestyle and diet. The author spoke to a number of doctors in China who hardly remember treating a case of PC or BC in their entire career, though this is changing now as Western diet becomes more fashionable.

This book is far more than a set of statistics, tables and figures. It gives a number of interesting perspectives on the illness; on how to avoid it and how to combat it if you've got it. It's well worth a read and gives real hope to those who fear the illness.

I bought my copy from a book club but I have seen it on EBay and it's worth trying Amazon. The cheapest way, of course, is to order a copy through your local library. That way you might be doing other potential readers a service by making it available for them when you have finished with it.

Anyway, I thought this was worth a read and it belatedly occurred to me that you guys might think the same.

 

Very intresting reading that Ivor. When my friend was recovering from blood cancer he was told by a doctor to avoid all kinds of foods mostly supermarket stuff!! dont buy processed meats,vegatables,cooked and fresh meats(due to the content of steroids ) i was quite shocked when my friend told me this. Apparently its more healthy to eat tinned carrots than it is the stuff they sell at the supermarket "fresh" on the shelves,due to processes they use in cleaning,pesticides etc .

He was told to get fresh organic meat from a local butcher and local fresh organic vegetables to aid with his recovery. How mad is that ??

Another point regarding China ,what is the average age that people die at over there? if its quite young maybe alot of these cancers arnt having a chance to come to the forfront ?

My own view is that we are slowly being poisoned by our own governments..and they know it too. Population control will be a massive concern in the next 15-20 yrs as the numbers are growing too fast,as people live longer the pension pot becomes smaller,health care gets drained even further and housing/benifits become more costly.

Diet amongst poor families in western countries means they can only afford the cheap stuff,the cheap stuff has less and less nutriants in it and more nd more chemicals in it.
Was cancer as wide spread 20yrs ago ?? i think not.

 

i have had a ****load of bloodtests over the last year but i wonder if they were looking for this, doc here i come i think

 

Hi to all you Jacks, being a gooner and an ex resident of Newport I feel guilty on coming onto your board but it is good to hear you guys talk so openly and supporting each other. Who would a sports forum could do so much good in spreading honest info. Keep up the good fight lads

 

Norway, one source quotes male life expectancy rate in China at 71+% whilst that in the UK is about 77%. That indicates sufficient people survive into the PC danger age (say 45+) to make the comparison worth while - particularly when their huge population is taken into account.

China has vast rural areas that border on Third World standards and I would guess that many people die at a younger age there but for other reasons than PC. For instance, they wouldn't have many modern medical facilities that could be found liberally in the urban areas and big cities. Rural China, as I stated, reads 0.5; urban China between 1.9 and 2.3 whilst England and Wales clocks in at 31.2. That is a huge difference by any standards.

There is such a massive discrepancy, there has to be something in it. And the book has many interesting things to say on the subject, backed up by irrefutable data and statistics from highly accredited sources. As I said, well worth a read.

 

The wife has just had her op date of Thursday next week so just hoping all goes well.

On this note, my wife never and even our GP thought that her problem was breast cancer. No usual signs lumps etc, just a small dent and I mean small dent around the nipple and they thought it was just scaring. Only shows how wrong we can all be, but as it's caught early it's treatable. So as everybody has said go and get ANYTHING checked out as soon as you think theirs a problem. Lads and lasses!!!

 

good luck mrs never

 

Echo that!

 

Cheers, Charlie. Ignorance is not bliss in this case so, the more people know, the better. So many cancers are now treated with a high rate of success if caught early, it really makes sense to get checked out.

 

Good post! I did something similar on Hull City forum 18 months ago, They caught mine in time and now after treatment my blood tests results are very good, but I go along with what you say and just add that my symptoms were = going for a P once or twice during the night and dribbling a bit. The tests are easy and the Biopsy tho' uncomfortable are also easy and certainly not as bad as you would assume. If you think you have a problem go to the Doctor, there is nothing to worry about getting the treatment.
When I found out I prepared for the world to end but here I am still moaning about football results.

 

I write this as my wife is lying in an operating theatre having her surgery, to say the last week has put us in turmoil and a gambit of emotions shed by all. So all I can say all to those afflicted by this dreadful disease, don't let the bastard get you down.

 

Never, I hope and pray that your wife will make a full recovery. I'm sure she will do. My thoughts are truly with you all and please post news of progress.

 

get well soon all battling the disease, swamp signing off from giro city........

 

good luck mrs Never

 

An up date for you on the wife. Op went really well, her surgeon is very please with the outcome. No cancer cells in the lymph glands, so everything looks really good. Once test are concluded he hopes that the surgery is all that she will need.

Not counting my chickens yet, but hope she won't have to go through Cemo, if she does then so be it. But the prognosis is really good. There hoping to discharge her tomorrow, as nurses make the worst patiences.