Peter Fisher

about my cancers: melanoma

As I mentioned in my introduction, my third and current cancer is melanoma, so I want to talk about my cancers: melanoma.

About nine or ten years ago, it started as a small mark on my right cheek which I was told was a harmless sunspot or to give it its proper name; a lentigo.

That was the opinion of a consultant dermatologist who examined me at the time. Gradually, over time, it became larger until I became concerned about it early last year. I took a photo of it and sent it to my GP.

The doctor immediately referred me to see a dermatologist who then referred me to the Christie Hospital about which I was very pleased.

Treatment For My Prostate Cancer

The treatment for my prostate cancer included the hormone treatment that I received at my local GP practice, the brachytherapy treatment I already mentioned, plus 15 gruelling sessions of radiotherapy

Prostate cancer services by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

The brachytherapy and the 15 sessions of radiotherapy were all carried out at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, UK.

At this point, I would like to say how important it has been to have my wife with me at every step of the way. It must have really taken it out of her so much, yet she never complained to grumbled about the disruption to her normal daily life.

The 15 sessions of radiotherapy were every day for 3 weeks and involved getting to the hospital in plenty of time each day, then waiting for the machine to be available, and after all of that getting home again.

i must add my gratitude to the West Midlands ambulance service for their transport arrangements

More About My Prostate Cancer

I was asked if anyone had told me about my prostate cancer!

I had waited nearly 5 weeks to be told any more about my prostate cancer because the MRI scan was reviewed twice, before seeing yet another doctor for the results…

…who went on to tell me that it was at T1 stage and my Gleason number was 7, none of which meant anything to me or to my shocked wife, who has been with me throughout. I then saw a specialist Uro-Oncology nurse who arranged a further appointment with an Oncologist consultant, putting me into the care of the Christie Hospital the thought of which almost terrified me.

Following 6 months of hormone therapy, I was then called to go to the Christie Hospital for brachytherapy treatment where I was expecting to be in hospital for just one night, sadly it didn’t work out that way.

I had some complications which meant I ended up staying in hospital for 8 nights! I was admitted as an emergency after things went wrong with the catheterization. This was even though the brachytherapy had gone well according to the Consultant Radiologist.

My Treatment Continued

This stage meant that I had to go into Christie’s for one night on Monday 30th July 2018 to have a high dose of radiation brachytherapy, which involves having a radioactive source, iridium pellets placed in the prostate, through hollow needles, under general anaesthetic which takes 3 hours.

I actually had the brachytherapy on Monday 31st of July, but when the catheter came out after the procedure, I was unable to pass water, so it was replaced which gave me some relief. Temporarily as it turned out, when that one was removed, I was unable to pass water again.

The complications arose when the catheter was again replaced but it was inserted in the WRONG PLACE. This was discovered on Tuesday the 1st of August in the morning, after a night of sheer agony while they thought there were clots blocking the drain. The drain bag was full of blood, so they tried “irrigation” which meant a lot of pain for me. More on that later when I tell you more about my prostate cancer.

About My Prostate Cancer

about my prostate cancer

This is all about my prostate cancerr so if anybody who is reading this blog, and by anybody, I mean any MEN, who haven’t had their PSA checked then I implore you to go see your GP and ask for it NOW.

In 2017 I was again having a routine blood test via one of the different GPs at the medical center where I am registered and I specifically asked for the PSA test to be included. This test showed my PSA level to be slightly elevated at 4.05 and on seeing the GP about 3 weeks after the first one he asked for another blood test. This time the number was 3.75 which was still too high so I endured another DRE and was again told that it felt OK.

After some discussion, he said he would like to take some advice about the state of my prostate from the Urology department at my local hospital. I was surprised then to receive an appointment to see Urological Consultant in late October 2017. I became worried about my prostate cancer.

The Consultant and I had met many times previously as I had had a Cancer of the Bladder treated successfully by him between 2001 and 2008 and I had been discharged after being clear for 5 years in December 2013.

He arranged an ultrasound scan which told the Consultant that all was OK. However – and this is why I feel so very lucky – he said he would also like an MRI scan “for future reference” as a baseline picture.

Having had the MRI scan he wrote to me in December to say that the MRI scan, showed up a small abnormality, so he would arrange a biopsy to find out if anything sinister was going on.

The hospital called me with an appointment for the prostate biopsy on the 27th of December back at the Urology Department which completely took the edge off my Christmas.

More About My Bladder Cancer

As I mentioned my bladder cancer made another appearance in 2002. It was when I had to travel to Chepstow from my home in Cheshire for a meeting. I was up very early that particular day for the trip of 139 miles which actually took me around 3 hours or so to drive.

However, when I arrived at the conference hall I urgently needed the loo and when I went I passed a large volume of blood which really frightened me and brought back some unpleasant memories. I then could not face the meeting and when I gave my reasons to the organizer she was very sympathetic and actually tried to get me to go to the nearest hospital in Chepstow.

I decided not to go to the local hospital and went home instead. Arriving back home after a call to my GP I went to the surgery and the GP referred me immediately to the Urology consultant who just happened to be Mr. Paul Irwin, whom you may recall I already knew from my first encounter with this bladder cancer.

He arranged a procedure called a flexible cystoscopy to enable him to look inside my bladder, having done that he was then able to confirm that the bladder cancer had indeed returned.

Thankfully I wasn’t quite as scared this time around, after all, I’d beaten it once and I naturally felt very confident that I would beat it again.

After the initial operation which was done again within 2 weeks of this alarming discovery, I then had regular checks for about six years before being told that it had finally been beaten. From 2008 onwards until 2013, I had further regular checks with the flexible cystoscopy. I was finally discharged in the Autumn of that year, 2013.

I will have to wait and see now if the bladder cancer decides to come back again. I sincerely hope not.

About my cancers: Bladder Cancer

As I mentioned, I wanted to tell you about my cancers: bladder cancer being the first one. So my first cancer was in my bladder and it was diagnosed in 1985.

I first knew about this cancer when I came home after a long day at work and went to the loo. I passed a lot of blood in my water, which scared me.

Naturally, my first call was to my GP who immediately sent me for an X-ray, which confirmed that I had a large tumour in my bladder. They said it was about the size of my thumb, which meant it was quite a large tumour.

Now you can imagine the thoughts going through my head; I was in my mid-thirties at the time with a wife and 3 young children. I thought I was going to die young, after all, I’d been a smoker for over 20 years.

I was extremely fortunate to have PMI (private medical insurance) at the time so I was able to get the tumour excised (removed) quite rapidly, that is to say within two weeks or so. I was also very pleased to have Mr Michael Heal as my surgeon. Mr Heal was a renowned surgeon who had the Urology department named after him when he retired, sometime around 1990.

Fortunately for me, I had been followed up and checked upon closely, so I didn’t mind when he retired.

Sadly the bladder cancer struck again in 2002 but this time I had no PMI, however, I found myself under the care of another excellent private surgeon, Mr Paul Irwin who also worked in the NHS, so I considered myself very lucky.

Please donate to the Christie Hospital for all of the fantastic work they do in the NHS and privately. You can also read more about my cancers: bladder cancer.