“Friday August 2nd 2019 was like any other working day, but by the end of it my life had changed forever. In January this year my elder brother had been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and let me know that I was possibly at risk and should be checked just to be on the safe side, so when I saw the Prostate Awareness day advertised on Connect, I duly booked an appointment for 3.30pm at HQ.
It was a lovely sunny day and a beer garden beckoned, did I really want to trudge down to Ripley when after all I had no symptoms, remain relatively fit and hardly ever take a day off sick? I almost cancelled my appointment. However Mrs. M politely persuaded me (nagged) that I should go and how thankful I am as within minutes of being examined by Miss Shah the Consultant Urologist an abnormality was discovered. I was immediately referred for a MRI scan the following week which confirmed the presence of something.
Within another week I attended the Burton Hospital for a biopsy and the results confirmed that I did indeed have Prostate Cancer some 27 days from attending the awareness day. Miss Shah and her marvellous team handled my care superbly offering me the appropriate support where necessary. I have already been referred to a surgeon and my operation is planned for September 23rd to remove the Prostate and my prognosis is good.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Internationally, the month of September marks the Prostate Cancer Awareness month, so my message is this, if like me you are male, 50 or over and think you are indestructible think again and see your GP for a referral. If this condition is diagnosed early a full recovery can be expected.