Prostate Cancer - How did you tell family and friends about your diagnosis?

@PTaylor16 Hello Paul, welcome to Carenity. I'm sorry you're going through that, receiving a diagnosis like that can be hard to process, especially if you're going it alone. Let me tag some members who may be able to share their experience.

Hello members, I hope you don't mind that I've tagged you. How did you tell your family and friends about your diagnosis? Did you wait a bit to process it, or did you tell them straight away? In person? Over the phone? What worked for you? Can you share any advice with Paul?

@JosephBosch‍ @Billy10‍ @Ibrock324‍ @mchase54‍ @FranPro‍ @Noggin‍ @Gonzo8‍ @DannDon‍ @dsmith45‍ @breeze‍ @mikev1979‍ @Thatcher‍ @Jagcbs1953‍ @Mpie22‍ @Igypop‍ @waynemerrill875‍ @chuprin‍ @oregonroofer‍ 

Take care,

Courtney

Paul,

Hearing the C word will throw you for a loop for sure. Telling your family depends on the age of the kids. Mine were all over 20, so I told them over a family Sunday dinner. If my kids were young, I would handle it differently.

I have been dealing with this for 15 months. I chose surgery first, then the PSA started creeping up over the next 12 months. One year post surgery to the day, they determined I needed additional treatments. Over the past year and a half, I have learned a ton about my condition and found some great resources. I would be happy to share my email if Courtney can make that happen.

You are your own advocate. The more you know, the better your outcome will be.

Russ

Paul, I didn't have the family announcement to much because the cancer runs in our family, my father, brother etc. My 2 children were very supportive as were my friends. I was 75 when diagnosed and my doctor did not want to do the surgery at that age, I did the heavy 5 day radiation (the 30 day lesser seemed like along time then) but i need up doing 40 days in the bariatric chamber for an hour or so a day. I still have some bladder problems, wear pads. I exercise everyday and play a lot of golf. Any questions that I can help you with feel free to ask. I am 77 now

@FranPro @looper Thank you both for your advice. I managed to break it to my wife but I haven't talked about it with my friends or kids yet what with the virus going on and some friends having health conditions that made them isolate. I figure it's a conversation that needs to be done in person.

@PTaylor16 Do it in your own time, when you're ready. It's your body, your situation, do what YOU need to do to be ok. When I told everyone I made sure to let them know that I needed them to be normal and not treat me like a ticking time bomb. Most of them got it and gave me my space to breathe and come to them if I needed. I think telling them that helped.

@superman Thanks, that seems to be an important thread in it all and that's what I ended up doing. I hope this can help future members too.