Caregivers share the importance of supporting loved ones throughout the prostate cancer journey by communicating openly, seeking second opinions, advocating for the best possible care, and taking time to care for themselves. They encourage families to build strong relationships with their healthcare team, stay informed, and face the journey together with resilience, honesty, and hope.

Kerrie Slaton:

I'd like to encourage wives of the prostate cancer patients, understand each other's medical issues that are coming up as we're going along, and support each other. Be there and just... Because whether I sit, and sometimes they don't want you to go in the office. Okay. So, I'm out there waiting for them and then they'll say later, "You can come on in." So I'm just saying the wives or the companions and such, some of our patients might be older now, they're widowers and such, I just hope they have a companion that they can go through this with, because a daughter, son and such is good, but when you go to bed at night, they're not there with you. So whether it's that spouse or the companion, just to make sure you're keeping this together and it's a together experience to go through.

Judy LaBella:

Be strong. Just, it's okay to say no. It's okay to be the heavy. Joey talks about boxing all the time because he's involved in it, but it's okay to take those punches on the chin. They get angry, they get sweaty, they get chilly, there's just so much out there. There's emotions flying all around the room, and sometimes you just have to step back and say, "Oh, okay. Let him get through this part. Just let him get through it." And then come back into the conversation or come back into the room and just pick up where you left off at. Don't make a big deal out of it, because they are the ones that are going through the mess. They are the ones that have all these chemicals in their body and in their head. So, just back off and let them have their time.

And find the time to get away. Just getting away from our permanent resident and going to this little cottage that we acquired two years ago, is like it's night and day, because we are out there, it's just Joey and I at our little place. If you just go to an overnight, just go to a restaurant, go to a dinner. Just get away from talking about it all the time and being involved in it. You have to take a break from it now and again.

Staci Cornelius:

Well, it is really important when the diagnosis is fresh and you're reeling from the news that your loved one has cancer, that you have to educate yourself and advocate for yourself. You have to not just accept what the doctor, the first doctor whose office you walk into says as the best line of treatment. You really should consider, even if it's going to be a little difficult and complicating for your life, to go and get a second opinion. If we had gone with the first recommendation of radiation, he never could have then gone back if it did recur and get the surgery. The only option for surgery was to do that on the front end. So if we had gone with the first recommendation to just get radiation, surgery would have never been an option and those metastatic lymph nodes that were in his body would still be there.

And it's really important to educate yourself. We called friends and family to tell them about this at the beginning and we talked to folks. And a lot of people told us that they had a friend or a family member who had been through treatment for prostate cancer and that Henry should connect with... And he did connect with several folks through that way.

And I would encourage everybody to seek out a second opinion, go to a center of excellence, even if it means that it's going to cost you a little bit of money on the front end to buy a plane ticket. Even if it is going to be a burden on your family, it is so important to educate yourself and keep asking questions and make sure that you're on the right path for treatment based on your diagnosis and what you've been told and what you've learned about your diagnosis.

Looking back over the past year, I don't have any regrets. I feel like we did everything right. And again, Henry was the driving force at first, having gone through cancer diagnosis and treatment with his own mother and not accepting the first recommendation from the local hospital and doctors in Birmingham and expanding our horizons.

His PSA has remained at an undetectable level now for almost a year. I think it went down to undetectable level sometime in November after he started the medication and it's remained there. And so, we really know that he has a long life to live ahead of him and it's because we sought out the treatment that we did and we asked questions and we read, and we didn't stop until we found the places where he needed to go.

Carmen Rabanal:

I find very important to find the right medical team. And when I say the right medical team, I'm not saying that of course I want doctors that are really good at what they're at, but not because of the medicine that they can or the treatments that they can give my husband, but how they approach that relationship between patient and doctor. To me, that is very crucial.

Another thing I would like to say is that when you think about the word cancer, it is so terrifying. It can be terrifying and you immediately associate that to, this is the end. But in our particular journey, cancer has brought a lot of good things to us as a family. It has made us a lot stronger, and it has really changed the way we look at life in a better way. It doesn't mean that every day we are in this emotional stability, no, we have lots of ups and downs. But I think this situation has taught myself and my family how to develop or how to find all those tools that we do have inside of us to face this situation in the best possible way. So for that, I even have to say thank you, but that's our reality.

One of my biggest tips would be to live things, to live day by day, to make sure you establish a good rapport with your doctor, with your team. And to make sure that you accept your emotions, just because it's so normal. It's normal that you're not a winner, that you're not... If you are depressed, okay, well, you're depressed, but accept it. And be an advocate for yourself, and because at the end, all cancer patients and the families and people around them, we are really special. We really are, because in a way, we did not ask for this battle. We did not want to go into this, but for whatever reason we were given this battle to fight. So, there has to be a reason beyond all that what we can see and perceive. So, go for it.

Believe, and it's a word that we use a lot. Oh, belief, belief. And I know that when somebody is in pain or going through the darkest days, it's not something to really accept, but I think we all have to, like I say, if we have been given this battle, it's because somehow or another is going to make us grow as a person, as persons. So, let's go for it. That's all we can do.

Ann Kroc:

I feel like I've taken a lot of strength from Doug. I mean, just the way he's reacted to the whole situation and his positive attitude. He's pretty amazing in that regard. But to also be supportive, just try and understand what you can do to help them get through situations. Keep each other laughing.

Baretta Lee:

Be honest about how you feel with your partner. Ask questions. And if you're asking questions to your physicians and they're not getting answered, that's a red flag. There’s not one time I didn't ask or push for an answer and I didn't get it. Just be honest and talk about it, be honest and talk about it. And then once it's done, it's done. That's just been our way of dealing with it.