Posted 7/26/2022 7:35 PM (GMT 0)
Right away someone could ask, in response to this thread's question: how can anyone ever be sure of overcoming this thing, since we're all always just a couple or so of bad PSA results away from having to think that it's coming for us again?
Granted. But at the same time many, or hopefully most of us, after living and dealing with this thing for months or even years, sooner or later come to the realization that, yes, this thing CAN be beaten!
I define "beating it" as: I may be mostly cleared of it, or, even if it's still there, it is unlikely that it will ever prove fatal, or even severely debilitating to me.
For most of us, the emotional low point of the PCa journey was probably the official diagnosis, the day in the uro's office when we got the news, that we "had a little cancer in there," as my own uro put it, and the announcement was devastating.
But our natures are resilient, and over time, beginning with that time of Dx, we came to evaluate our situations on an ongoing basis, and for most of us that eventually reached a point where we began to feel a certain degree of confidence, perhaps a sudden revelation, an epiphany, for some, or perhaps a slower growing awareness for others, that "Hey, I really AM going to beat this thing!"
No guarantees come with this newly-found confidence, as the next rising PSA test result can always cast a shadow on one's progress toward controlling the beast.
But the more that time passes, with the defenses seeming to be holding against a resurgence of this thing, the stronger becomes the feeling that one has indeed gained the upper hand, and there is indeed reason to believe that the future will be bright.
In the survey above I have listed some of the turning points that might occur for most of us during the PCa journey, and which may encourage us to begin believing that we really are winning. Feel free to pick the one, even if several apply, that you feel was pivotal for you, and post to tell us more about your thoughts on it.
For me it was just about a year following the IMRT, when after a year's worth of acceptable PSA readings, and no indications of other PCa-related difficulties, I concluded that, yes, I was going to beat this thing!
Or, if you picked the "I'm still not sure I'm beating it" choice, perhaps you can mention what you think it would take to bring you to consider that you really are beating it.
And was there another turning point that made a difference for you that is not in the above survey? If there is, tell us what it was. Knowing of it might encourage others.
Of course one's attitude toward it probably does little to impact the course of one's PCa, although some studies do maintain that a positive attitude really does make some difference in the seriousness of the disease.
But just the benefits of a more positive outlook would be beneficial in themselves, and make the journey a bit lighter.
Besides, it's just interesting to learn what happened along the way, and at what point, that inspired you to the conclusion of "Hey, I really AM going to beat this thing!"