What is it like to die from prostate cancer?

I think this is a premature and pessimistic question. Nothing in your info indicates you are even close to pondering this.

My father died from PCa. He lost weight, was very weak in his last days. Then hospice got involved and his last few days were comfortable, but he was unconscious. His heart gave up in the end.

Not the beat way to go, but by far not the worst I can imagine.

Who wants to think that way...be positive and enjoy life, even when it serves you setbacks. If you're really morbid...its probably no different than any other chronic disease, we all cope.

r

fulltilt, it could be two years before your PSA reaches "nadir", it's lowest point..PSA anxiety can be VERY destructive..Dying is just the backside of being born..We are ALL going to die, but you don't have to dwell on it or obsess about it..

That is a question that passes our mind but we never ask. We are all going to die one way or the other and we all wish that when the time comes that it is a painless death. We never know how it will happen so why worry about it? Your situation is not helpless so enjoy your life and move on.

fulltilt, you have asked a question many do not want to dwell on.  I think it is a fair question.  Sometimes doctors just do not want to address this issue, and without personal experience (a father, a brother) how would we know?   Maybe read up on the Internet?

There is a lot of support here, so feel free to come back and post.  Obviously, death in any form is scary.

Octorobo,  it was nice to read your reply.  Congratulations on the accomplishments in your life.  Grandchildren do provide a new perspective on life!

Worth repeating:

"I want to be alive when I die. I want to have unfinished business!"

My father had a saying when he was alive- " EVERYBODY WANTS TO GO TO HEAVEN, BUT NOBODY WANTS TO DIE."

Fulltilt, I'm a little surprised at some of the answers you hve received but I suspect those answers reflect the anxiety and/or discomfort of the posters concerning the subject.  In any case, as Aimzee said, I thnk it's a fair question that is deserving of an answer.

I do not have personal experience at the side of a dying PCa patient so I cannot help you with any second hand personal experience.  However, I can refer you to an excellent website, www.yananow.net.  That site is full of first hand experiences of PCa patients.  Unfortunately some of these men have lost their fights with PCa.  Perhaps by reading some of the stories of the late days of some of the men who are noted as "RIP" you can glean some perspective on your question.

Tudpock (Jim)

I agree with Jim (Tudpock) and Aimzee on taking the question serious here.  Some men here will have to deal with PC death, but the reality is that most of us won't. 

I think it's helpful for all of us to be better informed and educated about aspects of the disease we have been touched by.  As we become more educated (and help others become more educated), we all more clearly realize that, for example, more PC patients die from heart disease than PC. 

This can be what's called a "teachable moment" for readers to take-away the important lesson that the same plan of committing to a good diet, exercise and lifestyle modification that has been shown to slow or stop the progression of prostate cancer's key marker in some men is also good one's heart...

Bravo Octorabo! It is all about attitude. We all have setbacks in life and some a lot more significant than others, but the people that have the right attitude are the ones that will be successful, happiest and probably live the longest.
My dad died of untreated PC at the age of 89. We did not know he had PC until a week before he died. He knew, but never told us. He never suffered much, was not given any pain medication and just sort of faded away. We brought a martini into the hospital, fed it to him with a sponge and we watched him smile. Three days later he died. It was a wonderful death with his whole family around his bedside.. I am not worried about death from PC. I just want to live every day to the fullest and don't want to forget to thank God for all He has given me..

Ricky

Here's one person's experience. Just the facts here, since the OP asked and I figure he's entitled to the best answer I can give. I do apologize if this makes anyone feel uncomfortable. I can understand how any discussion of this topic might do that. My father died of prostate cancer. Initially, it spread to his lungs and other organs -- before bone. That's a bit unusual. He had no pain at that point, but as the lungs got worse he had some difficulty breathing, so needed oxygen. Didn't interfere with his going out because he had a portable tank in addition to the "big one" he kept at home. But of course it is annoying. He also got tired and needed to nap a lot. When it spread to his bone, there was more pain, so he went on some painkillers. He also had some "spot radiation" to the site of the bone mets, which helped with bone pain. As the bone mets got worse, and the pain increased, he went on morphine. At that point, he was under hospice care. He was living at home, not in a hospice facility -- but the hospice nurse visited, and was also available for questions by phone. He took the morphine every 6 hours around the clock. The morphine made him a bit foggy, but it killed the pain. As things progressed, the morphine dose was increased. The morphine was quite effective. Over the last several months, he lost a lot of weight. He did not have much appetite. Sometimes he forced himself to eat, mostly at the urging of relatives. But the hospice people said "don't force him to eat -- loss of appetite is a normal part of the process." He often got very thirsty. One doctor told us that might be a side effect of the chemotherapies he previously had. He also started sleeping more. Eventually, he was sleeping something like 80% of the day. He would wake up for a half hour or so, and then go back to sleep. There were a few other symptoms, like constipation, but they were readily dealt with with meds provided by hospice. At the very end, he had a bit of anxiety, and the hospice provided Ativan for that. Seems like the combination of the Ativan and the morphine caused the end. The things that helped my father through this process: (1) visits from family; (2) hospice -- I think many wait too long to get them involved (why suffer? they can help); and (3) a very strong religious faith, which made him accept was was happening (not intended to spur debate about religion -- just one guy's personal experience).

bsjoplin said...
fulltlt: you mentioned reading of Gilda Radner...if you're a reader, you may be familiar with Cornelius Ryan, author of "THE LONGEST DAY". he was diagnosed in 1970, died in 1974. his wife released, after his death, a book called "A PRIVATE BATTLE", a telling of his fight with PCa, as detailed in their separate journals. it's not fun reading, and it doesn't include the same medical tools that we presently have available, but it does nail down from a historian's point of view, what he was going through. his last (war/history) book was totally written after his diagnosis, and some of his medical decisions had to be made to accommodate getting his book down on paper if and while he could.
if you really wanted to know, then this is a good resource. then you have to slide that back to the back of your brain along with a lot of other stuff that you pick up along the way, and enjoy where YOU are RIGHT NOW. i'm loving my family, and new granddaughter, and 2 grand-dogs, and the beautiful maple trees in Fall, and a strong faith and a good job, and just where i am now...i've got a post SRT PSA coming up in about a week, and it could be bad news, but i'm working on the assumption now that we'll take care of whatever we need to, WHEN we need to. so don't dwell on it...

take care, and don't be a stranger...

bob

I am a reader. This is what I was looking for. I will get the book from the library.

I am also in the middle of writing a book that I want to get finished.

I also just finished reading "A Private Battle." That was a FANTASTIC BOOK!

The first 40 pages or so went slow (too much descriptive material) but after that I couldn't put it down.

It really did capture many of the emotions/fears entailing this disease.

I have to say that Ryan performed amazingly well with this rotten disease. I admire his true courage.

I often wondered what his pathology would have been. I suspect PSA was non-existent at that time.

The subject for this thread is very unpleasant and it is clear from the answers that we tend to avoid dealing with it directly. Yet, despite all the grandiose answers, we KNOW this cuts to the heart of some of our worst fears.

From what I know, end-stage cancer in general is very unpleasant and it is certainly true for PC.

We also know that hospice care would be invaluable in providing pain relief and in easing our final journey.

Mel