Sir Chris Hoy

[SC19]

Very sad to read that Sir Chris Hoy has been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. All the headlines are running with him saying he has 2-4 years left to live. Do doctors actually still give these kind of timelines nowadays?! Seems old-fashioned and pessimistic to me.

[sandystarfish]

I just read about him as well& i am so angry that people & even the medical community seem to treat prostate cancer as a curable old mans disease!!!

[Broccoli24]

I was surprised by that too - I feel like that’s a headline writer’s emphasis may be?

[lcfcpolo in reply to Broccoli24]

To be honest, it's in the article, something Sir Chris told the interviewer, although with any Murdoch publication, the headlines always focus on the worst news. There's going to be a book out in November and The Sunday Times is going to serialise it starting next week.

[Sailing-Todd]

This has really upset my husband. We know the reality of this disease, but we have never asked for, nor been offered, a ‘left to live’ date. Indeed, who knows for anyone? As you say, it seems old fashioned and pessimistic.

[lcfcpolo in reply to Sailing-Todd]

Same. I've been really low since reading it yesterday. I'm surprised timelines were given, the Oncologist didn't give me a time 'we don't deal in numbers'. If you want some good news, a friend in my local prostate group was diagnosed over 10 years ago, high PSA and still going strong thanks to the NHS.

[SC19 in reply to lcfcpolo]

Yes this is exactly how I felt. I feel it’s irresponsible giving timelines in the first place, let alone publishing them for the world to see. It’s very upsetting. Nobody has a crystal ball to know how well an individual is going to react to a treatment. There are many men on here with the same diagnoses 10+ years on - why can’t that be an Olympic athlete too

[Ol19 in reply to Sailing-Todd]

Same here. My husband says he had a private cry over this. Not nice for fellow suffers to hear such doom as like you say, no one knows a time frame.

[Brysonal]

Agree completely. Same diagnosis as me in 2021 with mets popping up all over my skeleton. Here I am today with an undetectable PSA and no evidence of disease on scans. With the major improvements in treatments over the last years I thought there are no current stats on lifespan when given the ‘triple’ and oncologists say ‘ not curable but treatable’ but no one ever described me as ‘terminal’ . I was paragliding in Turkey last week and still my only symptoms are from the meds not the cancer!

[PSA680 in reply to Brysonal]

That’s newspapers for you - I read the whole article which was very positive & I’m pretty sure down in the detail Sir Chris says that one in 4 with a similar diagnosis in 2011 are still alive today & his aim is to be one of those. I was diagnosed with high volume bone mets March 2020 & thanks to ADT & Enzalutamide living my best (albeit side effect impacted) life with undetectable PSA (🤞🤞🤞) and no detectable tumours on annual CT scan. Please ignore these life expectancy headlines brothers. The only time I ever saw life expectancy figures was when my oncologist was requested to give them as part of my application for early retirement.

[pakb]

My husband's doctors told me 12-18 months in Aug 2017. (I never told him that). Then they said possibly 3-5 years in spring of 2018 after he responded well to chemo and ADT. It's now been over 7 years and he continues to work and play hard. Enjoys life. Never had undetectable PSA, had a few years of clean scans. Even though a couple of mets have re-appeared brighter on scans twicce over the last 7 yrs- they aren't growing or moving. Knock on wood! In his free time he surfs, coaches, works out... It's all so specific to each guy- and treatments keep evolving. Hopefully drs stop giving those expiration dates. They're outdated!

[tuta1960]

I read the article and made real sad. But there is hope! Three years ago, when we found out about our dear father, 64 now, we were devastated. But our MO told us she has patients, stage four, bone mets, in treatment for over ten years. And I belive her, she”s a magic, kind and professional lady.

Hope for the best, for all of us!

Heads up, we”re here with you”

[Ian99]

I was saddened to read the article. Going public about the cancer is one thing, but I found the inclusion of a timeline distressing. I am thinking especially of his young kids, who are 10 and 7, and in my view too young to be burdened with such information. Same age as my eldest grandchildren.

As someone also in stage 4 with multiple mets to pelvis, ribs and hip, I have often thought about what to say and when. I don’t yet know the answer but have already ruled out timelines, even for my own kids. They know the status, but I prefer to leave them with some hope.

[SC19]

Really appreciate everyone’s solidarity on this. I’ve shared your stories with my dad and it’s put a spring back in his step. I agree, for Chris’ own kids’ sake, timelines cause unnecessary upset and I would question any oncologist that gives them. Especially as we can’t foresee what evolving treatments are coming down the tracks. My dad has been fighting this for 5 years now and is currently planning his next trip to Morocco.

[MarkBC]

The published life expectancy statistics are for the entire population and they are accurate given the data that is currently available. In my 6.5 year journey, they have increased from 28% survival after 5 years to 31% today.

This is an excellent video that discusses prognosis and why many of us are still doing well years after diagnosis.

youtu.be/GU7Cuou6dYg?si=0Pn...(Not working as expected?)

[Carlosbach]

I agree, adding a timeline to a PC diagosis is almost malpractice. I was told I had 18-24 months at diagnosis in 2020. That timeline added so much anxiety and impacted a lot of the decisions I made early on. Once that number was out there the other Drs/Oncos I saw didn't want to disagree (eventhough I found out later that several of them did disagree).

Thankfully, I found this forum and started to question the info I had been given. Now, four years later, I'm living a good life. My family and I could have really done without the scare of that ill informed timeline.

[Mascouche]

I was diagnosed at 51 back in 2019 with stage 4 and a mutated BRCA2 gene. At the time my urologist told me that I would only live another 2 years, maybe 7 if I was lucky and that I should put my affairs in order as rapidly as I can.

I am now 56 and still around, still kicking and working after 5 years.

It is still possible that I bite the dust in the next two years and fulfill the urologist's prediction but I think I will be around much longer than that.

[ELOfan]

Yes, we just read it too. Here is a link to Chris Hoy's letter in the London Times. He is living every day and looking for joy now.

thetimes.com/magazines/the-...

[j-o-h-n]

Except for the big Kahuna, no one knows for sure.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n

[raoulmaher]

5 years industry standard - some of us make 3 months some make 17 years - Cancer is a bitch - kindest Raoul