Interview 33

Age at interview: 72

Age at diagnosis: 70

Brief Outline: Diagnosed with prostate cancer 1998, TURP in 1998, short hormone treatment and prostatectomy in 1998.

Background:

Comments that screening can cause a lot of unnecessary fear and that we should wait for a more guaranteed test before endorsing it.

To go to total screening, you would terrify so many people that you would cause a lot more harm than good. I'm not saying that if a future test were developed or the PSA test was improved then it shouldn't be done but until you've got a guaranteed test and an assured treatment then I would certainly vote against introducing it.
 

Describes his experiences on the ward after a major operation to remove a tumour in his abdomen.

The operation itself was... I had it done through the abdomen, radical prostatectomy is now carried out and I'm bound to get the word wrong but I can't think of the word perennial, no not perennial no that's the wrong word.

Perineum?

Perineum correct thank you, through the perineum area and I can't speak on that because I have no experience at all, as I say my operation was done through the abdomen. And you were told quite clearly that you would be 2 days in intensive care on leaving the theatre and that you would probably be in hospital for something like 6 to 7 days. The anaesthetist was absolutely excellent, following the operation he guaranteed that I would feel no pain and he was absolutely right. He implanted an epidural pretty soon after I came round from the anaesthetic and I can honestly say I had no physical pain at all. There's a certain amount of discomfort of course that you are again fitted with catheters and you've got drips going into your back of your hand and also, or into your wrist and also blood transfusions. These are just a nuisance more than a painful thing. You're pumped fill of antibiotics because they do not wish you to have any infection in the area of the wound because it is a fairly large cut that is made through that abdomen and it was done across the abdomen not as I believe some cases up and down. On leaving hospital I came home, this time I'm absolutely certain with a catheter in and I was incontinent which of course would be the case with the catheter anyway. But after 3 weeks you had to go back and have the catheter removed and I remained incontinent with the catheter out. Now this is the most difficult period of the operation, some people I am informed are lucky the catheter is removed and they're immediately functioning properly, others I'm informed can go on for a year still being incontinent.