My cancer journey!

I want to share my story to raise awareness about prostate cancer as I’m sure there are other 42 year old men out there like I was not aware of what prostate cancer was or even what the prostate does!
Late in 2022 I started to feel more lethargic than normal and waking up feeling really tired. Doing the man thing, I put off going to the doctors for a few weeks until my wife booked me an appointment to go. I had a chat with my doctor and he decided to carry out a blood test on the 23/12/22 to check for any abnormalities in my blood, as my dad passed in late 2021 from cancer and wanted to rule out anything.
My doctor checked me for thalassemia, low iron a few other things and my PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen).
I got my blood test results back on the 30/12/22 and my doctor was happy with my bloods apart from my PSA which was high around 10.99 (normal around 0.5).
Being a 42 year old male I hadn’t a clue what PSA was and my doctor explain a few things can raise it like exercise, infection, BPH and cancer.
I was booked in for an MRI 14/2/23 to check for any abnormalities on my prostate and to check it was all ok.
I went to Colchester Hospital on the 24/2/23 for my MRI results and I was informed by my consultant that I had 3 abnormalities on my prostate and they had a scoring of 3, 4 and 5 on the PI-RAD scale.

The PI-RAD scale is:
1.    Unlikely cancer.
2.    Unlikely cancer which needs to be treated.
3.    Not possible to tell from MRI if cancer that needs to be treated.
4.    Likely cancer that needs to be treated.
5.    Very likely have cancer that needs to be treated.

During this meeting my heart sank as it turns out that score 5 which I had was about a 81% chance I had cancer. We discussed with my consultant the way forward. I decided to have a biopsy done to confirm whether cancer was present.
My biopsy was booked in for the 16/3/23. I will not go into detail but it wasn’t the most pleasurable experience of my life but the team at Elmstead Surgical Colchester Hospital were amazing.
On the 3/4/23 I had the results that I was dreading. It was confirmed I had prostate cancer in the abnormality which scored 5. I had a Gleason score of 7.1 which basically is a score on how aggressive it is. I went into complete shock at the sound of someone telling me I had cancer. I cannot really remember much about this meeting as I sort of switched off. All I remember thinking was, what about Ivy growing up without me or Katie having to cook dinner! Luckily for me Katie was on the ball and took the lead on the meeting. I was given an information pack with different treatment options and was given a couple of weeks to think about how to move forward.
I had 3 options

1. Leave the cancer and monitor it.
2. Radiation, but there is a risk of secondary cancer at a later date from the radiation.
3) Prostate removal.

It was obvious talking to my consultant which option to go for and it was removal. I opted for radical prostatectomy which is basically remove prostate and re-join my urethra to my bladder!
I was booked in for 22/5/23 for my operation. I was very nervous but was put at ease by the surgical team. I was in surgery for 4 hours and came round in the afternoon. I’m not going to lie, the next two weeks were not the best but once I had my catheter out it was like I had a new lease of life! Because of my age my recovery was very quick after the operation and I didn’t need the 300 incontinence pads they sent me! After a couple of weeks post catheter removal, I was completely dry which was one of the things stressing me out post operation. Over the next few months, I made very good progress apart from painful bladder spasms which I now have medication for and will have to take for a few more months.
I had a PSA blood test done again which should show if they have managed to remove all the prostate as it will not be producing PSA and got the results on the 14/8/23. My PSA reading was <00.1 which is a sign that the operation was successful.
I still have to have 4 monthly PSA tests as I was high risk of cancer spreading because of the positioning of the cancer within the prostate for the next 5 years.
I have written this to bring awareness to other men my age that this is not just an old man disease. I had no classic symptoms of prostate cancer and luckily for me Katie made that appointment and my doctor decided to test my PSA. Google the symptoms of prostate cancer and if you have any, don’t be afraid to visit your doctor for an examination. There are even pop up clinics which will check your PSA levels if you cannot get in the doctors.
Once I was in the system at Colchester hospital I cannot fault any of the care I received and felt I was well informed at every point. By the luck of finding this, I am hopefully one of the lucky ones who have been diagnosed early and cured of cancer.
You only hear of the passing of people with cancer and not so much of the many survival stories out there and the people who manage to beat this awful disease. Through cancer research many more people will be cured or even live longer through development of new drugs and new techniques. I have decided to run with friends at the London Landmarks half-marathon in April 2024 to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK.
I am so thankful for the hospital staff at Colchester Hospital, the many volunteers which work helping people with cancer and my friends and family who have helped me through the last 10 months.