Scan Results and Follow up Meeting

Having the scans was probably the most difficult part of the whole process.
For some reson you fixate on the worst outcome "if it is in your bones it is not treatable."

During the scans you monitor the faces of the operatives to see if you glean some information. As the results take over a week to reach your consultant I guess they don't know at the time.

During the first scan which was checking the lympth glands you are given ear defenders. It sounded to me like an army of angry wasps as I was lying there and the radio which is piped through them was rendered useless.

It is during this period that you realise what is important to you.
Common I guess to anybody with children, I spent a lot of time worrying about them if the outcome was bad.

I did not realise how much waiting for the scan results was affecting me until I rang the McMillan nurse to confirm my appointment with the Urologist. Nonchalantly she said "just a sec I think we have the results of your bone scan here. Just a sec, oh yes they are clear"

At this point I broke down crying in a crowded office from the sheer relief.

The second result was given at the Urologists office 4 days later. We managed to work ourselves into a negative frame of mind. Having given us the bone results over the phone, they had not rung with the lympth gland results therefore it must be bad we semised.

But when we were called there was no McMillan nurse and a second all clear was given.

At this point I was asked if I had given any thought to how we were going to treat the cancer?

I had read the various leaflets but my focus had been on clearing the scans. In any case I needed more information, a lot more information in order to reach a decision.

"Take up to three months" the Urologist said and he would make an appointment for me to speak to the consultants for radiotherapy and prostatectomy treatments.

He went on to explain that prostate cancer is a very slow growing cancer and therefore I could take within reason as much time as I needed. A follow up meeting was scheduled for three months later to ensure I had made a decision and not buried my head in the sand.

What about other treatments I asked, HIFU in particular ( Ultrasound ) was one treatment I had read a little about and appealed as it seemed very uninvasive.

You need gold star proven treatment he said that have ten years data to back them up.

After that I waited for the meetings with the two consultants to arrive in the post and I also phoned back to arrange a meeting with a HIFU consultant. After all what did I have to lose by speaking about it and I really wanted the data fromm the horses mouth.