Don’t be late... check prostate
ARABELLA REVEALS DAD SHOCK
AHEAD of Father’s Day on Sunday, Love Island star Arabella Chi has revealed how she was devastated when her dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The 31-year-old model, who starred on the ITV2 show in 2019, was “shocked” when she discovered her father Paul had the condition, adding: “I honestly thought I was going to lose my dad.”
The businessman was 64 when he began noticing changes in his bathroom habits.
Arabella explained: “He had no symptoms, apart from the occasional urgency to pee.”
In fact, many men with early stages of prostate cancer – which will affect one in eight blokes during their lifetime – don’t have any symptoms.
Habits
But Paul knew that changes to bathroom habits was a sign of the cancer, which affects a gland between the penis and bladder.
After seeing a doctor he had a PSA test which measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen in the blood. A high level can indicate cancer.
Arabella added: “They found his PSA levels had started to rise. A few weeks later he was given a biopsy and that gave him the positive result, that he had prostate cancer stage two.
“I remember it so vividly. Mum and dad said when they went to the specialist and heard that phrase ‘you have cancer’ – it’s the scariest thing.
“My mum Eunice rang to tell me. I heard the C word and just thought ‘Oh my God.’
“You automatically don’t expect someone to survive. You always expect the worst.”
Paul decided to have his prostate removed. “They then told him the options and, while taking it out can have side effects, it gave him the biggest chance of survival,” explained Arabella.
“I remember when he came out of the operating theatre he was so grey and I thought, ‘how is this my dad?’ because he had been so fit and healthy.
“It took him six months to recover.”
His older brother Rick had decided to get checked too – and discovered he also had prostate cancer.
Arabella added: “My uncle was diagnosed in the same month. He had no symptoms.
“If he hadn’t checked his PSA early and found he had prostate cancer he might not be here either.”
Arabella, who is appearing in a film called The Sit
Down for the charity Prostate Cancer UK, says “I absolutely didn’t know a thing about prostate cancer before.
“But having two close family members who I wouldn’t have in my life if it wasn’t for them getting checked is why I want to raise awareness.
“A lot of men get scared of tests and embarrassed. But you’ve got to think – would you prefer to not be here?”
● To watch The Sit Down and find out more about Prostate Cancer UK’s work this Father’s Day visit prostatecanceruk.org/thesitdown.