Surgeon shares personal and professional experience
20 March 2013
John Anderson retired from his role as Consultant Urological Surgeon at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital after he was sadly diagnosed with the same disease he treated countless times during his career.
John is now helping to raise awareness of prostate cancer, its symptoms and to promote openness among men.
Every year 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer. More than 10,000 of these men die despite the disease being treatable if caught in time.
John, 59, has five children aged 15 to 29 with wife Sarah, 47. A year ago he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer — the most serious type and has since had hormone treatment and chemotherapy to contain it.
John first discovered a swelling in his abdomen. It turned out to be a secondary cancerous growth in his liver. Doctors found the primary source was prostate cancer.
He was shocked as he had done a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test which can detect possible prostate cancer just a few months before, which was normal.
John said: “We decided to share the bad news with the children all together. This required me to fall back into doctor mode: breaking the bad news about myself, putting it into context, and supporting everyone as I told them, too. Of course, the children were upset, but they are strong.
“Whenever someone hears the word cancer, what everyone wants to know is: ‘How long have you got?’ I judged if I made it to Christmas, in 11 months’ time, that would be good. I gave up work immediately. Even though I have always loved my career, with limited time remaining, work should not be that high on anyone’s priority list.
“So there it was: prostate cancer was my disease — I had been described as ‘one of the big beasts of prostate cancer surgery’, much to the amusement of my colleagues. It was odd, moving into my own area of expertise.
“I knew there was no point in removing the prostate, as the disease had spread — 20-30 per cent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will be in my position — and I opted to begin hormone treatment, which is injected into the abdominal wall. The drug dampens down the hormone testosterone which drives the growth of the tumour. It can be highly effective and within four months my PSA had fallen.
“A further CT scan showed the tumour in the liver was shrinking — from the size of a tennis ball to a walnut. Yet I was aware from the start that one day the hormone therapy would stop working. So it was not surprising when my PSA started to rise again. I had to decide: should I have chemotherapy to attack the cancer in a different way?
“Last November, out of the blue, I developed severe abdominal pain which required morphine — the cancer in the liver had regrown and my PSA was very high. So I embarked on a ten-cycle course of chemotherapy, which I am right in the middle of just now. It has relieved my pain and brought down the PSA level, with few side-effects so far.
“So here we are, one year after diagnosis, living beyond the Christmas date I had anticipated. We have moved into the land of the unknown.
This past 12 months has been one of the best years of my life. A diagnosis of advanced cancer focuses the mind enormously, opens your eyes and takes off the blinkers. I appreciate everything so much more now — the arrival of spring, a round of golf with Sarah on a blustery Yorkshire morning, buzzing about on the big new motorbike I had always promised myself and now own, a pint with colleagues as they leave work after a fraught day. Long may this all continue!
“Life has accelerated; my daughter recently had her first child, my first grandchild; my son chose to get married last summer in our garden. Precious family events are coming thick and fast.
“My one regret is that I had been elected by the membership to be president of our Surgical Specialty Association — the British Association of Urological Surgeons. Instead of an inaugural acceptance speech last June, I had to stand up and make my excuses for standing down from this honour. I had reached the pinnacle of my career, only to be forced away from it by, of all things, prostate cancer.
“My last hope is that my story will raise awareness about prostate cancer and openness among men. Keep an eye on that PSA level — it’s not a perfect test, and did not help me, which is why we don’t screen men routinely. However, with proper advice, it allows earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer while still treatable — think of me as the exception that proves the rule. Men tend to think - oh, that's a problem, but it will go away. They shouldn't do that - prostate cancer can be treated, and cured."
Common symptoms of Prostate Cancer include:
• needing to urinate more often, especially at night - for example if you often need to go again two hours after urinating
• difficulty starting to urinate
• straining or taking a long time to finish urinating
• a weak flow when you urinate
• a feeling that your bladder has not emptied properly
• needing to rush to the toilet - you may occasionally leak before you get there
• dribbling urine
However, early on, there are often no problems with urination.
More facts about prostate cancer:
• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men
• Every hour one man dies from prostate cancer - that's more than 10,000 every year
• Over 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year - that's more than 100 men diagnosed every day
• It's estimated that by 2030, prostate cancer will be the most common cancer
• One in eight men will get prostate cancer
• Over a quarter of a million men are living with and after prostate cancer
As part of his awareness campaign, John has recently shared his story in the Daily Mail and Calendar news in a bid to help others.
Click on the picture to see John's story on Calendar
