My story – Owen Davies
When my ‘Bloods’ results came back, and my brilliant new doctor told me there were a couple of things he wanted to check and probably rule out.
A scan and a biopsy later, the specialist passed me onto the nurse at the Centre with the news my Prostate Cancer was discovered EARLY, and there were three options.
She’d “give me five minutes to think it over”
“No need!” I said, as I’d already seen the likely options on the web, and at age 67, it wasn’t something I particularly needed to hang on to. Both mum and dad’s different cancers had been found at a later stage, and the web indicated early removal was best.
With a background of keeping relatively ‘cyclist fit’ until my dad was hospitalised, then losing some weight, I had to ‘bulk up’ to keep going – driving 500 miles each weekend to visit. After putting on four stone, I never lost it, and eventually it affected a few health aspects.
Thankfully, I soon switched into ‘get rid of cancer mode’, and although I took a ‘worst likely case’ attitude, I did feel somewhat empowered and ready for it.
At this point, I have to say that the South Yorkshire charity Firefly have been WONDERFUL at getting me to each appointment, including 7am the Monday of my Robotic Prostatectomy in Sheffield.
We were in a queue, and eventually I was called, at 8.30, and got ready. I felt very ‘at ease’ and had no problem. When I woke up, around 11am, I think, I was in recovery, and told not to move -difficult as I wanted to sit up – but I was feeling fine: no after-effects at all, and the staff were very nice.
Eventually, around 3pm, I was moved onto a ward, and the staff there were equally pleasant and caring, and I felt I wanted to be other than bedbound, but I was to be careful. At one point, I accidentally brushed my disconnected canula and.. sorry for the mess, Staff.
But it was quickly sorted, and I even had a ‘see how you got on’ visit by my surgeon, Mr Noon, for whom I have nothing but praise.
Later that evening, when asked, I opted for no painkillers, and had a restful night. By 3pm, barely 30 hours after going into theatre, I was waiting for my Firefly taxi home.
Once home, it was almost ‘back to normal’, and two weeks later, my ‘plumbing’ was also getting back to normal, with nothing to change.
Do I have any regrets? Apart from over 30 years of not keeping fit and slimmer, I wouldn’t say so.
Exercise and self-checks are both important: I didn’t pay enough much attention to the night-time bathroom visits or the ‘slow’ aspect – big mistake.
My new Doctor is BRILLIANT and checked me out. I just try not to over-burden them with minor ailments, but I am trying to do my bit by better maintenance of my health now.
After having seen how my workmate had to face terminal cancer when he was diagnosed, I can’t help but realise how lucky I have been to have my Prostate Cancer diagnosed so early. I had noticed symptoms of both Prostate and Diabetes, but I remained weirdly ‘in denial’.
I found the amount to which my new doctors have “pushed the boat out” to be SO AMAZING that it’s completely woken my health-awareness, and my connection with the local Prostate Cancer Group in Doncaster (and the “Project 6 Sober Social” group) have both been VERY HELPFUL.
My other “rehabilitation”: my Titanium Hip fitted in May, has been a fulfilling journey of “getting mobile as if it was a normal hip”, and I find, in conjunction with my “aim to get super-fit”, I’m well on my way: in fact, I’ve sprinted for the bus a number of times, and my posture has also straightened up.