First of all, I’m writing about my prostate cancer to help me come to terms with the diagnosis.
Secondly, if anybody reading this blog, and by anybody, I mean any MEN, who hasn’t had their PSA checked then I implore you to go see your GP and ask for it NOW.
I consider myself extremely lucky because it started around two years ago when I had a routine blood test that showed my prostate gland was becoming enlarged.
THE DRE TEST
This is quite normal especially as I was 65 at the time, but the doctor called me in and did a DRE (digital rectum examination) and said it felt quite normal, so not to worry.
She did prescribe some medication for the waterworks and I was OK with all of that.
Then last year I was again having a routine blood test via a different GP and I specifically asked for the PSA test to be included…
This test showed my PSA level to be slightly elevated at 4.05 and on seeing the GP he asked for another blood test (this would be about 3 weeks after the first one) because the threshold figure I understand is about 3.5 for someone of my age. This time the number was 3.75, still too high so I endured another DRE and was again told that it felt OK.
However, after some discussion, he said he would like to take some advice about the state of my prostate from the Urology department at my local hospital.
I was a little surprised then to receive an appointment to see Urological Consultant in late October 2017.
The Consultant and I had met many times previously as I had had Cancer of the Bladder treated successfully by him between 2001 and 2008 and I had been discharged after being clear for 5 years in December 2013.
Again I had a DRE and following that, an ultrasound scan which told the Consultant that all was OK. However – and this is why I feel so very lucky – he said he would like an MRI scan “for future reference” as a baseline picture.
This was late November last year and he wrote to me in December 2017 to say that “surprisingly” the MRI which was a 40-minute scan, showed up a small abnormality, so he would arrange a biopsy to find out if anything sinister was going on.
The hospital called me with an appointment for the prostate biopsy on the 27th of December 2017 back at the Urology Department which kind of took the edge off Christmas.
The surgical Consultant who did the biopsy said the results will be back in 2 weeks but call us If you don’t hear in 3 weeks.
My Prostate CANCER
I waited nearly 5 weeks because the MRI scan was reviewed twice, before seeing yet another doctor for the results.
He asked had anyone talked to me about my prostate cancer!!
He then went on to tell me that it was at the T1 stage and my Gleason number was 7, none of which meant anything to me or to my shocked wife, who has been with me throughout. I then saw a specialist Uro-Oncology nurse who arranged a further appointment with an Oncologist consultant, putting me into the care of the Christie Hospital. This appointment was to be at the Macmillan Cancer Unit at Leighton Hospital in Crewe.