Lesson 3: Prostate Cancer Treatment Options
Life After Treatment
There is a saying that life is different after you have heard "The Flapping of The Angel’s Wings". Cancer is not a foe to be taken lightly and the cures we have been discussing are strong medicine. With appropriate treatment, carried out in a timely manner (while your cancer is still within the prostate), you stand a very good chance to be cancer-free.
Life can be very good after you have finished your treatment. Men who are facing a decision on what to do and have come to me to discuss their options often ask how long will all this take. Most of the treatments are complete within 6 to 8 weeks, but it could be up to a year before your system settles down and you’re back to living a fully active life similar to what you had prior to your treatment. For instance, you may put on weight during your hormone treatment. It is not fair, and for many of us the weight comes on fast and comes off slowly.
A number of men I have had discussions with have chosen to take early retirement and are now working at improving their golf game. The guys that seem to be coping the best are those who have accepted that life is good, but different, after they were diagnosed and treated for cancer.
In my case, I put at the top of my priority list the construction of my workshop that I had been planning for the past 25 years. I now work 4 days a week at my day job and 3 days in my workshop, and I enjoy my guilt free naps during my 3 days in the workshop. I go to bed when I am tired and get up when I am rested. I have organized my work so that I arrive at the office or workshop plus or minus one hour and leave work on the same basis. On a day-to-day basis I am very aware of managing stress. When facing stressful situations my inner voice asks the question "Is this worth dying over?" So far the answer has been no.
