Ray – Interview 19

Ray is now twelve years past his diagnosis of prostate cancer. He is still receiving hormone implants every three months as treatment. He is still experiencing long-term bladder problems as a result of radiotherapy treatment.

Ray was diagnosed with prostate cancer 12 years ago, but has never been told that he has been cured. He was initially treated with radiotherapy, and still has to have hormone implants every 3 months. His doctors tried to stop the hormone implants three years post diagnosis, but his PSA levels started climbing again so they restarted the implants.

The main long-term side effect that Ray is experiencing is ongoing bladder problems as a result of radiotherapy. He sometimes needs to go to the loo very urgently. This started about 5 years post diagnosis and he finds it quite annoying. Nothing has worked to help him with this problem – he has seen urologists and cancer specialists with no effect. It’s restrictive as he doesn’t want to travel long distances without a lot of pre-planning.

Because he is still experiencing long-term bladder problems, Ray hasn’t been discharged from hospital follow-up, although his PSA levels are quite good.

He is also dealing with diabetes, high blood pressure and Parkinson’s disease. He needs to try to manage them all and sometimes it is hard to tell which condition is causing his symptoms.

He doesn’t often think about cancer coming back as it’s a negative exercise. His advice to other people with cancer is to do what the specialist tells you as they have the experience to make the right decisions.

Five years after having radiotherapy for prostate cancer Ray began to experience urinary urgency,…

Age at interview 81

Gender Male

Age at diagnosis 61

Ray’ I have bladder problems and they’ve tried to cure it and they’ve tried all sorts of things.

It hasn’t, it doesn’t seem to work, and they did say to me at one time, they’re sorry but they’re afraid it’s an after effect of the radiotherapy. They said, If we blow out the cancer with radiotherapy, that has gone but you’ve still got this symptom, which we can’t do anything very much about They tried and it doesn’t work.

Okay. So what exactly happens that is affecting you in terms of your bladder?

Ray’ I could get up now and go along to the loo. In the middle of a conversation you suddenly want to go to the loo.

Wife’ There’s the urgency.

Ray’ So, it’s always, and it’s no good saying, Oh, I’ll go to the loo in a minute it’s happening, it happens right, straight away. You’re, as I say, be in the middle of a conversation like this and I’ll just say, Excuse m, and I’ll have to dash off to the toilet.

Wife’ So it’s a bit prohibiting where you can go. How far you can go. How long you can go outside.

Ray’ If you want to go out for the evening it can be very difficult because you’ve got to make sure your bladder is empty before you go, have a seat in the row where you can get out and things like that. And if you go out for a meal, halfway through the meal you may have to get up and go to the toilet.

How do you think it is affecting your life nowadays to continuously have this problem?

Ray’ it’s difficult.

Wife’ it’s restrictive really.

Ray’ it’s very restrictive. I mean we’ve got relatives in [county] and I wouldn’t now do the journey to [county] unless I’ve planned out beforehand where every loo is on the way.

Wife’ [laughs]

Ray’ Which doesn’t makes aSome people plan their trips via the pretty way, some people the fastest way, and I go by loads of loos.

Were you able to get access to disabled toilets if you wanted to?

Wife’ It all depends where you are.

Ray’ Yes, it is, I mean.

Wife’ In different counties that is run differently.

We went to Ray’s sister’s golden wedding do, our son drove our car for us and half way there, there was a disabled toilet but it was 20p in the slot, so if you hadn’t got your 20p it was difficult. And by the time we’d opened it, he’d had problems before.

So it really depends on.

Wife’ Well, there the toilets that were there previously I noticed was a woman coming out but she had a key, because they were issued locally, but for visitors it was all this paying slot. People outside the county or wherever.

Ray’ So it does affect your life in so much as on simple things like that, which normally you wouldn’t think about.

They begin to take precedence over other things.

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