My Prostate

It’s 17 miles to the facility from my house and for the time being I am driving myself to the daily treatments. This is all part of my plan to normalise the treatment as far as possible. I leave 45 minutes for the journey. I live in a rural setting between Northampton and Milton Keynes and the journey should take about 30 minutes when there are no hold-ups. If there… Read Article →

Yesterday was a novelty but today it’s time to get into the routine. I’d been told that from today onwards I could, if I wished, change into comfortable clothes for the treatment. I’ve decided to do this because it means I can make the treatment different to the rest of the day. By changing clothes when I arrive at the facility I can, I think, in some ways leave the… Read Article →

My radiotherapy started today. It’s the first of 33 treatments that I will be receiving during the rest of September and through until 30 October. The object of the radiotherapy is to kill any remaining cancer cells in an area known as the “prostate bed” – that’s the area where my prostate used to be, before it was removed in 2017. Treatments are given daily – weekdays only – in… Read Article →

The phone range just after 5.30 on the Tuesday afternoon. It was my GP and it wasn’t good news. The results of my PSA had come back to the surgery that afternoon. My score was well over 40. For most people it’s less than four, often much lower. Looking back, I don’t remember being overly worried about the test. In any case, the nurse had said the results wouldn’t be… Read Article →

There’s nothing special about a PSA test – it’s just a normal blood test with a strange name. When I went for mine in the local GP’s surgery on 5 September 2016 I was in and out of the nurse’s room in a couple of minutes. I’ve never had a problem with syringes. The nurse and I made small talk as she checked for a vein in my arm and,… Read Article →

It was three years ago today that my journey started. Like many others, I suspect, it all came from a casual discussion with my GP. I had been taking tablets for high blood pressure for just over a year and this was the first annual review of my medication. I asked my GP if wanting to pee frequently at night was a possible side effect of the tablets. At the… Read Article →

So, today I had a CT scan. I can’t say I was surprised because I’ve known about it for a few weeks. Since I saw my two consultants in June and July in fact. It’s the latest stage on my journey with prostate cancer – a journey that started just under three years ago. More of that another time. The scan is part of the planning for a sequence of… Read Article →