Tests & Biopsy

It's May 2009 and we are going on holiday. As part of the preparations I am going to the doctors surgery for holiday jabs. I also intend to have a "well man check".

Tell him to check your prostate my partner shouts. She has been listening to an artice on the radio about BBC food campaigner Geoff Tansey who is recording podcasts about his own experiences of prostate cancer.

At the doctors surgery the doc tells me to come back in 10 years when I am 60 but I insist telling him about the article on Radio 4 and that they had said "more lives would be saved if more younger men had prostate cancer checks" Reluctantly the doctor arranges for a PSA test the following day. PSA stands for Prostate specific antigen and the test is an indication that you may have prostate cancer.

48 hours later the doctor is on phone, flustered. Your PSA test has come back indicating you may have prostate cancer he says. He stresses that in two out of three cases the reading is a false positive caused by an infection or an enlarged prostate.

I am referred to the Urology dept of the local hospital and over the next three weeks I have two more tests. Both are positive and the reading is rising. Once again everybody reassures me I am young and therefore it is unlikely I am positive but they need to arrange a biopsy to find out once and for all if I have prostate cancer or not.

I was very frightened by the thought of the biopsy The procedure involves taking around twelve thin slices from your prostate gland. A camera and necessary equipment is inserted into your back passage in order to take the samples. The good news is that this done in pairs so you have to endure around six slices.

The reality though was it did not really hurt although I can speak only for myself. Uncomfortable would be a more apt description. It is done in a very small room which seemed to have a lot of people in it. A nurse tried to distract me by putting her face close to mine and asking me about my upcoming holiday. This to begin with, concerned me more as realising she was trying to distract me, I thought gosh this is going to be bad.

The consultant who carried out the procedure showed me images of my prostate gland which in her opinion looked perfectly normal and her advice was that I should not worry and go and have a marvellous holiday. Odds are on your side were her parting words.

Links

BBC food campaigner Geoff Tansey
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/prostate_cancer.shtml