My introduction

[Bethishere]

Hi My name is Beth. I live with my husband and two daughters, one in college and the other in graduate school (very proud), work in finance IT . I'm in good health and flip between happiness and moroseness about whether I will loose my husband. You can read about my husband's prostate cancer in my profile, but, I think we can use this forum to chat about our selves and what prostate cancer is doing to us. For example, I am terrified everytime I enter a conversation with someone new...should I mention my husband's health...I used to mention his cancer but found it to be too upsetting for me to do...not upsetting while talking about him and "it," but upsetting afterwords, wondering if I said the "wrong thing," or should I have said anything at all. So, one thing prostate cancer has done to me is make me much more of a self censor and self critique than I have ever been.

[ChuckBandChar]

Hi Beth, I know what you mean and really identify with it. I’m glad to hear someone else say something about this subject. I’ve found once you mention it, people change and the entire conversation shifts. People don’t really understand until they are in our shoes. I had one friend tell me “that must be difficult for you. Do you have some you can talk to about it?” I just needed a friendly shoulder, not a therapist. One thing I’ve learned over these past few years (so thankful it is years!) is life is too short to be second guessing how I explain Chuck’s illness. If it feels right, I inject it because it is part of me, otherwise I don’t bring it up. The newer the diagnosis the harder it is.

[sgrama]

Hello my name is Sharon and my 76 year old husband was diagnosed in 2005. He had radiation and started on hormone shot Eligard and they got his PSA down to nothing from 7. He continued on Eligard for years and PSA was kept under control. But then in 2016 they found cancer in his bones and he had 7 chemo treatments with docetaxcel. PSA was at 10 in April 2017 after the treatments. But now PSA has risen to 353. He just went thru Provenge treatments with the last infusion on April 12th.