I liked the Danish video and was interested in hearing the experiences of those men. I don't have children so that wasn't my primary concern when I was diagnosed. For me, it was my career. I was 55. I was able to take 8 months of sick leave from work to start treatment and have chemo. The doctors also had plans for radiation afterward. I never went back to work. I saw the statistics that the majority of stage 4 patients don't make it past 5 years and I thought that I wanted to have a little bit of retirement life while I was still relatively healthy. Financially I was able to retire early although with less income than I originally planned.
It is now 2.5 years later. I've enjoyed retirement and I don't regret my decision. I've done some travelling and spent some of my savings. I do sometimes think about my old career. I dropped it so suddenly and I wonder if I should have tried to go back after chemo. There are aspects of my job that I do miss. Perhaps I could have worked another year or two and brought my career to a nicer close. I hear stories about younger men who are still here 10 years after diagnosis. I wonder if there are differences in the longevity statistics between men diagnosed before 60 and men diagnosed after 70.
Written by
MarkBC
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Yes, for us younger patients, career, retirement, finances, etc., All come into play, and they come rushing hard!
I'm at this precipice, currently needing to make a decision in this regard. Is hard to consider an abrupt end to a 35 year career that I assumed would last a few more. But this is the reality of a Stg.IV diagnosis, and trying to bring quality (life) into the scheme of things.
The video was poignant and brought many thoughts to bear...
I was away from work for 9 months after initial diagnosis, and then was able to return for 6 months. At the time of my return, my PSA was undetectable and I saw the excellent survival statistics for early use of Abiraterone. I figured I had better than a coin flip chance of making well past 5 years, and when I became castrate resistant then it would be time to stop working for good. Interestingly, this is also in line with the "compassionate allowance" guidelines for social security disability here in the US.
I have mixed feelings about my return to work. If I had known I'd develop neuroendocrine cancer so soon, I might not have gone back. But, on the other hand I did enjoy those six months of working very much because it felt like reclaiming my old life, and deadlines just didn't cause the stress they used to.
It's a no-brainer that I'm unable to work now. Three different chemos in the past year. I'm hoping for a remission long enough to enjoy a few months of retirement lifestyle, otherwise it will be surfing from one chemo to another unless I can find a non-chemo trial to join.
Technically I'm still employed but on medical leave. I still have an office at my company as far as I'm aware.
Thanks for sharing. I have a mile-long story for my first 14 months of having this disease. I am busy with my 3 kids right now, but will share my story, thoughts etc. later - hopefully within a week or 2 And welcome to this forum ! All the best.
I managed to remain active in my job right from when I was diagnosed and underwent surgery at 51. But since then I have changed my career step by step away from being the manager of a department to become a “normal employee” to finally - after 39 years in that company - to start my own film production company. This has allowed me to focus on the part of my job that I liked the most, namely filmmaking rather than people management. It had also allowed me to select the projects that I really enjoy working with.Ultimately it is what allowed me to work on the Faces of Prostate Cancer film when covid19 meant that my normal business took a break in 2020.
So working as an independent consultant-journalist-filmmaker was the perfect transition for me.
I've found the entire thing about retiring more anxious causing than the cancer itself.
So many thoughts and considerations, especially the hand off from superb medical insurance coverage to falling into the Gov't provided one. But mostly, the planning and thinking what to do, add complications by the wife still working, kids not settled, etc. Where to transport our roots to and when. All while keeping an eye in the rear view mirror of where to obtain continued care from as the disease progresses through it's steps, or treatments actually. Ehhhh...
So I fall back to something I found on an older website/forum (Yananow) that was for PCa, and a man named Robert Young...
I agree with you about finding retirement issues more stressful than the cancer itself. I have been fortunate on several fronts. 1. I have always been a saver so I had been building a retirement savings plan for years. 2. I don't have large debt. 3. I have great benefits from work so I am still on a disability pension plan that I paid into while I was working. 4. I don't have children who need my support. 5. Canadian government health care covers all of my cancer costs.
All of these things made the sudden early retirement question easier for me. I had heard from several older colleagues that you don't need as much retirement money as you think you will. That has certainly been my case too. It has been 2.5 years and I have barely touched my retirement savings.
I also agree with your comment about finding something you like to do. In my case I just like puttering around my acreage and working slowly through some home renovations and landscaping projects. It's nice not to have any deadlines and to be able to nap or relax whenever I want. I credit the lack of work stress with how well my cancer has responded to treatment.
Funny ... I have actually thought about a little tractor. I still have one more big destination on my bucket list ... New Zealand. Hopefully COVID restrictions will lift later this year and you and I will get a chance to travel again.
OMG, I had a Ford 1700 4x4 Compact tractor, with a two cylinder diesel engine. Tractoring on my piece of land was such a joy. You won't believe how many jobs you can do with a compact tractor with a front end loader.
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And welcome to this forum ! All the best.
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