“I was diagnosed with prostate cancer towards the end of lockdown. A lot of services were doing a lot of catch-up, but timescales were still met for my referral and treatment. I was part of the early wave of patients coming out of COVID, so things moved fairly quickly for me.

The symptoms that came along prompted me to get in touch with the doctor. It wasn’t screening or age-related — just a feeling of, “Is this right?” Looking back, I probably didn’t realise how significant it was at the time. I’m now hyper-aware of things like that.

To be honest, I wasn’t very aware of prostate cancer before this. I wouldn’t have done well if there was a pub quiz on it! In my case, it became very clear: either deal with the NHS, or deal with prostate cancer.

There was a certain embarrassment initially. You ask yourself: Is there something wrong? Am I bothering the doctor? But deep down, you know the doctor would rather you go in and hopefully tell you it’s nothing to be worried about.

I feel lucky that I had a really good local medical centre. There was no problem getting an appointment. They guarantee same-day face-to-face appointments and got back to me in a couple of hours.

I had a same-day appointment with my doctor at the beginning. One thing I noticed was being with a female doctor. I found myself wondering (stupidly) — What’s her knowledge? but of course she knew all she needed to know, If I had waited three months, the cancer could’ve progressed.

At a second GP appointment, they said I was a bit young (56) for this diagnosis. They gave me the option: wait a couple of months and then go for tests, or go now. I pushed to go for tests now. I see GPs as ‘general’ — not expert, I wanted to see someone with a specialism to be honest.

The door was open for me to push to come back in. If I was someone who wanted to avoid a diagnosis, I could’ve walked away at that point. Maybe had a blood test further down the line. My cancer was localised, but it was on the edge of spreading.

It wasn’t a difficult conversation — the GP gave it as an option. But I’m not a medical professional. My worry is that some people would choose to wait a couple of months. That could change the outcome.

I acted independently. I probably left it five days from noticing symptoms to getting in touch. There was a bit of anxiety — I need to do something about this. You tell yourself You’d be stupid if you left it. I wasn’t trying to ignore it, but I didn’t want it to become part of my life. You can’t ignore the elephant in the room — it won’t go well for you or go away.

I had a call from the GP within two hours of requesting one. I had two GP appointments, then a referral to urology. The specialist clinical practice nurse conferred with the consultant — as he was debating whether to send me for an MRI but the consultant said yes I should. After the scan, the nurse called me, but they can’t make a diagnosis —

they can only hint and tell you what the next steps are. He knew what he was looking at from the scan and the next stage was to book me in to take biopsies.

After the biopsies, I was called in to see an oncologist — and there’s only one reason you get an appointment with an oncologist. You do feel like you’re going round the houses a bit to get there. GP- GP – Urology – MRI Scan – Biopsies – Oncologist and then finally treatment.

Interestingly the specialist practice nurse said most GPs aren’t great at diagnosing prostate cancer. There’s no national screening, and the only effective way to diagnose it is an MRI, but that’s too expensive.

There’s anxiety in the waiting — especially when you’ve had biopsies and you’re waiting for hormone treatment. You think, Should I push for this? Should I go private? Is it OK because the NHS knows what they’re doing? You don’t know. Everything’s new.

The consultant’s approach is to whizz you through the diagnostic process. I was told, when I asked “What’s my prognosis?” — they say, “You won’t die from it, but you will die with it.” – it seems to be a bit of a catchphrase

One oncologist told me there aren’t proper stats for people my age. You get snippets of information. They do the tests, you get a single line in a letter, and no one really explains anything. I had done research, so I knew the options: surgery or radiotherapy. But the oncologist had already decided. There was no discussion. I didn’t argue, but later I found out the panel said I could’ve seen a surgeon. That option wasn’t offered. It’s your life in their hands.

There was a huge post-COVID backlog at the time, but I was seen promptly. My radiotherapy treatment was in Preston, which was a pain — going every day for 25 days — but it happened without major delays, no pain, no hair loss just a bit tired.

Looking back prior to first going to the GP, I probably did notice changes, but by then I was in treatment so it was academic. The symptoms are very varied — what’s normal for one person isn’t for another. You have to convince the doctor to follow up with a scan rather than wait to see if more symptoms come about.

My cancer was localised and hadn’t spread. It was near the edge. You get a Gleason score — I had 3+4. The consultant explained what that meant, but you can’t take it all in. You get the letter and end up Googling it.

There was a contact number in urology if I had questions. I called while waiting for results — they were very helpful.

There’s no national screening programme. A lot of men avoid the physical contact of a diagnosis, but it could save your life, to be honest its nothing and probably did save my life.

I’m pretty comfortable talking about it. I don’t think there’s enough discussion. I’ve tried to be open with friends and family — even about the emotional side, though I try to stay

optimistic. I did notice my family took a lot of photos of me during that time, almost as a keep sake – funny but a bit annoying

There is an older generation that sees it as a taboo subject. I haven’t hidden it. I’ve spoken to anyone who’ll listen. I think it helps to show that it’s not necessarily very deadly or final. Cancers are different, and the outcomes are better now than they’ve ever been.”