First and foremost I have to point out that this isn't an attention seeking column, or a pitiful attempt on my part to gain sympathy. It stems from the knowledge, gained over the past three years, that so much pain and suffering for the individual and family can be prevented so easily and I want to do my bit in spreading the word.
I have asked you to read this first because I know many people have friends or relations that have, or have had prostate cancer, and whose experiences may have been totally different to my own. I make no apologies for this as the record below just shows one mans ongoing brush with this 'silent killer'. Conversely this is one of the easiest of cancers to deal with, I hesitate to use the word 'cure', if caught at an early enough stage. I cannot emphasise enough the real necessity for men to ask their doctor for a simple blood test for PSA, Prostate Specific Antigen. Don't wait till you have bladder problems and then start making enquiries. Get yourself tested and don't be put off by an uninterested doctor, you're paying his wages after all and it's your life.