As some of you may know, I had been feeling a bit under the weather for some months. Probably since last October, but certainly since December/January. I just put it down to me hating the Winter. By the end of March things were getting worse: I would crawl in from work and slump on the settee. Despite my best efforts, and the improving weather, I could not get out of this slump. I visited my doctor. He diagnosed me with work-related stress and reported, “You are beyond burnt out… you need to take some time off work”. I agreed… I would have agreed with anything as he handed me a 2-month sicknote!

Despite enjoying the time off work, things did not improve. I’d also noticed the most minor of the symptoms usually associated with an enlarged prostate (More on this in the future). I went back to see my doctor. He took some more bloods and completed a DRE (finger-up-the-bum-job). The doctor went very quiet; the mood in the room changed completely. He told me that he was extremely concerned; he described feeling a lumpy and, possibly, cancerous prostate. He made an urgent referral to the urology/oncology department. Two days later the doctor telephoned me with the results of my PSA test (more on this one day). He explained that the PSA score should be 3 or under and that a score of 10 was bad news. Mine was 374. Oh dear :-/