Prostate Awareness

Thanks for clicking onto this page which was actually written back in 2007 for my first Peking to Paris Rally. When most people see the word prostate they would rather click on ‘lets watch the paint dry’ page! The biggest culprits are, of course, those that it most affects – males approaching or over 50 – inevitably they (or we) are what I call the ‘ostrich brigade’.

I can still hear Pat’s (my wife) voice saying to me pre 2003 – go and get a well man check-up to which my reply was I feel great, when I feel ill I’ll go to the doctors. How stupid is that – but if I draw any comfort from my ignorance/stubbornness I’m not alone with this view – men, unlike the majority of women, suffer from the ostrich syndrome of burying their heads in the sand.The ladies have done a great job in raising awareness of breast cancer and promoting the benefits of regular check ups – we need to elevate the awareness of prostate cancer and the importance of simple annual checks to a similar level.

This page is not about being morbid mentioning the C word or death – it’s about one thing AWARENESS..

Don’t be the Ostrich.
Unfortunately the ostrich view is not just stupid but dangerous – for men approaching and over 50 it’s like playing Russian Roulette. More than one man dies every hourin Britain alone. It is no good waiting for symptoms, sometimes there aren’t any and when there are it may be too late.

Following my ‘nerve sparing radical prostatectomy’ – the removal of my prostate – I wanted to share my good fortune of early diagnosis with others and wrote a short article for the Veteran Car Club magazine which is reproduced below. Although the article was written three years ago and since then there have been great strides forward in the manner of treatments - the awareness factor, or to be more accurate the lack of awareness, of prostate cancer is still a major problem contributing to the high number of deaths caused from this disease.

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is an annual event held on the first Sunday of November. The first run was in 1896 to celebrate the Emancipation Act which permitted an increase in the legal speed from 4 mph to 12 mph!

Veteran Car Club magazine article
The following article was written, by Tim Scott, for the Veteran Car Club magazine August 2004.

Lucky Visit!
If you are reading this article it has obviously been accepted for publication by our Editor, for which I thank her, as I appreciate it is a departure from what the magazine is designed and devoted to.

Those of you who participated, or heard later details of last year’s London to Brighton Run, (the ‘old croaks’ car run for cars built prior to 1905) will hardly need me to remind you of how wet the conditions were.  As we drove up Madeira Drive all three of us, Pat (my wife), Chris (our youngest son) and myself were like the proverbial drowned rats!  Nevertheless, as I proceeded to change, a short while later, in the Gents toilet of the Grand Hotel I was somewhat surprised by the question from a fellow participant “see you here next year Tim?” as if to question my commitment to the annual pilgrimage.  Naturally I confirmed positively never thinking there could be factors, as indeed none of us do, that could potentially terminate all of my future London to Brighton entries!

Later in November, due to Pat’s insistence, I visited my G.P. with a minor stomach ailment and along with a number of routine checks also gave a blood sample for analysis.  I, for my part, with the exception of the minor stomach irritation, had never felt better.

A few days later he contacted me with the results stating that all of the tests were fine but my blood test was showing a higher than normal PSA and that he would like to re-run the test.  The second test confirmed the results of the first – a PSA level of 10.0.  Although I was not aware at this time I have since learned that the PSA checks the level of the Prostate Specific Antigen, a chemical produced by the cells in the prostate gland.  A reading in excess of 4.0 indicates a prostate problem.  The next step was to have a prostate biopsy.

At this stage I have to admit my knowledge of the prostate and what it did was not very much.  Actually that is an overstatement to be honest – it was none existent.  The only thing I knew was that some 8-years earlier I had been on an old car run in Utah organised by Bill Evans from San Diego and one evening a fellow participant, Albert Guibara, a sculptor from San Francisco, started to tell me how the Americans had some years earlier pioneered an approach to prostate surgery whereby the nerves were left in place thereby avoiding problems of incontinence and impotency.  Although at the time I had little interest in learning this, I must have ‘stored’ this information away in ‘ze leettle grey cells’, as it came flooding back to me whilst talking to my doctor.

My doctor knew of a local pathologist who had undergone surgery in the US earlier that year for a similar problem. Therefore as we had already arranged to take a family holiday in America for Christmas and New Year I undertook some Internet research and booked in for a biopsy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday, 16th December - two days prior to the start of the holiday, the logistics working well!

The Transrectal scan and biopsy was a new and somewhat interesting experience with a tube being inserted up the rectum and samples obtained from the prostate as if through the use of a staple gun!  Fortunately it is over in a few minutes.

Due to the holiday period I was not to know the results until 15th January when I was contacted by the specialist, Dr Mostwin.  He informed me that I did in fact have prostate cancer and the reading on the Gleason scale was 3 + 3.  This scale indicates to what extent and how aggressive the cancer is, the individual score being 1 – 5.  A score of 3 + 3 indicated that the cancer had been diagnosed whilst hopefully being contained within the prostate and therefore surgery, whilst not the only option, was possible.

There are a number of ways of treating prostate cancer - surgically, radiotherapy, brachytherapy, each have pluses and minuses.  Prostate cancer however is one of the few curable cancers if caught early enough therefore although the options were viewed, surgery was my choice.  My appointment for a nerve sparing radical prostatectomy was set for Wednesday, 3rd March – 7-weeks after my telephone call with the specialist during which he had mildly suggested that a little weight loss could be beneficial.  Never before had such a mild, almost throwaway, remark made such an impact – better than any New Year’s resolution!  Out went the alcohol, sweets and almost bread.  In came the visits to the gym culminating in 1½ -hour daily sessions.  When Pat and I left for America the week before the operation I had lost 18 lbs and, ironically, hadn’t felt so good in years!

Following the operation I felt very little discomfort, was discharged from the hospital 3-days later, and was permitted to fly home after a further 4-days in Baltimore.  Recovery back to full health takes some 8-weeks with excessive exercise not being permitted until after this period although walking/climbing stairs is encouraged almost from the start.
My sole purpose for writing this account is not in order to make public the matter relating to myself; in fact my natural tendency is to keep such matters private, but to bring awareness to others.  Primarily, prostate cancer affects men over 50 and as many of our members are circa this age hopefully, my experience may encourage you to seek a simple blood test.  As I have said, prostate cancer is one of the few cancers that is curable – if caught early enough, however physical detection may be too late and a simple regular (annual) blood test for PSA could make all the difference.

As to the 2004 London to Brighton – you didn’t really think I wouldn’t be there – did you?!

For further information please see:

www.prostate-cancer.org.uk
www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=2657

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