Please bear with me as this might be long. In January I became constipated and after 3 weeks of trying over-the-counter laxitives, I made an appointment to see the doctor. She asked me a few questions asbout my diet and the performed a digital rectal examination,saying "I might as well check your prostate while I'm in here" and said that it felt "spongy". She ordered up a set of blood tests and a week later, another doctor from the practice phoned and said "all your blood tests are normal except your PSA level is 130". He might as well have been speaking ancient Greek, I had no idea what that meant. Apparently a normal reading is about 4 and a reading of 130 needs further investigation. I was referred to the urology department of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital for investigation.

I was given an appointment within 10 days and had an initial consultation followed bu a bone scan, MRI scan and another CT scan. I attended a follow-up appointment with the consultant, expecting a biopsy to be performed but he said there was no point as it would only confirm what they already knew, I have advanced and incurable stage 3 prostate cancer. As you can probably imagine, this was a lot to take in as I had none of the usual symptoms of prostate cancer (and still don't). I had a further CT scan to determine how far outside the prostate gland the cancer has spread, for this scan they require the bladder to be full and the bowel to be empty so they can get a good view. To empty the bowel I had to self-administer an enema (they sent me a box of 10 so who knows what the future holds) and I had to drink a litre of water in 20 minutes. They carry out a pre-scan to ensure that both conditions are met but mine failed because my bladder wasn't full enough, I have another CT scan booked for nex Monday, 19 June and upon successful completion, they will custom design a course of radiotherapy (10 sessions over 14 days). I also have another CT scan booked for 9 July whis is described as "CT thorax & abdo & pelvis with contrast". The contrast part means they inject you with some sort of dye prior to the scan to make the images show up better, I had to have another blood test to check kidney function for this.

So this is where I am now, they won't be able to give me a prognosis until after the radiotherapy. One slightly concerning aspect about this is that as you know, the fundraiser supports Prostate Cancer UK and I receive newsletters from them. In the latest newsletter it reports that after extensive clinical trials, a new drug has been approve for treatment

Gene-targeting drug olaparib will bring us closer to tailored treatment for every man.

This is a landmark moment for prostate cancer treatment, Eddie.

We've opened the door to a future where every man could get treatment that is tailored to him.

NICE, which decides which medicines the NHS can and can’t fund, has just announced that eligible men across the UK can be given olaparib for advanced prostate cancer. Although this affects a very specific group of men today – men who have a BRCA gene mutation and who are no longer responding to hormone therapies like abiraterone – it sets a huge precedent.

It makes olaparib the first targeted treatment of its kind to be approved for the disease – and it finally moves us away from the old ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to prostate cancer treatment.

Find out more about this big step forward


Olaparib now stands to extend the lives of hundreds of men each year. That's hundreds more fathers, grandfathers, brothers and sons given extra time with their loved ones.

I’m proud of the role we’ve played in developing this exciting drug. And you should be too because, without your support, it wouldn’t be possible.

Amy Rylance
Head of Improving Care
Prostate Cancer UK

 Advances like these are only possible thanks to the ongoing support of people like you. Help us make treatment more personal for everyone. Leave a regular gift today.
I mentioned this to several people at the hospital and they all said they hadn't heard about it.

All the hospital appointments cause disruption to operating Time Factors but Dave and myself will do out best to minimise this.

Eddie