John Allan

Just as I was about to go out for dinner to celebrate my sixty-seventh birthday in August 2004, the telephone rang. The call was from a doctor at my local health centre informing me that there appeared to be a problem with my prostate. About a week before I had had a blood test following an unexplained rise in my blood pressure. My usual doctor was on holiday and the practice nurse had suggested that I have this test done so that the result would be ready for the doctor’s return.  The test was for my kidneys and liver and as the nurse was completing the form to accompany the sample she asked ‘shall I include the prostate too?’
I agreed absent minded thinking that I had no problems in that area. The doctor suggested that I call at the health centre for a physical check on my prostate and this examination found that the right side of my prostate to be swollen. A biopsy followed a short time later and within a few days of this I received a telephone call inviting me to attend a clinic at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. My wife accompanied me to this clinic and it was there that I was told by a surgeon that I had prostate cancer. I was introduced to a nurse who specialised in prostate cancer and I was told I could phone him anytime should I have any questions. The various treatments for prostate cancer, prostatectomy, radiotherapy and brachytherapy were all explained to me and I was given a booklet which explained prostate cancer and these treatments in detail. In the initial letter to the hospital my doctor had noted that I was about to go to Australia for a month on holiday. The surgeon told me that the first step in my treatment was to have a bone scan and a MRI scan and the waiting time for these was one month. By going on holiday I would not be delaying my treatment. Right from the first phone call from the health centre doctor I was in denial that there could be anything wrong with my prostate for I was not showing any symptoms. When the first PSA result had come through the health centre doctor told me that he had looked at my medical records and he said that there was nothing in them that would have persuaded him to ask for a PSA test. I was lucky that I was seen by a practice nurse who believed that men of a certain age should have their prostate tested. I was a fortnight into my holiday before I could pick up enough courage to read the booklet on prostate cancer. I live in a fairly remote part of Aberdeenshire and I thought that I would opt for a prostatectomy for it did not seem practical to go for the radiotherapy with its daily attendance at a hospital for seven and a half weeks. As it was, the decision was taken out of my hands as the MRI scan showed that the cancer was so near the wall of my prostate that the surgeons thought an operation inappropriate. As it turned out I managed to attend my radiotherapy sessions with little difficulty travelling daily into hospital by a combination of public transport and lifts from a kind neighbour.  I had the minimum of side effects from the radiotherapy. At every stage of my treatment the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary staff treated me with courtesy, and always took time to explain my illness and the treatment they were giving me.