Me, my dad and grandad all beat the same cancer
Chris Gowers and his son Tom have three generations of prostate cancer in their family. They tell us why they are urging men to get checked out for the disease during Movember...
family history. They did the test and I was referred to a urologist who thought he could feel a firmness in my prostate. I had a biopsy and, in October 2014, my cancer diagnosis was confirmed.
It was a shock and my wife Catherine and I were very emotional early on and, naturally, my parents were also sad – it’s never a good time when your child is diagnosed with cancer.
But once it sunk in, I decided I had to deal with it.
The urologist and I decided on a prostatectomy – removal of the prostate gland.
It can cause serious sideeffects, including incontinence and a loss of bowel control. I had the five-hour surgery at The Churchill Hospital in Oxford that December.
They found I had a tumour on both sides of my prostate, with cancerous cells right at the margin, so I had a course of radiotherapy to avoid any possible future problems.
I made a very good recovery. I was off work for six weeks and am pretty much back to full health, without any side-effects.
I have a PSA test every six months. There’s always a chance with any cancer that it might return but mine was caught at stage T3a, meaning it had just broken through the prostate capsule but hadn’t invaded any surrounding structures.
I have a 14-year-old boy, Max, and I’ve told him he doesn’t have to worry about it now but, when he is older, he’ll need to be tested.
There is a strong family link now so it does worry me.
I want to urge other men to get checked – to put their minds at rest or to be diagnosed early.
If you have any concerns, particularly if you have a family history, then insist on having a rectal exam and a PSA test. Grandad retired ex from Mat M w w cancer. I daily tab manage
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