Posted 3/15/2013 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
There have been a couple or so threads here on the list during the past few days which all have at their core one particular thing: having a positive outlook.
A positive outlook is such a huge factor in dealing with PCa, or with any disease! I do hope the short piece below emphasizes this fact.
Mr. P.C. Patient inhabits two Alternate Realities, one at a time. In the first of these, he visits his urologist Dr. Hyde to hear the results of his recent biopsy for prostate cancer. In the second, he does the same with Dr. Jekyll. In each case, he waits nervously in the exam room to meet with the doctor and learn the results.
The visit with Dr. Hyde:
(Door opens, the doctor enters).
HYDE: Good morning, Mr. Patient.
PATIENT (nervously): Good morning, doctor.
HYDE: Well, it looks like you do have a little bit of cancer in there.* (*my own real-life uro's exact words to me upon diagnosis)
PATIENT: Oh God no!* (*My own real-life reaction)
HYDE: Yes, you certainly do need to be very concerned. This is cancer. It can be fatal. about 30,000 men die of this particular cancer every year. We usually don't know which ones of the cases of this kind of cancer are indolent and which ones are aggressive. This disease is unpredictable. No two cases are ever exactly alike. We don't have any particular medicines or treatments yet that can cure this illness with certainty. Much of what we can do is only palliative, especially in advanced cases.
PATIENT: Well, doctor, that's very discouraging, isn't there anything positive that you can tell me?
HYDE: I'm just trying to be realistic with you! You have a disease that is very serious and dangerous. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones and come to control it, but I can't promise that.
(Doctor exits)
(Mr. P. C. Patient left Dr. Hyde's office that day, feeling depressed and unhopeful, fearful of the future).
The visit with Dr. Jekyll:
(Door opens, the doctor enters).
HYDE: Good morning, Mr. Patient.
PATIENT(nervously): Good morning, doctor.
JEKYLL: Well, it looks like you do have a little bit of cancer in there.
PATIENT: Oh God no!
JEKYLL: Listen, the first thing you need to do is just relax and take a deep breath. Yes, it's cancer, and yes, it's a serious disease, but let me tell you the facts. Only about 3 % of the cases of this kind of cancer ever turn out to be fatal, and the odds are well with you that you will someday die with it, not from it. New medications to fight this disease come out every year, there are many trials of various kinds going on all the time that promise great progress against this disease, and there are millions of dollars spent every year to find even better treatments and drugs for it. Each decade, no, each year that goes by we get better and better at treating and controlling this thing, and, who knows, there could be a major breakthrough in the treatment of this kind of cancer at anytime, and you could benefit from it.
PATIENT: OK, but it's still pretty scary. And I can't help but get a "why me?" feeling about getting this thing.
JEKYLL: Another unfortunate fact. People don't realize just how common this disease is. A majority of older men already either have it or are in a developing stage of it. Why, it's about as common as an older man's hair turning gray! But we as a people just aren't aware of this fact, or else we choose to ignore it. This is very unfortunate, because if we all, society at large that is, had a better general knowledge of this fact throughout our lives, then it wouldn't come as such a shock to people when they actually are diagnosed. They would already know as they began to grow older that at their next exam there would always be a real chance that their physician would be giving them this diagnosis. They would be more ready for it. For example, I have this one patient, Mr. 81GyGuy, who, before he was diagnosed back in 2011, knew almost nothing about prostate cancer. All he knew was that (1) PCa was a male cancer, and (2) it occurred mostly in older men. That's it! That's all he knew! He knew nothing of PSA, Gleason, staging, or any of the other excellent tools that we fortunately now have available in this fight! Of course since his diagnosis he has become very knowledgable of these tools indeed, but if he had just known then what he knows now, his diagnosis back then might not have been any more pleasant, but at least he would have been readier for it and would have taken it better. We really need to work on this as a society, and men, in particular, need to be more aware of and responsible for taking care of their own individual medical situations, and knowing what is, or is certainly going to be, going on in their individual health situations, especially as they get older. But again, if we all come to have a more positive outlook that could wind up being just as good as a new drug or a new treatment.
PATIENT: So what you're saying, doctor, is that there's always hope, even in the more serious PC cases?
JEKYLL: Absolutely that's what I'm saying! Just be strong and stay the course in your treatment, keep your outlook positive, and the odds for you are very good that you will be around for years to come! As a matter of fact, there's this very fine old medical saying we have that goes: "We will beat this crap!"
PATIENT: Well said, doctor, well said! I'm feeling better already!
(Doctor exits)
(Mr. P. C. Patient left Dr. Jekyll's office that day, feeling optimistic and hopeful, and confident about the future).
When it strikes, prostate cancer strikes us in two areas: the abdominal area and the head. The abdominal area can be treated with surgery, radiation, drugs, etc. The head has to be treated by us. The PCa that has gotten into our heads is as much our enemy and can do as much damage to us as the cancer cells within us. Stories are legion about how a positive, hopeful attitude makes such an enormous difference in the course of treatment of this disease, helping us to beat it down and even control it.
I came across a wonderful Latin phrase the other day: Dum spiro, spero (As long as I breathe, I have hope). Let that be the motto of every patient, cancer or otherwise.
BTW, a positive outlook (or not so much) expresses itself in physicians as well. Wouldn't you much prefer to have Dr. Jekyll as your urologist, rather than Dr. Hyde?