Signs that something was wrong
Derek Thompson first visited his GP because he was getting up multiple times in the night. He was told it was just ‘old man troubles’ and his prostate was probably just a bit enlarged. But he knew something wasn’t right.
“So, I just kept going back and saying I think there’s more to it. Thankfully I had also been having regular PSA checks and I happened to have a spike in the numbers. My GP said he didn’t like the spike from the last results, so he wrote to the urologist at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
“I was called in and had a digital rectum examination. They said they thought it was just enlarged but asked if I wanted a biopsy to check. I was brave and because I said yes, I got test results that came back positive – grade five aggressive prostate cancer,” he said.
More tests and scans followed and unfortunately due to a lack of face-to-face appointments Derek was told his results during a phone call. He was called in for a bone scan to see if it had spread outside the prostate. And he was told he would get the results of the scan back in three days, but it took an initial three weeks.
He then had another call outlining his treatment plan, once the Multi-Disciplinary Team had reviewed his results.
A waiting game
Derek remembers taking the initial phone call when he was in a shop, he went and sat in his car while they told him the news.
“They said: ‘I’m very pleased to tell you it hasn’t spread,’ so that was fabulous news.
“Then I waited. I lost two months of my life waiting,” said Derek.
“I had meetings with the consultants and was told my options and asked what I would like to do? They told me it was really aggressive.
“I expected there to be a recommendation, but it was up to me – hormone therapy or surgery,” he added.
Derek had already discussed the side effects of both options with his wife Tracey, those being possible incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
“A lot of men bury their head in the sand about this. One of my neighbours told me he had decided to go down the monitoring route, but I just thought ‘get it out’.
“I had grade 5 cancer growing inside me and I just wanted it out. So, I had a prostectomy in July,” said Derek.
In late September PSA tests showed that thankfully the procedure had done the trick and he had an almost undetectable PSA score.
Derek says he went from being “absolutely rock bottom” to “euphoria.”
He then went on a three-week holiday with Tracey, and he did a PSA test beforehand.
