Treatment abroad has ‘saved my life’

A RETIRED Scots farmer ignored the advice of NHS doctors and travelled abroad to cure his cancer.

Thomas Allison, of Carnwath, Lanarkshire, is convinced travelling more than 800 miles to Prague for treatment has “saved my life”.

He was diagnosed with a prostate tumour at the age of 64 after struggling to urinate.

He underwent four years of hormone therapy to keep his cancer in check but was then faced with gruelling radiotherapy.

Rather than accepting the side effects of conventional treatment, Thomas trawled the internet for alternatives.

He flew to the Czech Republic for proton beam therapy despite being advised against the £30,000 course by NHS medics.

Thomas said: “It all started after a barbecue.

“I had a few beers and I needed to go for a wee but nothing was happening and it got really painful.

“So I went to A&E and by the time I got there, I was screaming. Doctors told me there was a chance I had cancer and it was confirmed with a biopsy a few days later.”

Another test was also carried out to measure the amount of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in his blood.

High levels indicate the BY CHARLIE GALL increased likelihood of prostate cancer – a normal reading is between three and four nanograms per millilitre. Thomas’s was 172.

Traditional treatments like hormone therapy and external radiotherapy were quickly dismissed by Thomas.

Thomas, now 67, said: “I went to see an oncologist in Glasgow and was told that I should get started with radiotherapy.

“I said I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life on the toilet and I was looking at going for proton beam therapy.

“The doctor told me I didn’t need to do that and the conventional radiotherapy offered by the NHS was just as good.”

Thomas had made up his mind to try the Proton Therapy Centre in Prague.

He said: “I’m not a wealthy man but I was never someone who went and bought fancy Ferraris and stuff like that, so I had some money saved up. I could afford to go.”

He stayed in Prague for over a month, with wife Doreen visiting at weekends.

Thomas added: “When you get told you have cancer it has a huge psychological impact and you think the worst. You’re not quite sure what’s going to happen next.

“I’d never thought about having a PSA test at all until this happened – I can’t even remember anybody mentioning it to me.”