Gary Davis, 64, a retired company
director from St Albans, Hertfordshire,
had no symptoms when he was diagnosed
with prostate cancer.
I’m a keen golfer, and one day at the
gol club,notone but two of my fellow players started
talking about their prostate cancer. Both of them urged
me to go and get a PSA test from my GP, even though I
had no symptoms.
My GP ran the PSA test and revealed that he’d actually
done one two years earlier with a bundle of other blood
tests I’d had, and the latest results showed quite a dramatic
rise in my antigen levels. He explained this didn’t
automatically mean cancer was present but it sometimes
was a red flag, and he suggested I have a biopsy.Coping with the diagnosis
When I was told it was prostate cancer I was absolutely
devastated, as was my wife Cynthia – we both just sat and
cried in the hospital car park. Although the tumour was
early stage and had not spread beyond the prostate,
I thought I was going to die.
Cynthia was as bewildered as I was and rang the
specialist nurses at Prostate Cancer UK, who were brilliant
and explained all my options. Luckily, my GP sent me to a
consultant who suggested a laser procedure called a
robotic prostatectomy. The four-and-a half-hour operation
was a complete success and I didn’t need chemo or
radiotherapy. I was back playing golf within eight weeks,
getting on with my life.
I feel I’ve had a lucky escape. Apparently, if my cancer
had been left a few months longer it might have spread
and I might not be here today. Although the PSA isn’t a
diagnostic test, in my opinion it’s really worth having.
A prostate examination may seem embarrassing, but
dying of cancer is a lot worse.CASE STUDY
❛A chat at the golf club
saved my life❜OU’RE DIAGNOSED?
radiotherapy or permanent seed brachytherapy (an internal
radiotherapy treatment). For more advanced prostate cancer,
treatment is aimed at controlling and destroying cancer cells.
Prostate Cancer UK says there are now around 400,000
men living with a prostate cancer diagnosis and 11,500 deaths
a year – however, 84% of men with prostate cancer survive for
10 years or more.
● Visit Prostate Cancer UK at prostatecanceruk.org to
learn more.Men’s health special
JUNE 2019 HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE 23