Help, has anyone's father been treated for prostate cancer?

[cazbee]

Hello forumites. First of all, apologies for the dour subject and I do hope this is sufficiently family related, even though not really related to parenting. My wonderful father in law was recently diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer, and like many men his age has quite severe prostatitis, which is really effecting his sleep and reducing his quality of life. He is frustrating and worrying all of his family by not proactively looking at what form of treatment to seek. He is a doctor but left medicine a long time ago, so he feels he is not in the loop about what is currently available and is rather daunted by investigating it all.

My question is, has anyone else's family been through this and what did they do? Does anyone know who the best doctors/surgeons are in London, and what the latest treatments are? He lives in London. Many thanks in advance for any replies.

[Saffron]

Hi Cazbee-

My father --now in his early 70s-- was treated for an enlarged precancerous prostate several years ago. This condition becomes increasing common with age. Most men, if they live long enough, will eventually have a physiological enlargement of the prostate. This may or may not present other problems, as it did in my father's case.

There are now lots of treatments available for precancerous/cancerous prostate. Was it the GP who diagnosed the condition? I think your father needs to request an immediate referral to a specialist, if he is not already seeing someone.

Does your father have private insurance, or is he willing to pay cash for private treatment? I'm sure the NHS has excellent treatments for prostate conditions (don't know personally b/c my father lives in the States), but going private means that a single specialist consultant will 'own' the case, rather than getting bumped around various jr consultants as very often happens on the NHS (and yes, I do know that from my own personal experience). There's nothing wrong with seeing jr consultants of course. At your father's age though, he might feel more comfortable always seeing the same person.

I hope you'll get some brilliant recommendations off the Forum. If not, do speak to your own GP, NHS direct, or Prostate Cancer Support for advice ( http://www.prostatecancersupport.co.uk/ ).

For my father, the combined outcome of surgery and drug treatment was very effective. He is now virtually symptom free and no sign of cancer.

xx

[EDmummy]

Try ringing Macmillan Cancer Support on 0808 808 00 00. You will be able to speak to as Cancer Information Nurse Specialist who will be able to offer a lot of information and will send you some literature. I hope all goes well.

[ratty]

My dad had very effective drug treatment in late 90s.

[jollybaby]

I second the recommendation for Macmillan cancer support - you'll find loads of valuable information on their website too.

[cazbee]

Thanks all for the brilliant replies, PMs and recommendations. I'm so grateful to you.