Ian - Interview 06

Age at interview: 68

Age at diagnosis: 66

Brief Outline: Ian was finding it difficult to pee and his penis was sore. After he was given several ineffective topical creams by his GP, Ian had a biopsy taken and was later diagnosed with cancer. He had an operation to remove the affected area.

Background: Ian is a white male, married with four grown up children. Ian is a retired, self employed monumental mason.

More about me...

Ian first realised he may have a problem when he started having difficulty in going to the toilet. On one occasion he found that he spent five minutes in the toilet and came out still not having managed to urinate. Ian then began experiencing considerable irritation and soreness on his penis. Ian decided that he needed to seek help from his GP. His GP initially thought that his problems urinating were linked to a prostate condition, which he was taking tablets for, and gave him some cream to reduce the irritation. If anything, the cream made Ian’s penis even more painful to the point where the pain became unbearable. After trying other topical creams with no improvement Ian’s GP referred him onto a specialist consultant. The consultant suggested a small section of the affected area be extracted and taken away for testing, a process called taking a biopsy. 

 

The results of the biopsy came back and Ian was told that he had penile cancer. It was a big shock. The consultant at the hospital immediately told Ian that he would need surgery and referred him on to the Specialist Penile Cancer Centre specialising in penile cancer. Whilst his diagnosis was a shock, Ian didn’t feel afraid and had full confidence in the skills of the specialist team. Ian’s wife who had previously been treated for breast cancer was however extremely upset. Ian reassured her that everything would be okay. Before leaving the hospital, Ian had the surgical procedure explained to him by the specialist and was given a small amount of literature to clarify things. 

 

Fortunately for Ian the Specialist Penile Cancer Centre was just five minutes down the road. At the centre the consultant confirmed to Ian that he would need an operation, however, he assured him that the current procedure was not as severe as it used to be, which Ian was relieved to hear. Ian was not however told anything about how the operation would impact on his life and was not provided with any information on other treatment options. Ian accepted the specialists recommendations as he was eager to be free of the pain. 

 

Leading up to the operation, Ian was very open about his diagnosis telling not only his wife and children, but also anyone else who needed to be told. He found that sharing his anxieties with his wife really helped him cope. He also found that by joking about his condition with his friends he was able to relieve some of the tensions which were building up. Being in his sixties Ian had a strong belief that he was able to use strategies such as these to cope, something which he felt he may not have been able to do so easily if he was a younger man. 

 

Ian had the operation performed under an epidural, which meant that he was conscious throughout the whole procedure. The surgeons removed the area of the penis affected by the cancer. Unfortunately, Ian caught an infection after the operation and was forced to stay in an isolation ward for a few days while he recovered. After a few months Ian had to return to the hospital to have a second biopsy to check to see if the cancer had spread. This biopsy found no evidence of cancer. 

 

Since the operation Ian has been healthy. The only adaptation he has had to make to his life since being treated is how he uses the toilet. He now has to go to a cubicle rather than using a urinal. Ian was given an aid to help him more easily use the toilet and he is coping very well with this. Ian has not had any further adverse effects from the illness or the treatment. He attends checkups at the hospital every three months, these have revealed no signs of the cancer returning. 

 

 

 

Ian doesn't think he was frightened because with today's technology if you catch it early enough then you've got a chance.

What do you think were your main concerns and fears?

I don’t think I was frightened or feared in any way because… with today’s technology and things that are explained to you, you know, if you catch it early enough then you’ve got a chance , you know, so I didn’t let it worry me that way. I suppose I was worried a little bit but not, I didn’t go overboard with worry, you know I’ve never been a… I just let things come and, you know, if it’s got to be it’s got to be. But, they’ve got a good team at [the hospital] and I had a bit of faith in them, you know.
 

Ian's wife was present at the diagnosis and he found it helpful to share his anxieties with her; she was more upset than him although he might have been more worried if he had been younger.

Did you tell anybody else? Any friends or family?

No. Oh well, the wife was there when I was when the doctor said like, you know that I’d got cancer. So I think she was more upset than me [laughs]. You know, outwardly she started to cry over it but, I just said you know ‘I’ll be alright.’ You know ‘Don’t worry about it.’ So [chuckles].

Did you find it helpful that she was there?

[Exhales] I suppose in a way yeh because you share, you share the anxiety then you know. I mean if, obviously, like I say if you’d, if I’d have been younger then it would have been a different ball game. I think you know at the age I mean if I had been younger I think it’d been psychologically it would have been different, you know. That’s how I could describe it anyway [chuckles].
 

Ian went for check-ups every three months but is now attending every five or six months.

Well, well I go, I did go back every three months but now they’ve put me to every five or six months simply because if it doesn’t come back in the first two years there’s a chance it won’t come back in up to the next three years, making it five. So I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that I get to five and without any problems but that’s all you can hope for really [chuckles].

Ian says you've got to be aware of where you are, because you need a cubicle to go into to urinate.

That’s the only difference which you’ve got to adapt to one way or another, you know. And there’s no I suppose you’ve got to be aware of where you are really and how you do things. Going to the toilet you’ve got to think because you just can’t go in and stand there, you’ve got to hope there’s a cubicle to go in, you know and then you’re ok. But other than that, nothing’s different [chuckles].