SUPPORT BY OUR GROUP

Our group aims to provide post-diagnosis support for men and their families.  We do this in the following ways

1.   Our Leaflet

On diagnosis at Leighton Hospital, men are given a leaflet about our group which extends an invitation to join us and attend our meetings. Click here  to see the leaflet.

We don't aim to produce much more in the way of publications because there are many better sources available. Locally, you can find a superb selection of useful booklets on the Macmillan Cancer Support shelves at Leighton and other hospitals and there will often be a member of staff on duty if you would like a chat.

Organizations such as Tackle and Prostate Cancer UK have much information on their websites and also offer telephone help lines. See lower down this page for links to these and other websites.

2.      Meetings       

All are welcome to attend our bi-monthly Saturday morning meetings at Leighton Hospital.  Meetings are held in the Postgraduate which is located in the near right-hand corner as you enter car park A off Entrance 1 (Main entrance). For further directions, you can download a site plan of Leighton Hospital from their NHS website at http://mcht.nhs.uk/information-for-patients/hospital-maps/. 

The meeting agenda typically includes the Chairman's update on group progress, arrangements for social activities and PSA Testing, possibly a talk by a guest speaker and a chance to chat with other members. There is always a raffle to help raise funds for our development activities and some meetings are followed by a buffet lunch. You can see details of the next few events, including Group Meetings, in the purple box on the right of this screen. See Calendar for a list of all future event dates. 

3.      Advice       

Many members are happy to offer you the benefit of their experiences in treatment, side effects, medications etc. on a one-to-one basis. Some have published their own story of Prostate Cancer on the Members' Prostate Cancer Experiences page of this website. You may find a story that helps you at your own current stage of treatment. If you need further support, a Helpline is also available through Prostate Cancer Support on 0800 035 5302.

4.      PALs

Our group's PALs initiative is all about communicating with each other and will hopefully show both the differences and similarities of members' experiences of Prostate Cancer. PALs will not be for everybody, but it’s an opportunity for the group to have a record of as many individual members' symptoms and if needed put members together to have that important conversation. If anyone has any questions regarding the PAL’s initiative please do not hesitate to contact Keith Mahoney Tel: 01270 627510  Email: Click here.

If interested in joining, you can download a PALs questionnaire here.

5.     Other Information Sources

 Questions you may wish to ask your Consultant

Tackle has produced a page that may be of use to you especially if you are newly diagnosed. Tackle recommends that you should work in partnership with your consultant so that he/she knows you wish to be involved in making decisions on your future treatment. The web page may be found here.

Prostate Cancer Patient Guide

Another information source, recommended by a member at our March 2019 meeting, is the Prostate Cancer Patient Guide, produced by the USA organization the Prostate Cancer Foundation. You can see a list of this and other guides produced by the Prostate Cancer Foundation that you can download at https://www.pcf.org/guide/. If you just want to view the 2019 version of the Prostate Cancer Patient Guide, this link should work.

Living Well Beyond Cancer 

In his Chairman's Report at our September 2019 Group Meeting, David Laundon mentioned a document published by the PCF (Prostate Cancer Federation – based in Santa Monica) called Science of Living Well Beyond Cancer. You can download and read this document here. 

Decision Aid and Risk Calculators 

Mr Vincent Tang, Consultant Urologist specialising in robotic surgery at Stockport hospital, gave a talk at our March 2019 Group Meeting and has sent some links which may be useful: 

• • • Prostate Cancer Decision aid for Early-stage patients http://decisionhelp.qcancercare.com

• • • Prostate Cancer Risk Trial Calculator http://myprostatecancerrisk.com

• • • Calculate your Prostate Cancer risk http://www.prostatecancer-riskcalculator.com. Also see https://riskcalc.org/

• • • Prostate Cancer Prediction Tools https://www.mskcc.org/nomograms/prostate

Urinary Incontinence Device Review

One of our members, Robin Creed, has written a short page describing the different devices that are available to men suffering urinary incontinence following treatment for Prostate Cancer. Click here to see the page.

Travel and Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer UK has published a leaflet Travel and Prostate Cancer which is available to order and download online.  It includes:

• • more information on finding suitable travel insurance
  • an updated travel timeline
  • vaccine information for men who are having/have recently had chemotherapy
  • more practical tips to help men look after themselves while abroad.