I say Parkinsons sidelined because that was he way the neurologist described it when I met him in May last year.
In the Autumn of 2017 I had been referred to the urology department because of some issues with my waterworks. The Consultant and I had met many times previously as I had had a Cancer of the Bladder treated successfully by him between 2001 and 2008 and I had been discharged after being clear for 5 years in December 2013.
I had a DRE (Digital Rectum Examination) and following that, an ultrasound scan which told the Consultant that all was OK. However – and this is why I feel so very lucky – he said he would like an MRI scan “for future reference” as a base line picture.
Parkinsons Sidelined
This was late November 2017 and he wrote to me in December to say that “surprisingly” the MRI – which was a 40 minute scan, showed up a small abnormality, so he would arrange a biopsy to find out if anything sinister was going on.
The hospital called me with an appointment for the prostate biopsy on the 27th December 2017 back at the Urology Department which kind of took the edge off Christmas.
The surgical Consultant who did the biopsy said the results will be back in 2 weeks but call us If you don’t hear in 3 weeks .
I waited nearly 5 weeks because the MRI scan was reviewed twice, before seeing yet another doctor for the results.
He asked if anyone talked to me about my prostate cancer!!
He then went on to tell me that it was at T1 stage and my Gleason number was 7, none of which meant anything to me or to my shocked wife, who has been with me throughout.
I then saw a specialist Uro-Oncology nurse who arranged a further appointment with an Oncologist consultant, putting me into the care of the specialist Christie Hospital. This appointment was to be at the Macmillan Cancer Unit at Leighton Hospital in Crewe.
I thought that I would have to make a decision about my prostate cancer treatment so I had read as much about the options beforehand so I could make an informed decision.
However, when I met the Oncologist, who told me that surgery was not an option because of a hernia repair I’d had done in February 2016, I didn’t know what to think.
Parkinsons Sidelined: they had a plan which I knew would include radiation therapy of one kind or another.
They floored me when they said that it would be 6 months before the radiotherapy would be started; instantly my wife and I were so worried, but then the consultant outlined the plan fully.
Instead of just one treatment I was going to get three – one after the other! Their aim is to cure me with this treatment:
The 1st part is 6 months of hormone treatment; I have already taken anti-androgen tablets for 3 weeks which minimise any effects of the hormone injections. (I had the first injection on 20th February 2018 and the next will be on 15th May 2018).
The second stage will be a session of HDR Temporary Brachytherapy (I’ll explain what this is later) and,
Thirdly I will have 15 sessions of External Beam Radiotherapy daily over 3 weeks at the Christie Hospital.
So in fact I shouldn’t really say Parkinsons sidelined as I am confident of a successful outcome now, but I know I am going to be pretty worn out by the end of it, not to mention trying to park the car anywhere near to Christie’s.