A Prostate Cancer Blog

Hi and welcome to my new blog, this week on the 9/9/19 I have been prescribed with prostate cancer and have decided to create a blog for anyone in a similar position to learn from.

The journey to the operation

Whilst on holiday I noticed the frequency with which I was urinating and the urgency was increased significantly and resolved to see the doctor on my return. This I duly did, and the doctor actually said I had done exactly the right thing and he would undertake tests to make sure everything was ok.

So initially I had blood tests and urine samples taken. The latter did not highlight anything but I received a call from the doctor saying he wanted to talk to me about my blood test.

I arrived at the surgery and the doctor explained I had a PSA level of 3.7 when I should be less than 3 for my age and on that basis he would like me to have an MRI which I agreed to. To be honest I did not consider it to be an issue but in hindsight should of!

So the MRI was completed and then I was invited back to discuss the results, which had shown two areas of concern and they wanted to undertake a biopsy.

I won’t mind admitting I was expecting to suffer through this process but to be honest it was more uncomfortable than really painful. Yes, each injection made you jump and the taking of the samples felt and sounded like a staple gun inside you but you got used to it after a while and the 18 -30 samples were taken, I lost count. The worst bit was the probe entering which was totally alien to me.

I was expecting to suffer the next day but to my great relief I did not experience any issues at all and had minimal side effects.

I was the offered an appointment to discuss the results and unfortunately was told this week that my samples had indication of cancer at level 3 and 4. I was given three options of monitoring, removal or radiotherapy and chose the removal option. That was 3 days ago form when I wrote this.

Since then I have read up lots of information on Prostate cancer and contacted the marvellous charity Prostate cancer UK whose nurse was able to talk to me for 50 minutes and deal with all the issues I wished to cover. She also is sending out a full information pack.

As part of the Prostate cancer UK charity work, they provide one to one conversation with someone who has had the operation at a similar age. I spoke to someone who had it at the same age as myself and we were able to openly discuss all issues including sexual ones. This was incredibly beneficial, and I would recommend anyone in this position to do this.

The emotions have been all over the place as you read the consequences of the operation which range in severity and these provide you with the fear of the unknown. I am though determined not to let this get in the way of what I want to do and despite the fact I know this is going to be stressful and limiting I intend to work on getting better as quickly as possible.

The operation is in just over three weeks’ time and I will be updating the blog as  events occur with the pre op assessment in 8 days’ time.