Men must stop joking about health, says victim Martin

MARTIN WELLS was diagnosed with localised prostate cancer in 2007, despite having no obvious symptoms.

He underwent surgery to remove the gland, followed by radiotherapy and hormone suppression.

Although the initial treatment worked, just over a year ago he received the devastating news that his cancer had “reawoken” in his hip bones. He was told it is now incurable and started chemotherapy and hormone therapy to prolong his life.

Martin, 66, left, describes the hormone treatment as “chemical castration”.

He has struggled with serious side- effects including erectile dysfunction, hair loss from the chemotherapy and weight gain.

He is now on a mission to encourage men to speak more openly about their health.

He said: “Being a man gets in the way of being a man with prostate cancer. The side- effects are sexual and urological and men don’t want to talk about that, we use humour to distract from it.

“But it’s not healthy. I do want to talk about it. It’s like having a big stone in your shoe – I need to get it out.” Martin, of Burnley, hopes that eventually treatments such as cutting- edge immunotherapy will be available.

He also believes improving early diagnosis is vital because “the sooner it gets diagnosed the more effective the treatment”.

He added: “That doesn’t mean that if everyone gets diagnosed early, everyone is cured. But people have a far better chance of the best treatment.”