Men don't get told this..

There was a piece on Australian Story about the potential risks to mental health among men taking hormone blocking drugs for prostate cancer. No mention of breast cancer.... but they are the same drugs. Explains a lot of what happened to me, and without emergency psychiatric help the outcome may have been the same. If you or someone you know is undergoing treatment for either cancer it's worth a look.

I only have a fb link atm.

A link to the ABC Iview site for that program. It's worth seeing

https://iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2502Q021S00

Don.

Thanks Don. I'm sharing it on the fb group I'm in. Most of the blokes are US based. Seems I'm one of the people who don't tolerate these drugs, which are the same for BC as they are for PC. They nearly killed me. Even the most recent, softer Tamoxifen was driving me back down. Not taking any of them any more. Doc says it will take two weeks to exit my body, so one to go.

What gets me is this poor bloke didn't talk. This is why I start threads like these, for us to talk. I am truly grateful to AULRO for allowing me this indulgence. It's what "social" media should be.

I think it's interesting that men don't talk. In my experience men like to help and like to fix things. Talking about this stuff has the ability to help people, but so many blokes "don't want to talk about that stuff".

I keep going back to my mate, who is one of 9 kids of which 7 are men. When he was diagnosed with PC he phoned all his brothers to "get a check up" at which point one of his older brothers went "yeah, I went through hat 2 years ago". If he'd thought to make the call my mate would have gone for a test, been diagnosed earlier and not had to go through a whole heap of stuff he had to go through given the age of the cancer.

Awareness is key. Get checked, get tested, get whatever you need to get to make sure you're ok.

Like I said. I would have never known BC was possible, let alone present, if I hadn't broken my back. By the time I would have discovered the lump I may well have been too late.

I have known five men, four quite close, take their own lives. OK, two were seriously bi-polar and didn't want to take their meds, but the others, it was loss and grief. They didn't talk, and to my shame, we didn't ask. It was this, when I had my own terrible grief, that got me into the whole counselling thing. I truly believe it was talking that saved my life back then. Now, talking helps me cope with cancer, but. as I said somewhere else, I want to help others. As Brad said, awareness is key. I wasn't, and maybe you aren't as well.

And, saw the oncologist today. She agrees that for me the ADTs, even Tamoxifen, are not suitable. Therefore I will not be taking them, but rather taking my chances with the cancer returning. Regular scans, that's all. So, once the bloody stuff leaves my system and I'm hopefully not so tired, life can go on for however long I have. YAY!

Here we go again. More tests and scans.... Oh well, it is what it is... But I feel a little bit like George Jetson when he walks Astro. ( Showing my age here.)

Good luck with your tests John.

For others that find a lump don't panic, just go and get it tested, as I've had a lump on the right side of my chest for years, and its only a benign cyst or fatty lump, I can't remember what the doctor's report even said.

Yes. Get it tested. It's the only way you can know. It it's benign then all good, if it isn't then the sooner you know the better.

Mammogram again today. Probably the second of many. Once again I couldn't get the nurse to give me a practical demonstration. ☹️