Page 14 - COBH EDITION 2nd NOVEMBER DIGITAL VERSION

‘Don’t wait for symptoms, because by then it could be too late’
- Trevor Laffan
Don’t wait for symptoms, because by then it could be too late

In August this year I got a bit of bad news when I was di-
agnosed with prostate cancer. It didn’t come as a complete
surprise though, because I had been having some tests over
the course of the previous months and they were all pointing
in the one direction. Nevertheless, it still hit me hard when I
heard the actual diagnosis.
The word ‘cancer’ has a way of unsettling the most resilient
of us.

My story is not unfamiliar, and there is hardly a household
in the country that hasn’t been visited by the scourge of this disease. In my own case, it has
already claimed my parents and my younger sister. While it’s not always possible to win the
battle with cancer, not every case is fatal either. There are steps we can take, in some circum-
stances, to identify the early onset of the disease and give ourselves a fighting chance.
Early detection is vital and it’s for that reason, I’m telling this story. I have discovered a few
things over the last few months that I think are important and need to be highlighted but
first, let’s go back to the beginning.

In January 2018 I went for a regular blood test and it showed a rise in my PSA level. This test
is used as an indicator that something may be going on with the prostate gland. I have been
monitoring mine for years so when my GP noticed a change, he decided to let it settle for a
month or so and then repeat the test again and compare the results.

In March, the second test confirmed that the PSA level had risen so he did a DRE, a digital
rectal examination, which involves physically feeling the prostate gland to feel for any abnor-
mality. He wasn’t completely happy, so he decided to send me to a consultant.

The consultant carried out his own DRE and he felt an irregularity. He arranged to take it a
step further and organised an MRI which subsequently confirmed that there was a problem. It
was time to take it to the next level and he arranged for a biopsy to be carried out.
This is an uncomfortable procedure that involves taking twelve samples of the prostate which
are sent for analysis. In my case, two of the twelve samples turned out to be positive for can-
cer and the scoring system that they use to determine the seriousness of the condition put
me in the mid-level range.
Because of my age, 60, which is young in terms of the age profile of prostate cancer suffer-
ers, the consultant decided that the best option for me was to have the prostate removed
surgically.
The options I was given were, traditional surgery performed by a surgeon with a scalpel or al-
ternatively, robotic surgery which is carried out by a machine controlled by a surgeon. Robotic
surgery was a completely new concept to me, but I had time to research both options before
making a final decision because there was another hurdle to overcome first.
This next step was an Isotope Bone Test which is carried out to determine if the cancer has
spread beyond the prostate gland into the bone. This process traces a dye as it travels around
the body and can detect any irregularities in the bone which can then be scanned for signs of
cancer. The good news for me was that this test showed that the cancer was contained within
the prostate. Next step, surgery.