Faced with a fatal diagnosis: a man navigating prostate cancer

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In 2016, Graham Clouston was given a survival period of 3 to 5 years.

The five years end in July.

Sitting in his home lounge in New Plymouth and looking down on the Waiwhakaiho River, he sees a picture of his health.

He eats it well and puts it in exercise and meditation-spirit, body, medicine.

In 2016, Clauston, who had a history of kidney stones, was seen by a doctor because he thought he had a recurring history.

The doctor agreed, but said he would check Clawston’s prostate while he was there.

“So he did a DRE, fingering his ass,” says Clouston. “Finger Rectal Exam-Sounds tech. It doesn’t. Then he said it wasn’t too big but it came back at 250 to do a PSA check.”

It is supposed to be 4 or less.

Clauston had prostate cancer.

“I had never been checked, so when I was diagnosed at age 66, it was a complete surprise to me.”

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By the time he was referred to an oncologist through MRI, needle biopsy and other procedural processes, his PSA was 444.

In two months, he felt better and was told he had a terminal illness after working in the insurance business. All treatments are palliative.

He says it was “the whole rover.”

He hasn’t healed. He has two small tumors that cannot be treated yet. However, his quality of life is good, as the end-of-life diagnosis is “lost.”

“My current position is that I’m not taking medication and have a PSA of less than 1.”

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Today, Clawston’s business is disseminating information – men, checked regularly.

“If it had been tested before, it would have been a bloody place in jargon.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in New Zealand, with more than 3,500 men suffering from the disease and more than 600 deaths each year. This is about the same as the number of women who died of breast cancer.

The chances of developing it increase with age. By the age of 75, the risk of developing prostate cancer is 1 in 7 men and 1 in 5 by the age of 85.

And if a man has a relative of a man who has prostate cancer, they are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer on their own.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation recommends that men with a family history of prostate cancer be tested from the age of 40. All other men need to be tested at the age of 50.

However, these messages do not appear specifically in Maori.

Maori are about twice as likely to die after being diagnosed with prostate cancer as non-Maori. This is often too late to heal.

Dr Jacquie Kidd, an AUT associate professor with a tribal affiliation in Ngāpuhi, said the health message on prostate cancer had nothing to do with Maori.

“Institutional racism is a problem from our health perspective. Public health messages are not registered.”

Kid was one of the authors of the study Inequality between Maori and non-Maori prostate cancer men in Aotearoa, New Zealand Maori are less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, but are much more likely to die of the disease. Most of the disparity is due to the late stages of Maori men’s diagnosis and differences in ethnic treatment. “

For prostate cancer, they use opportunistic screening, she says. The man realizes that his patient is about the right age and goes to his family doctor who provides a prostate screening.

However, they are unlikely to offer it to Maori men, and she puts it into “explicit racism.”

“There is evidence that Maori men have not been opportunistically screened, so when first diagnosed, the cancer is more likely to invade the prostate.”

And Farnau believes that accessing medical services is not safe.

And when they do, they are not offered the same range of treatment as non-Maori, she says.

“This is what many GPs are aware of and trying to find a way to overcome it. Others aren’t interested.

“Researchers like me are trying to raise awareness. It’s really hard.”

And from a cultural point of view, Maori men don’t want to talk about these things, Kid says.

This is all in common. While women are in support groups, men are not.

According to Jenny Coban, urological oncology coordinator at the Taranaki Local Health Commission (TDHB), some men with prostate cancer may have problems such as erectile dysfunction and incontinence. There is no discussion about wearing.

She had previously advised patients to go to a support group. In the past she had up to four participants.

So Corban came up with a better idea.

It began with increased awareness of the amount of anxiety and depression associated with the treatment of prostate cancer.

She read studies, including studies conducted in the United Kingdom. In this study, suicides in the general population were 10 per 100,000. All cancer suicides were 30 per 100,000, while those with prostate cancer had 52 suicides per 100,000.

Those statistics really bothered Coban.

“I have previously rang a crisis team for a patient.”

Then she found an interesting article about Exercise is Australian medicine Website, she says.

From the large studies “written here”, there is irrefutable evidence that regular exercise after being diagnosed with cancer actually increases cancer survival by 50 to 60 percent. “One study reported that strenuous exercise for more than three hours a week reduced the incidence of prostate cancer by 70% in advanced and older men,” he said.

“And why no one is talking about this? Why don’t we talk to patients about this? Why didn’t I know this?”

So the support group came out and the exercise group came in.

With the addition of the Taranaki branch of the Cancer Society, she says hundreds are now on the contact list for men’s support groups.

It’s really hard to motivate myself, so I thought I needed to exercise in a group. Then there’s a joke, a little fun, and people are more likely to show up, says Corban.

“The premise was to drink coffee together after group exercise. That’s where the magic happens. So you have a lot of men sitting in a coffee-drinking cafe, and they have a prostate. We’re not talking about cancer, but they know that everyone at the table is experiencing something similar to them. “

The feedback was great. And Coban thanked some men’s wives for stopping her on the street and returning their husbands to them.

An athletic group climbed Taranaki Maunga last month.

Inspired by rumors spreading after Coban spoke at the 2018 Prostate Cancer Foundation event and what’s happening in Taranaki, the Prostate Cancer Foundation is helping to set up athletic groups across the country.

Coban was then invited to a clinical expert on the Foundation’s board of directors.

In Taranaki, the Cancer Society will fund the Rampage Gym for 12 weeks, after which you can get membership for $ 10.

The trainer’s kart lightfoot is “great,” says Corban. “He goes all the way up.”

Exercise is useful from all angles. Mentally, if the heart and lungs are working very well, the blood flow is working very well, and they are pumping good oxygenated blood throughout the body, they are fine, happy, and sleep well. I am.

It helps the treatment work better. One side effect of all treatments is fatigue, and the best way to combat fatigue is exercise.

“But I’m not saying it cures your cancer. It’s about living well despite cancer.”

This is what 67-year-old Maurice Bevin is working hard on.

Bevin, who is currently visiting his brother in Mexico, was told by a doctor that he had three to five years left.

“I said bagger off. He said I would give you seven. I still told him to eavesdrop.”

He worked in the oil industry for a lifetime and worked in the North Sea for six months and six months on a trip.

Bevin was diagnosed when he was in Spain in 2019.

“It was a big shock to me.”

Eventually, Bevin returned to New Plymouth and was given the option of chemotherapy and lack of quality of life. Alternatively, you can take the pill Zytiga for a monthly fee of $ 5,000. He chose pills.

“Then it was a blockade. Then they started to cause havoc in my liver. My PSA level was falling, so the doctor said I would continue to inject hormones and stop taking the pills.” PSA level 0.0008 is great. “

He has many side effects of burning and mood swings he is trying to deal with, along with some other minor problems.

Like Clawston, he eats nutritious foods, keeps a positive outlook, stays healthy, and walks about four hours a day.

After he was first diagnosed, Bevin decided to return to work in the North Sea and chat with his colleagues. He gave a 30-minute presentation to talk about himself. Then he broke and cried.

“It was pretty hard,” he says.

He has never shared anything personal. He told the same story to the night shift, and after a while he told a group of people he didn’t know. They gave him a standing ovation.

If he gets medical permission, he plans to return to work in the North Sea and walk from John o’Groats to Land’s End in England to raise awareness.

“Nobody says anything about it (prostate cancer). We have to make men more aware. Broke doesn’t like to talk about it.”