I managed to arrange for my blood test to be done at the Bradford Royal Infirmary so had it done last Monday so the result would be in time for my appointment with Mr Singh today , 11th January. I got to see him only 10 minutes later than scheduled which was better than usual and there was nothing to report other than my PSA level now being less than 0.01, effectively zero. My next test will be in 6 months now, July, and if that is OK I’ll probably be put back to an annual test. If after 5 years 2021 the level is still within the range that counts as zero, that will be it. I’ll have no more scheduled tests or appointments with the BRI. Any further tests will have to be arranged by me with my GP. If and when it comes to this I will do so for my own piece of mind.

As a result of my experience several friends of a similar age to myself have had their prostates examined and PSA levels checked. So far only one has had to be further investigated and recently had an MRI scan and biopsy. No results yet. I think it is important to spread the word; as David, one of the specialist urology nurses said, to continue the missionary work! It’s not nice to discover you may have prostate cancer but what is immeasurably worse is to have it and not know about it. Actually, this isn’t quite true because if you have a very slow developing variety, as the majority of men will have in old age, then it won’t have any life threatening effects and you will undoubtedly die of something else, in complete ignorance of the cancer. But if it is a more aggressive variety, then you need to know as early as possible. So the choice is between head in sand or finger up bottom.