Anxiety over a recurrence in the future

Dealing with the side effects I think was just a function of understanding that there were things I could control, diet, exercise, managing stress which would mitigate but not eliminate the side effects.

There were the humorous yet effective ways, when my daughter was hone fur Christmas while I was on ADT she came home and asked why I had it set to air conditioning! I was driving with a friend to a game one November, it was cold outside, near zero, he reached to turn the heat on and I said touch that and I'll have to kill you...

Something that helped was each time I went on treatment I was a rapid responder, PSA would drop to undetectable in the first three months, a sign of a durable remission.

I was also confident in my decisions, knowing that I had made the best possible treatment choice with the assistance of my medical team. Those choices were for defined periods, not life sentences.

After surgery, I changed my outlook on treatment from trying to understand if it would work for the next 10-15 years to 3-5. Why, I knew that medical research would bring new treatment agents and imaging during that time, enabling me to do something different.

I kept myself informed, I don't like to use the term "research." It implies a scientific method. Instead I called it literature searches and reviews. Whatever, I could go toe to toe with my medical team on discussions about treatment specific to my clinical data.

I did 22 years in the Army, you learn a lot about accomplishing the assigned mission, how to do mission analysis, determine specified tasks, implied tasks, course of actions, decision making criteria...having branches and sequels to your original
plan...no plan survives contact with the enemy...

Those are some of the ways.

I've been fortunate, no financial toxicity, my insurance has never been an issue.

A work environment that gave me the flexibility i needed...when i needed it.

I've had some great members on my medical team, fired a few too.

To sum it up, attitude...

Kevin

“No plan survives contact with the enemy”….very good life lesson right there, Kevin.
I think Mike Tyson also has this view. When he was in his younger, ferocious days, a reporter asked him about an upcoming contender’s plan to beat him.
Tyson replied, “Yeah, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”😂

Off topic, but I sometimes wonder if they'd been the same age and met in their prime, whether Muhammad Ali's elaborate strategising would have be enough to overcome Mike Tyson's raw force, the way it was with George Foreman.

I too am a somewhat negative thinker….but only because he who fails to plan, plans to fail. When I go on Amazon to make a purchase I first look at the 1 and 2 star reviews; that’s the kind of guy I am - I always look for the worst instead of the best.
My wife calls me Mr Positively Negative.
I am a worrier and instead of making excuses for it or trying to change my ways, I’ve come to accept what I am. So when I feel doom approaching I laugh at myself, tell myself it’s just business as usual and embrace it.
You just cannot fight the way you’re made!

I focus on today. "The past is history the future is a mystery." I do everything that I can to stay in today. Of course, I drift but I make it a point to get back to the present. Get busy living!
Best wishes on your journey.

James & Chippy thank-you for your response. They are encouraging. I tend to be a worrier & in my career have been trained to look at the future. In business it helps, but in life we can’t & dont want to try & predict the future. I will try & do better on focusing on today. lol
Best wishes.

Thanks, chippydoo. I just stole your inspirational phrase and posted it on the bulletin board above my desk.

I need to keep busy with projects to try to fend off thoughts of recurrence.