Case Study Two:
As
a pilot, I have had regular medical checks throughout my life, and I made sure
these included a digital prostate check as well as a PSA check every couple of
years after the age of 45.
In
March 2014 at age 63, after a digital check my GP said that my prostate was
“ridiculously healthy”, however 2 days later my PSA test returned a value of
22, a major increase from previous tests of around 4. A further PSA check
confirmed the high number, so I was referred to a specialist, David Merrilees.
He carried out a series of biopsies which confirmed there was Gleason 4+5
cancer present, despite the absence of any enlargement of the prostate. David’s
recommendation, and my preferred option anyway, was to “whip it out” with
surgery. This was successfully completed in May 2014. We had planned a holiday
in China, and I asked David whether we should postpone this. His response was “you’ll be fine to travel
after 5 weeks” and this proved to be correct. I have always been athletically
fit and this probably helped my recovery significantly.
For
the first 11 days I had the usual catheter and bag for bladder release, and
after this was removed it took a number of days of exercises to regain full
bladder control. Interestingly, while in
China I was enjoying a foot massage, and the Chinese lady asked our friend and
interpreter “Has he been doing ‘pee-stop’ exercises?” She was able to recognise this from my feet!
I
had been advised that there was a risk of nerve damage from the operation,
which could cause incontinence and possibly impotence to a small or large
degree, but I have been lucky on both counts and have had almost insignificant
effects.
The
next stage in my story was receiving radiation. In August 2016, two years after
my prostatectomy, my routine PSA tests had shown a small rise in PSA levels,
and David Merrilees suggested that “you will probably need radiation at some
stage, and although it’s not essential right now it might be worth doing while
you are still pretty fit.” I agreed and decided to go ahead, and this was done
at Auckland Hospital, with daily visits over 33 days. I was advised that fatigue was a possible
side-effect, but I was lucky not to have any noticeable loss of energy. I kept working throughout and even won a
fencing competition during the treatment.
Around
2 years later I had a small amount of blood in my urine intermittently,
particularly after very heavy lifting.
On further investigation this proved to be some radiation cystitis –
damage to the bladder from the radiation treatment. This has not proved to be a major issue and I
have not had any significant on-going issues with this symptom.
At
this stage – 6 years after my prostate removal – I am having no significant
after-effects.
