A health check saved my life -Canon Gordon Dey
Retired Canon (Church official) Gordon Dey was moving house from one area of Bradford to another part of the city when he was called for a well man check.
The check-up was part of the induction to join his new GP practice and included taking a PSA test (prostate-specific antigen) a blood test which can be an indicator of prostate cancer.
“At that point, I’d never heard of such a test. My PSA levels were high so I was on a watch and wait schedule,” says Gordon.
He then was offered various choices about his next steps, including whether to have the prostate removed.
“I didn’t feel well informed enough to be making those kinds of decisions. I knew there were side effects with an operation.”
The operation, when Gordon was 70 was a success, and he received follow up care for the next five years with no signs of cancer discovered.
Nowadays Gordon is much more aware of prostate cancer and says he finds it is mentioned much more on the TV and in newspapers.
He will be forever grateful that the Well Man check caught his cancer at an early stage.
“I’d moved four times and only once been invited for a physical health check. What worries me, is that during Covid, that visit to the GP practice would not have happened. Other men are missing those invites.”
In fact, Prostate Cancer UK and the NHS launched a campaign this year to find the 14,000 men they believe missed out on prostate cancer treatment due to the pandemic.
According to recent NHS England data, prostate cancer accounts for a third of those not treated for cancer compared to before the pandemic. Referrals and treatments for prostate cancer dropped significantly during the pandemic with men less likely to visit their GP and discuss their health worries.
Now Gordon wants to give back and raise awareness of cancer whenever he can. He is joining Cancer SMART the project we run in partnership with the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance.
Using the simple SMART anagram, volunteers help us to pass on messages that early detection saves lives using social media or at face to face events.
For more information about the Missing Men campaign see www.prostatecanceruk.org/org