I’ve thought long and hard, over a period of time, whether to post this. I was unsure because this is the first time I have had a medical problem that could do me some lasting, if not fatal harm and I was hesitant to
put it “out there” against holding it all in and dealing with the problem privately.
As everything seems to be going well though I decided to post this and maybe if someone else is helped by my information, that would be great.
Anyway I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer on the 23.09.21. When the Urologist gave me the diagnosis I was a bit unsure what it all meant, I wasn’t in denial, I don’t think but I just didn’t feel ill or have any
mitigating pain or feelings of being sick, so how could this be?
It all came about when I went in to my GP for a biannual checkup, (25.05.21) I have been doing this since I was 45. I’d never heard of a PSA test before (I don’t know why), so I was a bit in the dark when the
Doctor’s assistant asked me “if we should do a PSA test too? It’s a prostate test” she said “It’s not paid for by your insurance but it’s worth doing”. “What’s it cost? I asked. €17.00 was the reply. “okay, do it I said,
and left it at that. I had been doing all the right things I thought, Blood work, ECG stress test, skin check, hearing test, Colon cancer test and so on. This also included a digital rectal examination, which was
keeping me informed about my Prostate size and also any abnormalities that can lead to cancer.
When the tests came back, with a PSA result of 7,6 I was still in the land of the unknowing. The Doc asked me if I did a lot of cycling? “Not at the moment” I said. This question stuck in my head for some reason,
it’s still there now. This, along with a few other activities, can apparently affect your PSA number. Mine wasn’t good anyway so the next stage was fixing up a date with the Urologist, which was pretty painless.
Within a couple of weeks I had an audience. His first job was to berate me as to why I hadn’t come earlier and his second was to let me know what he thought of General Practitioners, especially when they were
dealing with anything in the urinary system. He did all the usual tests, Blood, PSA, Ultrasound, prostrate, Kidneys, Liver and Colon and told me to phone up a week later for the results. After this procedure was
repeated twice, with no discernible improvements, (PSA 7,3 and 8,4) he recommended a Biopsy, which was done within the next two weeks. This procedure, personally wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be and
the Urologist took enough precautions to safeguard me from Infections and the like beforehand.
The result of the biopsy was thought provoking to say the least. It came back with 10 of the 12 probes showing cancerous growth which, with the aggressiveness of some of the Probes, gave me a Gleason score of
3+4=7a, which is a medium grade cancer score.
Next came the discussion about which treatment suited me, it’s effectiveness, drawbacks and long term after, and or side effects. My Urologist was a “Cutter”. He comes from the surgical side of Medicine. “Get rid”
he said, with recommendations for the best Prostate Clinic he knew of. “We’ll take the Prostate out, together with a few Lymph Nodes, for testing purposes and you should be fine”
I’m all for going for the easy route and to be honest his recommendation sounded like the best way to go, but…….. The internet is a wonderful source of information, misinformation, opinions, lies and well, just
bullshit, so I decided to inform myself. It takes a lot of sifting to get through to the right information but sift I did. It can be worrying and stressful reading reports and watching videos and gathering information
but it had to be done. Information give you the power to decide. I won’t bore you with the details but after researching all the different methods available to me, including some that weren’t because a lot of
research included USA medicine but they were still included on my list, I decided that surgery wasn’t for me. I visited a few clinics and visited other Urologists for their opinions. I had more tests to see what would
be my best cause of action but above all to find out what suited me.
I decide, after all the second opinions, to go for External Radiation Treatment coupled with HDR Afterloading. This first entailed the implantation of three gold marker seeds into the Prostate, enabling precise
delivery of the radiation beam. Then external and internal radiation. My first choice would have been Brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation source is placed
permanently inside or next to the area requiring treatment. Because my Gleason score was +7 this treatment was unavailable to me, so I went for the next best thing. The external radiation treatment (ERT)
consisted of 31 days continuous radiation therapy and then, either during or after ERT, 4 appointments for HDR treatment. This involves the short time implantation of 10/12 needles into the prostate with high
radiation seeds, which are then removed after about 15 minutes. Doing it this way gives the Urologist the choice of raising the radiation dose to suit each patient. All this is done under aesthetic, aided by a
computer programme and a “Placement Matrix” to enable precise delivery of the radiation. The side affects are minimal but some are still there. There is no invasion surgery, no shortening and reconnecting of the
Prostatic Urethra, less pain, minimal prospect of incontinence and so on and so forth.
So I had the gold seeds implanted on the15th of December and started my ERT on the 20th which was completed on February the 2nd. My HDR started on February the 7th and was completed by the 7th of March.
At the moment I am getting back to normal as much as I can, I’ve started running and golfing again and I am much relieved that I don’t need to pee 4 times a night and 10/15 times during the day. I was always
very wary of going anywhere during the treatment as I didn’t want to be caught short but things are improving. I will be having follow up tests, first after three months and then regularly after that, so I will know
the effectiveness of the treatment after my first PSA test in May. So at the moment, It’s wait and see.
Information gathering is a minefield. Doctors and Clinics have vested interests to sell you their product. It’s difficult get relative information, unbiased opinions and generally make the right decisions. It is
essential, however stressful it is to get hold of as much information as possible. Only then can you make an informed decision. At the moment I am fighting my medical insurance provider about some of the
payments, which adds extra stress. I will probably have to take them to court but I’m not letting go. Above all I am glad my family was there to support me.
If you are in the age bracket of 40 to 50 get your PSA tested. It’s not definitive but it’s an indicator that something might be amiss. It is well worth it because the earlier something is detected, the easier it is to
fight it.
Sorry this is so long, if you got this far. Thanks.
