At the age of about 60, I started to experience the classic symptoms of prostate problems. more frequent trips to the toilet to pee, occasional urgency and sometimes a little leakage. Unlike some though, I have never (and still never) really suffered with getting up frequently in the night.

It came to a head on a holiday in France when i was 65. I am a coffee addict, which in itself is a diuretic, and on this occasion was driving on a fast autoroute when the urge took me, following a coffee stop. I had to leave at the nearest junction, but couldn’t make it to any nearby stop or even a bush. I just flew open the door and relieved myself on the nearest piece of grass, in full view of the world. Highly embarassing.

I resolved then to seek medical help, and on return booked a GP appointment, assuming the standard enlarged prostate scenario, my first engagement with the NHS on this.

My regular GP had recently retired so I was seen by a locum doctor. I explained my predicament and that my Father had been a long time prostate sufferer ( another tale that involved him being catheterised for 20 years) and had received treatment for cancer.

I was somewhat taken aback to be dismissed out of hand, told by the GP that it was probably bladder irritation. She suggested I cut out caffeine and alcohol.

My medic children, one doctor, one nurse, were not impressed and neither was I. This was my first experience of male prostate cancer denial.

However, the system demands that protocols be followed, so I conducted the appropriate experiment.

I abstained from all alcohol and caffeine for two weeks and recorded all my symptoms as a diary. Needless to say, there was no improvement.

I made another GP appointment in an inter-covid window, the locum had been replaced by another, this time a man. He was the polar opposite, insisting on a full range of tests, including a psa test.

All the tests came back normal, except the PSA which was raised at a value of about 11.5, the first indication that something was not quite right. So my journey into the next stage of care began with a referral to a Urology consultant at my local hospital, the RUH in Bath.

Next- Part 2 Watching and Waiting >