Didn’t do too well with the flow test & questionnaire this morning at the urology dept, I Scored 31 out of 35, (35 being the worst). The flow test toilet is like a plastic urinal that’s plugged into a recording machine, they said my urinary habits are severely compromised, I had to arrive there with a full bladder yet I could only manage 60 mls despite drinking two pints of water & two cuppas prior to going. They said a minimum of 150mls is wanted for a true test so they sent me back to the waiting room & told me to drink more liquids from the water machine & come back in 40 minutes & do another, Still only managed another 60 mls & the bladder scan showed a 50% full bladder.
I’ve got to go & see the consultant again before I go for the external beam radio treatment at Christies in November.
lancpudn:
Didn’t do too well with the flow test & questionnaire this morning at the urology dept, I Scored 31 out of 35, (35 being the worst). The flow test toilet is like a plastic urinal that’s plugged into a recording machine, they said my urinary habits are severely compromised, I had to arrive there with a full bladder yet I could only manage 60 mls despite drinking two pints of water & two cuppas prior to going. They said a minimum of 150mls is wanted for a true test so they sent me back to the waiting room & told me to drink more liquids from the water machine & come back in 40 minutes & do another, Still only managed another 60 mls & the bladder scan showed a 50% full bladder.
I’ve got to go & see the consultant again before I go for the external beam radio treatment at Christies in November.
I was under the impression they had todo everything within 2 weeks , if they could see a issue , beginning of Oct - Xmas seems along time , I know from seeing my lump was bigger on last mri to getting me in for another biopsy was weeks , urology nurse told me this week that if they see a rise in my psa I’ll be straight in for mri , as for stream / flow I’ve had that on & off , not so much since last biopsy , but a lot before , feeling I wanted to go , but just trickled out , was a lot better after abbi my urology nurse said just drink water , said not easy but tea / coffee / cider will irritate prostrate , been a lot better since drink more water than anything else
Mine is difficult as some issues I have could as easily be diabetis than prostrate
All the best lancupn , they’ve been brilliant with me , I’m sure yore nurse / consultants will be with you
dozy:
lancpudn:
Didn’t do too well with the flow test & questionnaire this morning at the urology dept, I Scored 31 out of 35, (35 being the worst). The flow test toilet is like a plastic urinal that’s plugged into a recording machine, they said my urinary habits are severely compromised, I had to arrive there with a full bladder yet I could only manage 60 mls despite drinking two pints of water & two cuppas prior to going. They said a minimum of 150mls is wanted for a true test so they sent me back to the waiting room & told me to drink more liquids from the water machine & come back in 40 minutes & do another, Still only managed another 60 mls & the bladder scan showed a 50% full bladder.
I’ve got to go & see the consultant again before I go for the external beam radio treatment at Christies in November.I was under the impression they had todo everything within 2 weeks , if they could see a issue , beginning of Oct - Xmas seems along time , I know from seeing my lump was bigger on last mri to getting me in for another biopsy was weeks , urology nurse told me this week that if they see a rise in my psa I’ll be straight in for mri , as for stream / flow I’ve had that on & off , not so much since last biopsy , but a lot before , feeling I wanted to go , but just trickled out , was a lot better after abbi my urology nurse said just drink water , said not easy but tea / coffee / cider will irritate prostrate , been a lot better since drink more water than anything else
Mine is difficult as some issues I have could as easily be diabetis than prostrate
All the best lancupn , they’ve been brilliant with me , I’m sure yore nurse / consultants will be with you
Cheers dozy, According to the consultant you need to be on this hormone treatment a certain amount of time prior to having the external beam radio treatment to shrink the prostate as much as possible, They gave me some booklets which explain it, Yes it’s a bit worrying having to wait until 16th November to start the treatment, my missus is in a bit of a flap because of the amount of time it’s taking to start treatment.
She told me the same thing that tea & coffee irritate the bladder & I should drink more water but not after 8pm to prevent lots of visits to the toilet overnight, Pretty hard to do as I drink lots of tea & enjoy a tipple of cider. 
This was my mrs suggestion after spending hours reading up on prostrate issues , I thought she’d lost the plot , but she was deadly serious , and after 2 years she makes sure every morning I have a glass of pomegranate juice , and on my 4 days off , holidays I have a glass of red wine on a night
My last biopsy the consultant said strangely we’ve found no sign of cancer , They even double checked if I’d had any treatment , I’d not , so the only thing I’ve done over last 2 years is drink a glass of pomegranate juice / wine a day , it maybe just a coincidence, god knows , but mrs is convinced , who knows , but just might be worth a try
Well that Prostap hormone injection seems to be kicking in, They said it would start to reduce the size of the prostate & enable me to pee easier & they were right. The hot flushes though take some getting used to! I get over a dozen a day. It’ll save on heating if nowt else 
lancpudn:
Well that Prostap hormone injection seems to be kicking in, They said it would start to reduce the size of the prostate & enable me to pee easier & they were right. The hot flushes though take some getting used to! I get over a dozen a day. It’ll save on heating if nowt else
Not had that thank god ha ha , but great news your treatment is moving forward , lot of negativity about nhs but even with covid they were great .
dozy:
lancpudn:
Well that Prostap hormone injection seems to be kicking in, They said it would start to reduce the size of the prostate & enable me to pee easier & they were right. The hot flushes though take some getting used to! I get over a dozen a day. It’ll save on heating if nowt elseNot had that thank god ha ha , but great news your treatment is moving forward , lot of negativity about nhs but even with covid they were great .
Yes I’m not straining to pee anymore thank heavens, I’ve just received another flow test appointment, They weren’t impressed with my last effort 
Yeah you’re right the NHS staff have been brilliant & really helpful in every way.
lancpudn:
dozy:
lancpudn:
Well that Prostap hormone injection seems to be kicking in, They said it would start to reduce the size of the prostate & enable me to pee easier & they were right. The hot flushes though take some getting used to! I get over a dozen a day. It’ll save on heating if nowt elseNot had that thank god ha ha , but great news your treatment is moving forward , lot of negativity about nhs but even with covid they were great .
Yes I’m not straining to pee anymore thank heavens, I’ve just received another flow test appointment, They weren’t impressed with my last effort
Yeah you’re right the NHS staff have been brilliant & really helpful in every way.
Bugger! It’s like one step forward two steps back at present, The oncologist at Christies rang me yesterday saying we need more scans before the radio therapy external beam treatment. I was supposed to start the radio therapy treatment on the 2nd November at Oldham but now I’ve got to have another MRI scan (today) & another bladder scan & flow test on the 17th November.
She also said I’ll need to do a micro-enema before each of the twenty external beam radio sessions 
The joys of getting old eh!
The dates for the radio therapy treatment have been pushed back to the new year & changed from Christies Oldham to Christies Salford which is quite worrying since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early July
If you’ve any worries / concerns lancpudn about your treatment I’d speak to your urology nurse , I was told from day one if I had any concerns , any changes in waterworks to speak to her ( way they work maybe different in your area to mine )
I wasn’t happy about 6 months for psa test , 2 years for mri , so I rang her and she explained if they noticed any change in psa they’d have me straight in for mri , and if there was any change , pain / blood to ring her immediately
Must admit I’m lucky as mrs is mates ( work at same hospital as well ) so mrs will often ask questions she / I am concerned about
I’d bell her as just put your concerns to her / him & they should pass onto consultant
Best of luck
dozy:
If you’ve any worries / concerns lancpudn about your treatment I’d speak to your urology nurse , I was told from day one if I had any concerns , any changes in waterworks to speak to her ( way they work maybe different in your area to mine )
I wasn’t happy about 6 months for psa test , 2 years for mri , so I rang her and she explained if they noticed any change in psa they’d have me straight in for mri , and if there was any change , pain / blood to ring her immediately
Must admit I’m lucky as mrs is mates ( work at same hospital as well ) so mrs will often ask questions she / I am concerned about
I’d bell her as just put your concerns to her / him & they should pass onto consultant
Best of luck
By chance the urology dept rang me out of the blue Friday teatime to do a question & answer over the phone instead of a face to face hospital appointment about my toilet visits over the last five days, I have to keep a record of the times morning,noon & night time etc.
I asked her about the delay in starting the radio therapy treatment & she said you’re not alone, One of the machines at Christies Salford is broken & will take a month to repair & that’s why appointments have been pushed back.
lancpudn:
dozy:
If you’ve any worries / concerns lancpudn about your treatment I’d speak to your urology nurse , I was told from day one if I had any concerns , any changes in waterworks to speak to her ( way they work maybe different in your area to mine )
I wasn’t happy about 6 months for psa test , 2 years for mri , so I rang her and she explained if they noticed any change in psa they’d have me straight in for mri , and if there was any change , pain / blood to ring her immediately
Must admit I’m lucky as mrs is mates ( work at same hospital as well ) so mrs will often ask questions she / I am concerned about
I’d bell her as just put your concerns to her / him & they should pass onto consultant
Best of luckBy chance the urology dept rang me out of the blue Friday teatime to do a question & answer over the phone instead of a face to face hospital appointment about my toilet visits over the last five days, I have to keep a record of the times morning,noon & night time etc.
I asked her about the delay in starting the radio therapy treatment & she said you’re not alone, One of the machines at Christies Salford is broken & will take a month to repair & that’s why appointments have been pushed back.
You would think they’d refer you to a different hospital then , I live in Grantham but have been to Lincoln , Boston , Peterborough , even offered me Louth , Mansfield , notts to get me in quicker
Can’t remember if offer of Louth , Mansfield , notts was prostrate related as have a fair few health related issues , so could of been something else
Prostrate was Boston , cat , mri,s , biopsy,s , even blood tests but now doing blood , mri,s at Grantham
It’s hard to know I guess as it’s different areas , but I’ve not had to wait for anything , had me straight in to be honest ,I’d be asking if the treatment is available near by , I guess that’s where I’m lucky , mrs works at Grantham so got my blood , mri, s changed to Grantham instead of Boston
dozy:
lancpudn:
dozy:
If you’ve any worries / concerns lancpudn about your treatment I’d speak to your urology nurse , I was told from day one if I had any concerns , any changes in waterworks to speak to her ( way they work maybe different in your area to mine )
I wasn’t happy about 6 months for psa test , 2 years for mri , so I rang her and she explained if they noticed any change in psa they’d have me straight in for mri , and if there was any change , pain / blood to ring her immediately
Must admit I’m lucky as mrs is mates ( work at same hospital as well ) so mrs will often ask questions she / I am concerned about
I’d bell her as just put your concerns to her / him & they should pass onto consultant
Best of luckBy chance the urology dept rang me out of the blue Friday teatime to do a question & answer over the phone instead of a face to face hospital appointment about my toilet visits over the last five days, I have to keep a record of the times morning,noon & night time etc.
I asked her about the delay in starting the radio therapy treatment & she said you’re not alone, One of the machines at Christies Salford is broken & will take a month to repair & that’s why appointments have been pushed back.You would think they’d refer you to a different hospital then , I live in Grantham but have been to Lincoln , Boston , Peterborough , even offered me Louth , Mansfield , notts to get me in quicker
Can’t remember if offer of Louth , Mansfield , notts was prostrate related as have a fair few health related issues , so could of been something else
Prostrate was Boston , cat , mri,s , biopsy,s , even blood tests but now doing blood , mri,s at Grantham
It’s hard to know I guess as it’s different areas , but I’ve not had to wait for anything , had me straight in to be honest ,I’d be asking if the treatment is available near by , I guess that’s where I’m lucky , mrs works at Grantham so got my blood , mri, s changed to Grantham instead of Boston
I’m off shortly to Bolton hospital to do another flow test & bladder scan, It was cancelled once then three days later I get a letter saying it’s on again 
Still no dates for when I’m supposed to start the 20 days of radio beam treatment at Christies.
It’s a good job I rang my docs to see if they knew about my 3 monthly hormone injection I’m getting at the local clinic instead of going to Christies & they knew nowt about it despite Bolton oncology dept sending them a copy of the letter I received as well 
I had to arrange it with the booking team, Pharmacy team & the district nurse myself to make sure the hormone injection would be in place at the end of this month. 
Isn’t this work what they’re getting paid to do.
Not much good news at the urology today, Severely restricted flow & I couldn’t empty my bladder after three attempts Got to go & have a catheter & camera down my wazoo under local; anesthetic, Deep joy, the joys of getting old eh!
I asked them about the delay in the radio beam treatment at Christies & she said they cant do it if I’m unable to empty my bladder so I’ll have to wait until the results of the catheter/camera.
I do get the struggling to pee very odd times these days ( embarrassing shaking it 20 times , bloke next door must think , hang on ) , 99% of the time I’m normal , I improved after 2 nd biopsy , but consultant says biopsy can make no difference , so in my case it can only be glass of red wine / pomegranate juice
Try it , I’m being serious , your not loosing anything , mrs said mil swore by red wine as she had women’s issues ( is it mastitis) & cured her
The main thing is there aware of your issue ,they will get there , I got a unexpected phone call other day as not due mri for a few months , Sharon my urology nurse checking all was ok , though soon as she got on about pumps I knew my mrs had put her upto the phone call
I wish I could help you with more advice but I’ve only got as far as biopsy’s , theyl get there lancpun , I no how you feel , it’s not easy how ever strong you think you are
Try that red wine / pomegranate juice , I’m not joking , I have a glass of wine every day when not at work , and a glass of pomegranate juice every day , been doing that since day 1 , 2 + years later I still do
Nb I don’t need a bloody pump , I’m bloody 61 not 20 , it just takes a lot more coaxing to stand to attention these days
Seriously all the best lancupn , I’m sure you’ll get there , they will get you sorted , stay strong mate
dozy:
I do get the struggling to pee very odd times these days ( embarrassing shaking it 20 times , bloke next door must think , hang on ) , 99% of the time I’m normal , I improved after 2 nd biopsy , but consultant says biopsy can make no difference , so in my case it can only be glass of red wine / pomegranate juice
Try it , I’m being serious , your not loosing anything , mrs said mil swore by red wine as she had women’s issues ( is it mastitis) & cured her
The main thing is there aware of your issue ,they will get there , I got a unexpected phone call other day as not due mri for a few months , Sharon my urology nurse checking all was ok , though soon as she got on about pumps I knew my mrs had put her upto the phone call
I wish I could help you with more advice but I’ve only got as far as biopsy’s , theyl get there lancpun , I no how you feel , it’s not easy how ever strong you think you are
Try that red wine / pomegranate juice , I’m not joking , I have a glass of wine every day when not at work , and a glass of pomegranate juice every day , been doing that since day 1 , 2 + years later I still do
Nb I don’t need a bloody pump , I’m bloody 61 not 20 , it just takes a lot more coaxing to stand to attention these days
Seriously all the best lancupn , I’m sure you’ll get there , they will get you sorted , stay strong mate
Cheers Dozy I’ll give that red wine a try. I go for my next three monthly hormone injection tomorrow, They said it would start to reduce the size of the prostate making it easier to pee & It seemed to be working at first but I’m back to going to the toilet 7-8 times a night again trying to pee.
lancpudn:
dozy:
I do get the struggling to pee very odd times these days ( embarrassing shaking it 20 times , bloke next door must think , hang on ) , 99% of the time I’m normal , I improved after 2 nd biopsy , but consultant says biopsy can make no difference , so in my case it can only be glass of red wine / pomegranate juice
Try it , I’m being serious , your not loosing anything , mrs said mil swore by red wine as she had women’s issues ( is it mastitis) & cured her
The main thing is there aware of your issue ,they will get there , I got a unexpected phone call other day as not due mri for a few months , Sharon my urology nurse checking all was ok , though soon as she got on about pumps I knew my mrs had put her upto the phone call
I wish I could help you with more advice but I’ve only got as far as biopsy’s , theyl get there lancpun , I no how you feel , it’s not easy how ever strong you think you are
Try that red wine / pomegranate juice , I’m not joking , I have a glass of wine every day when not at work , and a glass of pomegranate juice every day , been doing that since day 1 , 2 + years later I still do
Nb I don’t need a bloody pump , I’m bloody 61 not 20 , it just takes a lot more coaxing to stand to attention these days
Seriously all the best lancupn , I’m sure you’ll get there , they will get you sorted , stay strong mateCheers Dozy I’ll give that red wine a try. I go for my next three monthly hormone injection tomorrow, They said it would start to reduce the size of the prostate making it easier to pee & It seemed to be working at first but I’m back to going to the toilet 7-8 times a night again trying to pee.
0ne step forward , ten back , yes I was like you , was tramping at time & having to keep getting out for a pee 5/6 times was a nightmare ( just in y- fronts ) , at home Mrs stuck me in spare room , remember going to Cromer from Grantham , must of stopped 5/6 times for a pee , took over our lives to be honest as any journey was all about toilets , making sure there were plenty , you can hide behind lorry but car you can’t , but no choice had to go
I’m nigh on normal now peeing wise & hopefully theyl get you sorted lancupn , it’s so frustrating at times , always thinking why me , but as my girl kept saying , dad your still with us that’s all that matters ,
Stay positive , keep us updated as it’s a route one day I may have to go down
My urology nurses have said over the last 2 years if I struggle peeing , pee a lot there is medication available , but I’ve left it as 99% of the time I’m ok .
Not sure if they’d issue you with it lancupn as you’re under treatment , whereas I’m just under surveillance, watch & wait , think that’s what they call it
But maybe worth mentioning , it’s even on last consultants letter , refused offer of medication as coping ok ( rough wording )
dozy:
My urology nurses have said over the last 2 years if I struggle peeing , pee a lot there is medication available , but I’ve left it as 99% of the time I’m ok .
Not sure if they’d issue you with it lancupn as you’re under treatment , whereas I’m just under surveillance, watch & wait , think that’s what they call it
But maybe worth mentioning , it’s even on last consultants letter , refused offer of medication as coping ok ( rough wording )
It’s becoming comic capers with these appointments! I turns up on the dot for this three monthly hormone injection at my local clinic (after being told DO NOT miss this injection date) & the district nurse there know bugger all about it, Nothing on their computer system about my referral to have this injection here from Christies oncology dept 
Even after speaking to these very people here a month before my appointment to make sure they knew about it & it was them that gave me this time & date appointment.
Been ringing Bolton Urology dept & the Christies oncology dept at Salford trying to find out what’s going on & told we will ring you back, Still bleeding waiting since yesterday morning. 
I must admit all my prostrate appointments have been at hospitals , I can’t think of any at clinics / only time doctors have been involved was original examination , even blood tests for psa are at hospital , they’ve been spot on sending reminders of appointments etc , though wife does often goes & sees my urology nurse if there’s a issue , though I’ve got her number anyway ( they chat anyway as there mates )
I’ve had your issues with doctors for diabetis , often have to remind them I’m due a review , or theyl call me in for a review a month after last one even though there meant to be 6 monthly , diabetis is very hit & miss , diabetic eye checks at clinics are like hospital , are spot on though
Poor really , lancpun , I’d not be happy to be honest , I’d keep onto them , you should have your own urology nurse , or I have since being diagnosed , abbi , now Sharon , I can ring , also can ring Boston hospital urology & they will get hold of someone if I’ve a question , query ,
