Get your Prostate checked Guys

"As a bit of background I am also on the airgunforums.co.uk, there has been a thread on there entitled "Have a Prostate Test done Gents" which has been running for some time. This was the first post, not mine:

"Hi Gents. Just a quick one for all us lads on the forum in our 50+ years. March this year I had a visit to the doctors for a Prostate test. ( wife nagged me to do it as my Dad had PC in his mid 60's ) Bit embarrassing to drop your pants and have the doctor stick his finger up your bum. It was the best finger up the bum that I had ever had. That test found that I had the start of Prostrate Cancer. If your Dad, Uncle, Grandfather, Brother has / had it you will also have it further down the line. Went for blood tests and samples and they confirmed I had stage 5 PC.
6 Months later after a month's worth of daily dosings of RadioTherapy & Hormone Treatment injections I recently had the all clear.

I had NO symptoms at all that I had this man killing disease, it was just a case of luck that the wife nagged me to have a check up. reluctantly I did have it checked.
Get it checked lads you know you have to.
WW.."

Having had some of the same issues I updated the thread with the following:

Just caught up with this thread and thought I?d share my experience so far, for context I will be 62 in April.

Just over a year ago I noticed that I was having to make frequent visits to pee during the night, flow slowed down etc etc. I booked an appointment with the GP and assumed the position, I was fortunate he was a slender guy :) he concluded that I had an enlarged Prostate but it felt ?nice and soft? apparently if it is hard then they would be more concerned.

He also booked me in for a blood test which showed an elevated PSA level this was repeated a couple of times, at the same time he prescribed Tamsulosin (400grm) and also a flow test.

It went downhill from there, as a result of the flow test I went into ?retention? and was unable to empty my bladder, I was still at the urology department at this point so they called the ?on call Doctor? who immediately decided the only option was a catheter to drain the bladder (instant relief) which was left in place for a few days, I think I lasted about 72 hours before I was practically begging them to take it out. Having had it removed things got back to how it was before the flow test for a few months, no issues through the summer. I was running up to 50k a week having signed up for the London Marathon, but that?s another story.

I was then sent for more blood tests which showed an even higher PSA count so I was referred for an MRI scan, I had one previously which didn?t show anything so in the words of the Urologist ?we could do a biopsy but wouldn?t know which area to target? anyway several months passed with more PSA blood tests showing elevated PSA and another MRI, the latest MRI did show an area of concern but nothing too alarming. Next step was a Transperineal Biopsy. Now if you think a single digit up the back passage is less than dignified, imagine being flat on your back, feet in stirrups with an ultrasound camera inserted pushing against your prostate and 24 individual biopsy sample being taken by two lovely nurses through the Perineal, under local anaesthetic. To be fair they were both very reassuring and chatty through the whole procedure.

Unfortunately the biopsy by nature caused a fair amount of trauma and about a week later I was pacing the house at one in the morning calling 111, in considerable pain with bladder retention. I ended up walking to A&E which happens to just round the corner at about 3 in the morning. Can?t fault A&E despite a 6 to 7 estimated waiting time to see a doctor I was seen and had another catheter fitted within 20 minutes of arriving, this one stayed in for around 5 days and was taken out by the district nurse at home. All was good for a few days when again in the middle of the night I ended up in A&E again for another catheter after waking up not being able to pee this one was taken out after 10 days and again was okay for a week or so until it happened again.

This time A&E fitted my 4th catheter but also spoke to the on call Urologist who advised that they would see me in the department when I went to get the biopsy results and take the catheter out at the same time, this was around the 15th December.

So I went for the consultation where they gave me the all clear for the Prostate biopsy (no cancer detected) but said that the previous MRI showed a problem with my right hip and the original concern before they got the biopsy result was that potentially any cancer had spread to my hip.

I did explain that I had pain in my hip for years, in particular after running long distances during training, thinking back just prior to the last MRI I had pain in the hip and had been using a massager to try and ease it, Think I may have over done it.

To be sure I was referred for another MRI on my hip which was done the next day, unfortunately I was also prescribed Antibiotics to treat Prostatitis for 28 days and told the catheter would have to stay in, that was 3 weeks ago. I have just had a letter confirming the all clear on the Prostate cancer and inflammation in the hip is non cancerous, which is great news. On the 18th January I have a TWOC (trial without catheter not to be confused with taking without consent) booked, then a blood test for PSA a week or so after that with another appointment with the consultant on the 6th Feb.

After all this I will need some for of procedure to relieve the effects of the enlarged Prostate and will talk to the consultant about Rezum which is where they use steam to evaporate the area of the prostate around the Urethra, which seems to be one of the least invasive treatments.

If you have managed to read this far, I?ll just add that I can not fault any of the frontline NHS staff A&E, Nurses, Doctors and Consultants have been great, the admin side of things however could be improved upon. I won?t go into detail here about my experience with the catheter except to say my first experience was the worst and you very quickly get in to a routine to deal with it on a day to day basis, for me the main issue is that I can?t go for a run, ratting is no problem though.

I have waffled on too long but if anyone wants more information feel free to PM me."

I have since been asked to copy it to another thread on the same forum to increase awareness and coverage and it occurred to me that it wouldn't do any harm to post it here.

Well worth raising awareness.

I recently had the check-up at the GP (Spoiler Alert: All is good). I was aware that over the past year I seemed to be weeing for Scotland. Loads more than before, to the point that even I noticed it and though it was a significant enough change to be a bit curious. Phoning the GP and making the appointment was simple enough and the blood tests results came back all clear within a couple of days. The bit where the doctor put his knee up my backside and went for a jog (I am sure he used his knee, nobody has fingers that size!!) was ok as well.

The follow-up lifestyle chat identified that, as we had moved house just over a year ago and "invested" in one of these Quooker boiling water taps, I had been drinking about 4 times as much instant coffee as before, when I had to go through the whole mega hassle of, errr, boiling a kettle. A few weeks of moderation to confirm that was the likely cause followed and normal service was resumed.

Moral to the story is not to be shy about making an appointment and pic a doctor with skinny knees.

I'll echo this with no hesitation.
I was diagnosed 6 months ago with early stage PC.
I had zero symptoms and still don't.
I only asked for the psa test as an add on to a routine blood test because my dad also had PC.
Yes, the examination can be embarrassing but don't let that put you off getting tested and examined if there is any history in your family. They don't advertise it but if you have a family history you are actually entitled to a psa test. The physical examination is actually a much better indication of the disease than the psa test. But once you are diagnosed regular psa test levels are more indicative.

And another telling you to get it checked when you get offered the test.
I had elevated PSA levels when dental surgery went wrong that resulted in a scan and a thyroid biopsy that was cancerous and removed. The PSA test led to multiple scans, a prostate exam and a prostate biopsy which came back negative. We were not expecting good news that day and, fortunately, all has been good since then. I'm still getting regular checks on blood work in case anything changes so I'm on their radar still.
Get checked for anything when it's offered, it's not as uncomfortable as you fear it will be and they're all professionals giving you the once over. There's nothing they haven't seen before so get it done.

And there was a moment of levity during my biopsy, the nurse came out to get me laughing her head off, said the doctor was nervous for once. He was from a Carribbean country and the UK Ambassador was.... Guy Mayers. No relation.....Pretty obvious when I walked into the room. My, how we laughed until he got the finger working....

Get checked folks!

OK, I'll chime in for the states-side perspective: Definitely Yes! Its far better to keep tabs on what's going on and being able to do something as soon a problem arrises, rather then waiting until it's too late.

The process over here is - Once you cross over an ago of around 50, the annual physical will include the "finger up the exhaust" evaluation and the PSA test.
No big deal. Just do it.

Just to echo what Dave and all the other guys have said. If you've got symptoms such as peeing more, struggling to pee, slow flow when peeing and/or getting up multiple times at night or recurring urinary tract infections (UTI's) - go and see your GP. Don't just put it down to getting older!
I have a very similar tale to Dave without the catheterisation and with relatively low PSA. I was having recurring UTI's which GP said were relatively rare in men. He did finger up the bum and PSA blood tests. He thought my prostate was slightly enlarged (bear in mind it's normally only walnut size) and PSA reading was higher than normal. I was sent for an MRI and a lesion of about 15mm across was discovered. This led to a biopsy of the prostate as described above - not my favourite memory in life. Fortunately the biopsy came back negative and PSA readings settled to normal. I'm now signed off by Hospital Urologist, but still have 6 monthly PSA tests at GP's and Tamsulosin medication to continue indefinitely.
I'll just finish my story with something that has stuck with me (amongst other things) from my 1st marriage which was to a GP. I remember her saying once that if any man who died over the age of 60 and an autopsy carried out, irrespective of the reason for death, a very high percentage would have PC at some stage of development.
It is something that men don't talk about enough and we'll done Dave for raising here.
Cheers!
Ade

My father recently passed away from prostate cancer (Boxing day). He convinced a lot of people to have PSA checks, and quite a few of those came up positive and lead to treatment.

Some doctors don't want to do a PSA test as the result can be difficult to interpret as everyone has a different "normal" baseline. But get tested early before you have a problem and if the value spikes upwards on a subsequent test then that's pretty clear.

I too have had the finger up the exhaust pipe after a slow flow... which led to a blood test which showed elevated PSA levels..... then had the biopsy's taken which fortunately were negative... again the biopsy's were in front of an attractive nurse which at this stage of the proceedings had no effect on William !!..........after regulars checks the PSA level slowly came back to normal... I have PSA checks annually now.

Dont be worried guy's... when push comes to shove the NHS does work.

Good luck David and thanks for being so honest !

Phil

'Sorry to hear that you've been suffering David. I hope things improve soon.
No problem raising awareness on here of the serious stuff.

Ignorance is only bliss until the bliss is removed... booked myself in today, Thanks David, just the kick I needed.

- yes familiar story I'm afraid. Last summer i was identified as having BPE - benign prostate enlargement (not PC) but symptoms similar. I didnt have Rezum, but TURPs or TURIS - (trans urethral re-section in saline) which basically is a re-bore of the urethra to open things up a bit. Catheterisation was part of this and definitely not a bucket list recommendation. However, better than the alternative and not as serious as Dave's experience - but well done Dave for raising this topic and hope you have a full and complete recovery . It's a subject that needs to be discussed among us blokes of a certain age.

Looks like Royalty reads these pages and acts upon the sound advice herein:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68010563

Guy

Beat me to it Guy!

Thanks for the well wishes, I have my TWOC (catheter out) tomorrow so hopefully things will move forward soon.
The whole point of the original post was to raise awareness and encourage guys of a certain age to get tested and it seems to have achieved that:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by STR_Strat

Thanks for the well wishes, I have my TWOC (catheter out) tomorrow so hopefully things will move forward soon.
The whole point of the original post was to raise awareness and encourage guys of a certain age to get tested and it seems to have achieved that:)

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My test was not too traumatic! Bloods all good & Dave is spot on, over 50 = go & get checked, Bravo NHS:)