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Lee Cookson wanted a second opinion on his raised PSA levels which led him to Mr Alan Doherty. He wants to encourage men with symptoms to always seek medical advice.

Articles, Patient viewpoints August 20th, 2021

As a forensic engineer by profession and practicing as an expert witness Lee Cookson spends his working life asking questions and applying scientific reasoning to establish the cause of fires and mechanical failures. Here he tells us about his prostate cancer journey and how he used his professional experience to ensure he got the treatment […]

Jim Matthews chose focal therapy, or HIFU for prostate cancer. “I couldn’t believe it was so simple,” says Jim, who is 71.

Patient viewpoints December 7th, 2020

“I started getting up at night to go to the toilet, which was something I’d not done before. Straight away, my wife said – you need to see a doctor. I saw my doctor, then went to a local hospital for an MRI scan and biopsy. I was told that had prostate cancer, although the […]

Nigel Watson has raised over £3,100 for BPC after running 13 marathons and 9 half marathons since April. He wants to inspire men to have a PSA test and stay positive.

Articles, Patient viewpoints September 29th, 2020

After his treatment at the Birmingham Prostate Clinic, Nigel Watson launched a personal ‘Beat Prostate Cancer’ series of fund-raising runs. He planned to start running marathons again just six months after his own prostate cancer operation in October 2019. What he couldn’t have anticipated was that none of these events would take place because of […]

John Ford was almost 80 when he had a prostatectomy for prostate cancer. His age was not a barrier to treatment and he made a quick recovery.

Articles, Patient viewpoints August 12th, 2020

“I had some blood tests at my doctors’ as part of a general check-up. I hadn’t heard of PSA, didn’t know what it stood for, but the doctor must have ticked that box. I’m very glad she did – it may have saved my life. A week later, I got a call to say I […]

The ever-changing horizon of prostate cancer assessment: charting a personalised course.

Articles, Consultants' blog August 10th, 2020

By Alan Doherty, consultant urologist, BPC In prostate cancer, the biggest step changes in recent years have been in the way we assess disease. At the Birmingham Prostate Clinic, we were early adopters of what is now widely accepted as best practice: MRI before biopsy to decide whether a biopsy is required and as a […]

Is it time to consider PSMA PET scans in first line prostate cancer diagnostics?

Articles, Consultants' blog July 10th, 2020

By Alan Doherty, Consultant Urologist, the Birmingham Prostate Clinic The PSMA PET scan is now very widely accepted as a game changer in the management of recurring prostate cancer. At the Birmingham Prostate Clinic, we had our first experience of this new technology six years ago, when some of our patients chose to travel to […]

Prostate cancer in a Covid world

Articles, Consultants' blog June 5th, 2020

By Alan Doherty, consultant urologist, the Birmingham Prostate Clinic As Covid-19 changes our lives in every conceivable way, inevitably, in the field of prostate cancer, we are working through significant change. We are becoming a little more adept with the technicalities of zoom and accustomed to consulting without being able to physically see and examine […]

Ian Sargeant, 61, recalls some advice he received twenty years ago which brought him from North Yorkshire to the Birmingham Prostate Clinic for enlarged prostate treatment.

Articles, Patient viewpoints June 1st, 2020

“I would have been around my late thirties and having lunch with some guys, when I was given some advice which has always stayed with me. An older work colleague in our group had just had a procedure called a TURP and he said to us: if you are ever in my position, make sure […]

Jim Coulter travelled from Glasgow to the Birmingham Prostate Clinic to have GreenLight laser for an enlarged prostate. The 59-year-old describes his experience.

Articles, News, Patient viewpoints April 10th, 2020

“The problem had been there for five or six years. I took medication, but I was still feeling very uncomfortable in my bladder almost all the time. My difficulty was stop and start and poor flow, rather than frequency or urgency. It made it very challenging whenever I was out and needed to go to […]

“We knew we were in safe hands.” Gordon and Lorraine Allbutt describe their experience of bladder cancer treatment at BPC.

Articles, Patient viewpoints March 31st, 2020

“Last year was a really bad year for Gordon. It started with a nasty case of shingles, then there were generally difficulties which were difficult to pin-point: he felt unsteady on his feet, not very ‘with it’. Gordon was referred to our local hospital in Dudley for what the consultant described as a ‘full service’. […]