"Living" with prostate cancer.
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terranosaurusdoug
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To have the spirit left to service your mower after all that is a show of strength rustic, I was genuinely surprised when I read it :bow I have been thinking about you actually :thumbs, check out this post I'd love to see what you have to say. http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28195
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You keep going there Rustic you can do it, Rick
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I can't go that far back with car manuals but I do have the 1995 sales brochures for the Ford Maverick and Nissan Terrano.
Personally I think these should be scanned and stored in a seperate area of the forum, copyright permitting :augie lol and not just stuck in a thread, lost and never to be seen again. Any ideas :nenau
Uncle Rustic :thumb2
terranosaurusdoug
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I think you're onto something, I for one would be interested in seeing the brochures you have!!
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Just had my 5th chemo
Hi guys, some of you have PM'd me, wondering why I have not been as active of late.
Well yesterday was chemo 5 (out of 10) day. This previous session has been really a life changing situation.
I have not been confined to bed, I have not had an urgent return to hospital.:thumb2
I have achieved quite a lot too. I went to communion last week, first time in a couple of months through fear of cross infection. I went on my mobility scooter and the vicar arranged my own seperate communion chalice, as I expressed a risk of cross infection. I felt like a King.
Last week we have slept on the boat on 7 consecutive nights, first in nearly 2 years, we have cruised beyond Oxford on the Thames, and stopped over on wild moorings and visited a riverside pub, and had a great meal. Even meals have risks, no soft eggs, no undercooked meat, and only really fresh mayonaise, and salad only if well washed... well as if, so that's off the menu too lol.
Another day, my daughter, son in law and grandson Bob joined us at a pub, we had yet another meal, and we went for a cruise. Bob was thrilled to show Mummy and Daddy where we store shoes etc and how to use the loo lol he's only three.
Before we cruised, the honda 15 outboard was running rough, so oil change, new plugs, and most important, a carburettor strip and clean, this was the main culprit. Now running really sweet. I love the old technology, proper jets and mixture screws and float chambers lol I can do a carburettor clean and strip blind folded, but lack of use for nearly two years has taken it's toll, but all fine now. When I do work, I do aout half an hour, then rest up for the same and continue, I find if I overdo it, then I am flat on my back for a day
I had an engineering issue with my night bag, sleeping in a "V" berth means there is no floor access to the side to help gravity, so next day... out came the drill, bag now under the bed locker, not ideal... but worked well. I now have a fixed solution ready to install. Being tethered to the boat via a pipe on your tackle can have consequences lol. It was this issue that prevented us sleeping over on the boat before, but we though we have to get a life so get over the problem. Had we had a disaster, our daughter lives only 15 minutes away, and the first few nights were on the mooring with the car only yards away.
What I did find is that my mobility is severely affected, the secondary tumours on my spine make stepping off a moving rear cockpit boat wIth narrow side decks and no handholds a big issue, especially with a strong off shore wind, this could be a show stopper. :doh
The engineer in me took hold of the problem, and I think I have an engineering solution. :thumb2 I have a pair of "anodised aluminium gangway stanchion sockets" on their way to me. This was the cheapest bracket I could find that would take a broom handle. So one mounted on the outside of each cockpit side with a short broom handle should provide a light hand hold to steady me, and young Bob, when we go ashore. Normally the wooden broom handles will be stowed within reach, and still allow the canopy to fold etc even if still deployed.
The manned locks on the Thames are something else, we barely got along side the quay heading before the lock, and the gates opened, in we went, we lassoed a couple of bollards, or the keeper would do this for us, and very soon we were cruising the next section.
My wife just loves the wide open boat free sections, we often cruised upto an hour before seeing another boat, then she made a profound statement... "This is not second best after all is it?" Something I thought I would never agree with, but she was right. Having moved the boat from the Norfolk Broads last November. We are both looking forward to returning to the boat next week.
We did see a few hire boats, mostly steel narrow boats, all four we encountered were practicing how to get off a shallow mud bank using full power in reverse gear and pushing off with the barge pole. There are two important must have items on the Thames, Large diameter fenders, as there are few formal quay headings, and public moorings can be just a row of submerged bags of cement / concrete laid in a brick pattern. Worked well for us. the second item is a depth sounder, the river looks wide in the upper reaches of the Thames, but only the middle third has more than 2' lol demonstrated by the hire boats, but to be fair, the water is crystal clear and you can see the water lettuce and the gravelly bottom, so no excuses really.
On the Broads we were ofen woken up by the boom of the bitterns, not so on the Thames, at 6:30 am on some mornings, we were often woken up by the Oxford university boat crews of 8 doing their early morning practice, with a mentor in an outboard powered skiff with a megaphone giving them instructions. Hey ho... we are boating, we just need to get used to the Thames way of life, and so far we are really enjoying it.
Well this overview has been more about what we have achieved, rather than the condition, and we certainly want to do more as time goes on.
However, fatigue and tiredness is still a major problem, I just have to do less, but with long rests in between, I overcome the challenges as they are presented, to us, also part of the enjoyment of boating.
The chemo is palliative care, it is not a cure, it is intended to give a better quality of life, hopefully extending it too, with less pain, of which it is, well at least it is now. Without it I was going down hill fast. Personally I think I have gained a summer now, and the cost of moving the boat to Oxford has been well justified with the benefit of babysitting our grandson most weeks lol. The oncologist has further options up his sleeve, and I firmly believe if I hadn't volunteered to go on a medical trial, all these options wouldn't have been available to me and I don't think I would be here now. Things were really dire before the chemo, I have had a few midnight discussions with fellow members on how I really felt regarding treatment, I am grateful for their advice.
As you can see, I have a more positive attitude to life, the quality of life is the best it's been in around 18 months, and I certainly will make the most of it.:thumb2:thumb2
Very best regards,
Uncle Rustic
Hi guys, some of you have PM'd me, wondering why I have not been as active of late.
Well yesterday was chemo 5 (out of 10) day. This previous session has been really a life changing situation.
I have not been confined to bed, I have not had an urgent return to hospital.:thumb2
I have achieved quite a lot too. I went to communion last week, first time in a couple of months through fear of cross infection. I went on my mobility scooter and the vicar arranged my own seperate communion chalice, as I expressed a risk of cross infection. I felt like a King.
Last week we have slept on the boat on 7 consecutive nights, first in nearly 2 years, we have cruised beyond Oxford on the Thames, and stopped over on wild moorings and visited a riverside pub, and had a great meal. Even meals have risks, no soft eggs, no undercooked meat, and only really fresh mayonaise, and salad only if well washed... well as if, so that's off the menu too lol.
Another day, my daughter, son in law and grandson Bob joined us at a pub, we had yet another meal, and we went for a cruise. Bob was thrilled to show Mummy and Daddy where we store shoes etc and how to use the loo lol he's only three.
Before we cruised, the honda 15 outboard was running rough, so oil change, new plugs, and most important, a carburettor strip and clean, this was the main culprit. Now running really sweet. I love the old technology, proper jets and mixture screws and float chambers lol I can do a carburettor clean and strip blind folded, but lack of use for nearly two years has taken it's toll, but all fine now. When I do work, I do aout half an hour, then rest up for the same and continue, I find if I overdo it, then I am flat on my back for a day
I had an engineering issue with my night bag, sleeping in a "V" berth means there is no floor access to the side to help gravity, so next day... out came the drill, bag now under the bed locker, not ideal... but worked well. I now have a fixed solution ready to install. Being tethered to the boat via a pipe on your tackle can have consequences lol.
It was this issue that prevented us sleeping over on the boat before, but we though we have to get a life so get over the problem. Had we had a disaster, our daughter lives only 15 minutes away, and the first few nights were on the mooring with the car only yards away.What I did find is that my mobility is severely affected, the secondary tumours on my spine make stepping off a moving rear cockpit boat wIth narrow side decks and no handholds a big issue, especially with a strong off shore wind, this could be a show stopper. :doh
The engineer in me took hold of the problem, and I think I have an engineering solution. :thumb2 I have a pair of "anodised aluminium gangway stanchion sockets" on their way to me. This was the cheapest bracket I could find that would take a broom handle. So one mounted on the outside of each cockpit side with a short broom handle should provide a light hand hold to steady me, and young Bob, when we go ashore. Normally the wooden broom handles will be stowed within reach, and still allow the canopy to fold etc even if still deployed.
The manned locks on the Thames are something else, we barely got along side the quay heading before the lock, and the gates opened, in we went, we lassoed a couple of bollards, or the keeper would do this for us, and very soon we were cruising the next section.
My wife just loves the wide open boat free sections, we often cruised upto an hour before seeing another boat, then she made a profound statement... "This is not second best after all is it?" Something I thought I would never agree with, but she was right. Having moved the boat from the Norfolk Broads last November. We are both looking forward to returning to the boat next week.
We did see a few hire boats, mostly steel narrow boats, all four we encountered were practicing how to get off a shallow mud bank using full power in reverse gear and pushing off with the barge pole. There are two important must have items on the Thames, Large diameter fenders, as there are few formal quay headings, and public moorings can be just a row of submerged bags of cement / concrete laid in a brick pattern. Worked well for us. the second item is a depth sounder, the river looks wide in the upper reaches of the Thames, but only the middle third has more than 2' lol demonstrated by the hire boats, but to be fair, the water is crystal clear and you can see the water lettuce and the gravelly bottom, so no excuses really.
On the Broads we were ofen woken up by the boom of the bitterns, not so on the Thames, at 6:30 am on some mornings, we were often woken up by the Oxford university boat crews of 8 doing their early morning practice, with a mentor in an outboard powered skiff with a megaphone giving them instructions. Hey ho... we are boating, we just need to get used to the Thames way of life, and so far we are really enjoying it.
Well this overview has been more about what we have achieved, rather than the condition, and we certainly want to do more as time goes on.
However, fatigue and tiredness is still a major problem, I just have to do less, but with long rests in between, I overcome the challenges as they are presented, to us, also part of the enjoyment of boating.
The chemo is palliative care, it is not a cure, it is intended to give a better quality of life, hopefully extending it too, with less pain, of which it is, well at least it is now. Without it I was going down hill fast. Personally I think I have gained a summer now, and the cost of moving the boat to Oxford has been well justified with the benefit of babysitting our grandson most weeks lol. The oncologist has further options up his sleeve, and I firmly believe if I hadn't volunteered to go on a medical trial, all these options wouldn't have been available to me and I don't think I would be here now. Things were really dire before the chemo, I have had a few midnight discussions with fellow members on how I really felt regarding treatment, I am grateful for their advice.
As you can see, I have a more positive attitude to life, the quality of life is the best it's been in around 18 months, and I certainly will make the most of it.:thumb2:thumb2
Very best regards,
Uncle Rustic
macabethiel
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- Aug 20, 2008
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Living with Prostate Cancer.
Hi Richard,
Pleased to hear you are at the half way mark and that your quality of life is improving.
Hope you manage a few more Summers yet - one step at a time eh.
Before you know it you will see the end of Chemo and then get to recover physically without the knock back that the drugs give you after each treatment.
The medicine is nasty but the benefit is worth it.
cheers
ted & wendy
Hi Richard,
Pleased to hear you are at the half way mark and that your quality of life is improving.
Hope you manage a few more Summers yet - one step at a time eh.
Before you know it you will see the end of Chemo and then get to recover physically without the knock back that the drugs give you after each treatment.
The medicine is nasty but the benefit is worth it.
cheers
ted & wendy
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2007
- Messages
- 7,820
Yes you hit the nail on the head, the side affects of fatigue are accumulative, as each chemo takes hold, but after the last one in September I will slowly return to a more stable state, my hair should start to grow back too.
Tough yes very tough as you know, but hey ho.. still here. :thumb2
The oncologist said he would be very surprised if I couldn't do another year, and more, he is a boater too, and realises what good therapy it is to own a boat, if you are so inclined of course.
Richard and Roz
macabethiel
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- Aug 20, 2008
- Messages
- 4,412
Boating Therapy
One regret I have is in never getting a boat or doing more boat stuff. I had a few holidays on the Trent as a 9/10 year old and did a bit of canoeing in my early teens. My one decent journey was when I crewed on a boat when I was 17 going from Port Dinorwick in Wales to Barcelona. The journey took almost 4 weeks in a 90ft converted fishing boat with sails & motor it maxed at about 8 knots.
I had to Steer for 2 hours and then a 6 hour break and then 2 hours at the helm again. No Autopilot either just used Radio Beacons and Light Houses for navigation. The crew was the Captain, his wife and myself. The owner who was on board just took the helm when we left port. His wife suffered terribly from sea sickness. I had one 24 hour bout of sickness when we crossed the Bay of Biscay after that I was fine.
Went via Newlyn for fuel and compass adjustment, across the Bay of Biscay to Coruna in Northern Spain. Hugged the coast of Portugal and into a small place called Cascais for Provisions. To Gibraltar for fuel and a Bank Holiday stop over.
Got blown backwards by the Levante and had to take shelter in Motril before going on to Barcelona.
One regret I have is in never getting a boat or doing more boat stuff. I had a few holidays on the Trent as a 9/10 year old and did a bit of canoeing in my early teens. My one decent journey was when I crewed on a boat when I was 17 going from Port Dinorwick in Wales to Barcelona. The journey took almost 4 weeks in a 90ft converted fishing boat with sails & motor it maxed at about 8 knots.
I had to Steer for 2 hours and then a 6 hour break and then 2 hours at the helm again. No Autopilot either just used Radio Beacons and Light Houses for navigation. The crew was the Captain, his wife and myself. The owner who was on board just took the helm when we left port. His wife suffered terribly from sea sickness. I had one 24 hour bout of sickness when we crossed the Bay of Biscay after that I was fine.
Went via Newlyn for fuel and compass adjustment, across the Bay of Biscay to Coruna in Northern Spain. Hugged the coast of Portugal and into a small place called Cascais for Provisions. To Gibraltar for fuel and a Bank Holiday stop over.
Got blown backwards by the Levante and had to take shelter in Motril before going on to Barcelona.
johnb5177
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,586
Uncle,
I think your post is truly inspirational.
You have won many battles in your war with a ravaging problem, you have a strong faith which is a blessing and I am sure helped you in your tribulations.
You have a strong and loving family surrounding you and supporting you practically and emotionally with love.
You have many varied interests, that involve you as physically as is possible, but keep your grey matter running full tilt.
You have many friends, other I'm sure, than your Nissan/Ford family here, that also care deeply for you and support you.
If there was ever a bloke to get a 'hero' award it's you....
Keep it going, so strong, so brave.......:thumb2:thumb2:thumb2
I think your post is truly inspirational.
You have won many battles in your war with a ravaging problem, you have a strong faith which is a blessing and I am sure helped you in your tribulations.
You have a strong and loving family surrounding you and supporting you practically and emotionally with love.
You have many varied interests, that involve you as physically as is possible, but keep your grey matter running full tilt.
You have many friends, other I'm sure, than your Nissan/Ford family here, that also care deeply for you and support you.
If there was ever a bloke to get a 'hero' award it's you....
Keep it going, so strong, so brave.......:thumb2:thumb2:thumb2
jims-terrano
Well-known member
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- Sep 20, 2004
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- 12,956
Good to hear you have some quality back in your life Richard and as said fingers crossed you have some more summers to come. With a bit of luck the gathering will take place then.
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I told you a good while ago to keep fighting, and you have, and as you say you are still here, boats yes the greatest therapy, we sold our narrow boat 10 years ago, but are hiring one in August to relive the memories and also to cruse part of the only canal we had not done the Kennet and Avon, keep it up Richard you can do it, Rick
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2007
- Messages
- 7,820
Well today is Chemo 8 day, not sure how many more of the 10 I will have to endure. This has not been a good session.
I have been more fatigued than any previous session, and achieved very little on the project front. I like to keep myself busy.
The session started off with the chemo, then a day later my son, his wife and our grandaughter arrived from their home in Bahrain, they were only stopping a week. They had a full week planned for them, theatre, meals out, visiting family, and also wanted to have a cruise on the boat on the Thames.:thumb2
The week didn't start off well, I was so tired I was late getting up, and I was often in bed by 6:00 pm I am not sure if I had been exposed to foreign viruses or not, but I think I was starting to fight off an infection, not good if your imune system is wrecked by the chemo.
Roz and I got to Oxford the day before the planned trip with the intention of sleeping on the boat that night, this we aborted, and we slept the night at our daughters as I was too tired and just not interested at all. Anyway the following day we got to the boat by noon, and we went for a short cruise to Abingdon with the family, After the cruise they left, and we sorted the boat out, but I was in extreme pain and could hardly walk. The following morning we were taking them back to the airport. The middle week of the session followed a similar pattern, resting all the time, and again the last week very similar indeed, not what I am used to. I am now taking more morphine to counter the pains whilst just sitting, which is even worse when I travel by car.
Yesterday we had the oncologist meeting, I tried to explain (wishful thinking!) that maybe a close encounter with foreign viruses might be to blame, he was not convinced, but my quality of life this last session has been severely compromised and things have to be done ASAP to change this. He agreed we should continue with session 8, but I am so scared that the treatment will be worse than the last, which is expected, as the side effects are accumulative.
Added to this, my PSA levels, are increasing slightly each session, meaning the treatment might not be as effective as we hoped. The oncologist has suggested another scan to see what is happening, and where, and it might mean stopping the last couple of chemos.
But what next? they have a few options for further treatment, but they need facts before they can recommend alternative treatment.
It has been quite a blow to Roz and I, we knew deep down as this is only palliative care, it was never meant to be a cure, so this extra time I have had this summer has been a bonus, and we hope any further treatment will delay the inevitable outcome.
Trying to be positive, when my son and family were here, they anounced that we were going to be grandparents again, due in March next year, it does mean that we won't see them this Christmas, pregnancy and flying etc but they have planned to come over next month for a couple of weeks.
This is great for us, family and friends are so important to us.:clap
So, as I am awake at this unearthly hour, time I made an effort to rest a while lol.
Some of the above information I have mentioned in other posts, but I thought best to keep everything in one place.:thumb2
We will keep in touch,
Richard and Roz
:thumb2
I have been more fatigued than any previous session, and achieved very little on the project front. I like to keep myself busy.
The session started off with the chemo, then a day later my son, his wife and our grandaughter arrived from their home in Bahrain, they were only stopping a week. They had a full week planned for them, theatre, meals out, visiting family, and also wanted to have a cruise on the boat on the Thames.:thumb2
The week didn't start off well, I was so tired I was late getting up, and I was often in bed by 6:00 pm I am not sure if I had been exposed to foreign viruses or not, but I think I was starting to fight off an infection, not good if your imune system is wrecked by the chemo.
Roz and I got to Oxford the day before the planned trip with the intention of sleeping on the boat that night, this we aborted, and we slept the night at our daughters as I was too tired and just not interested at all. Anyway the following day we got to the boat by noon, and we went for a short cruise to Abingdon with the family, After the cruise they left, and we sorted the boat out, but I was in extreme pain and could hardly walk. The following morning we were taking them back to the airport. The middle week of the session followed a similar pattern, resting all the time, and again the last week very similar indeed, not what I am used to. I am now taking more morphine to counter the pains whilst just sitting, which is even worse when I travel by car.
Yesterday we had the oncologist meeting, I tried to explain (wishful thinking!) that maybe a close encounter with foreign viruses might be to blame, he was not convinced, but my quality of life this last session has been severely compromised and things have to be done ASAP to change this. He agreed we should continue with session 8, but I am so scared that the treatment will be worse than the last, which is expected, as the side effects are accumulative.
Added to this, my PSA levels, are increasing slightly each session,
meaning the treatment might not be as effective as we hoped. The oncologist has suggested another scan to see what is happening, and where, and it might mean stopping the last couple of chemos.But what next? they have a few options for further treatment, but they need facts before they can recommend alternative treatment.
It has been quite a blow to Roz and I, we knew deep down as this is only palliative care, it was never meant to be a cure, so this extra time I have had this summer has been a bonus, and we hope any further treatment will delay the inevitable outcome.
Trying to be positive, when my son and family were here, they anounced that we were going to be grandparents again, due in March next year, it does mean that we won't see them this Christmas, pregnancy and flying etc but they have planned to come over next month for a couple of weeks.
This is great for us, family and friends are so important to us.:clap
So, as I am awake at this unearthly hour, time I made an effort to rest a while lol.
Some of the above information I have mentioned in other posts, but I thought best to keep everything in one place.:thumb2
We will keep in touch,
Richard and Roz
:thumb2
