MY PROSTATE CANCER JOURNEY
Even after one too many of my friends had been diagnosed as needing prostate cancer treatment, I still remained quite aloof about not wanting to be tested as I had no symptoms whatsoever. After getting badgered by my wife to visit the doctors and get tested. I was delivered the news nobody wanted to hear as my consultant, Professor Shergill confirmed that the PSA blood test had shown slightly elevated results. He urged me to have a scan which revealed there was something dodgy going on. He then sent me for a biopsy and the results showed it was a pretty serious and I had no alternative but to do something about it and soon. Rest assured it was one of the worst days of my life. I have chosen to go public with my story as I make a passionate plea to everyone hear on Facebook to take on board some of these basic facts.
- Prostate Cancer is the biggest cancer killing disease in the UK and it affects one in eight men and the diagnosis has tripled over the past three years.
- It is worth noting that men in their 50’s and above or with parents who had suffered with the disease are in a higher risk category.
- Prostate cancer is not always life-threatening but when it is, the earlier you catch it the more likely it is to be cured. In fact, people can live for many years with prostate cancer, as treatments can help them manage the cancer and its symptoms and maintain a good quality of life.
Such was the help I received from the Wrexham Prostate Cancer Support Group and undertaking what I hope was successful Brachytherapy surgery, I was given the chance to work alongside an old pal Mal Williams to promote the work of the group. We mow have over 80 members and our membership has recently been boosted with the recruitment of Yvonne Lush who is the local Macmillan Cancer Information Nurse Specialist with years of nursing experience at the Maelor Hospital, especially in the field of urology. The group have also recruited eight other staff members of urology team at our local hospital who join us on a monthly rota basis. The March meeting is being held at The Trevor Arms on Wednesday 6th March at 7pm and our guest urology nursing specialist will be Samantha Smythe.
The number one objective is to raise the public awareness and promotion of the cause of prostate cancer. We provide the warmest of welcomes and our aim is to those in our community who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, suffering issues post treatment or merely suspect they have symptoms.
For more details, call me on 07525 824 679 or email to [email protected]
Please do your utmost to share this post and learn some valuable lessons.
The picture shows Mal Williams (Chairman), Prof Shergill(President), Yvonne Lush(Mcmillan Nursing specialist} and Phil Jones(Sec)