when treatment might cause more misery than health

[Darryl]

When do prostate cancer treatments cause more harm than good?

youtu.be/3LKDa33Eqjc(Not working as expected?)

[Lewellen]

An hour after I was told that cancer had escaped my prostate and that I now had cancer for life, I was on my way home.And in the hour it took to get home, I made a short list of the advantages this news gave me.

One of those advantages is that if the cancer does advance to where it will be what kills me, I will have the choice to decide how much pain and/or suffering I am willing to endure.

I liked that.

And I fear death less as a result.

No one beats death.

But now, if cancer kills me, I will have FAR more to say in how I face death than most other ways I might go.

A good experience with hospice has been my hope for myself since I first heard of it in the 1970s. If I can avoid loosing my freedom of self determination along the way, my prostate cancer just might allow me the good death I've always wanted.

And I'll want a Dr like the one in this video.

[maley2711 in reply to Lewellen]

Yes, but I'd prefer to have a sudden fatal heart attack??? Xefinitely prefer to avoid weeks/months of suffering with advanced end-stage cancer....hospice or not? anyway, we don't get to choose do we??

[Okay4now]

What is the doctor's name, and where is he ?

[Darryl Partner]

his name is on the thumbnail. Hans M WestgeestMD PhDMedical Oncologist at Amphia (hospital) ZiekenhuisNetherlands

[Tommyj2]

Personally….I’d like to be shown the same respect I’d show my cat. When he developed cancer it didn’t occcur to me to make him endure months of treatment and diminished function just to keep him “alive”. I’d as soon bow out as soon as I know my Dx is terminal and the remainder of my days will be a series of meds and tests and side effects of same. I recognize that I am in the minority here or matters WOULD be different but thought I would weigh in…..I’m ok with 70 years if the remaining ,say,5 are going to be mostly rather unpleasant.

[Okay4now]

Thanks !

[Newnorm22]

thank you for this. Very informative.

[Adlon57]

I had been diagnosed with terminal epilepsy in July 2021, next seizure would probably be my last, [double seizure, broken skull 2018] had epilepsy for 52 years, so have been laying out Will, beliefs, property, etc, details, then June 2022 just as I was set for OAP, full pension! I got Prostate Cancer adenocarcinoma grade 7, I'm a survivor, I might survive it BUT what would my quality of life be like after the treatment, I am due radiotherapy sessions, apparently caught in the early stages, I already have diagnosed early dementia, what will I be like a gormless vegetable, I have HTP high pain threshold so not scared of the pain, but this scarred cadaver I am presently worth going through the treatment to be a🥴 at the end of it? That is my real fear?

[Adlon57 in reply to Adlon57]

I want to enjoy the rest of my life what is left of it with my family, two sisters both now 'retired' who I can enjoy their company, and being fully retired, maybe travel a bit, which being disabled all my life, I have never really done much, my last holiday 8 years ago, I cannot drive, never allowed too due to my health! Will this PC treatment be the final nail in my 'box'?

[Adlon57 in reply to Adlon57]

That is my question NHS can you guarantee me some sort of quality of life after PC treatment, if not let me go then I can have some sort of 'quality time' no matter how short? I know this miserable body is very near it's limit now, that is my predicament! Past experience with medical 'side effects' does not help my situation?🥴A bit of a sticky wicket?🙄

[Adlon57]

I personally want quality, no matter how short that might be! Definitely right for me but as you say smurtaw "One of the outcomes is that what is "right" for one person isn't "right" for another."

[Shorter]

When I found out I had PCa, I had a lot to live for. Not long after my first line of treatment, which was RARP, I seriously considered suicide. My QOL was that bad, and it didn't take long for my PSA to go back up. Having ADT + Salvage radiation was a bump in the road. I had to travel to a much larger city to get a major lifechanging surgery to fix my botched RARP once the radiation was over. That second surgery also permanently shut down my testosterone factories. Be very careful of who performs your surgery. I managed to get a second chance at life, but I had to fight the whole medical establishment to get it. Everyone is different on how treatments affect them.

[Battle_on]

My husband started home hospice care today. Firmagon, Xtandi, docetaxel, and SBRT failed to provide even a short period of remission or progression-free illness. Due to non PSA, low PSMA PCA, he was not considered a good candidate for Pluvicto and they could only offer more chemo as a next step. His blood markers are all negative—high CEA, high blood calcium, low hemoglobin, etc. Perhaps if we had realized the vital importance of dedicated, strenuous exercise and clean diet at the outset, he could have maintained enough stamina to keep up the fight. Perhaps his cancer was just too aggressive to defeat no matter how the battle was fought. In any event, we believe palliative care is the best choice now, as we believe aggressive treatment at this stage would cause more harm than good.