John Williams had GreenLight laser treatment in July 2006. Mr Williams is a 61-year-old carpenter from Bournville, Birmingham. “I had to have a catheter in for four months following radiotherapy. As a result of the radiotherapy, my urethra closed completely and I became very ill. Living for so long with a catheter was very distressing. […]
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James Derbyshire* is one of the first patients to have the state-of-the-art Cyberknife treatment in Birmingham. The intensive and extremely accurate technology reduces the number of sessions from 37 to just five. Mr Derbyshire, who is 72, describes his experience. “My prostate cancer was diagnosed purely by chance and persistence. It started with some slightly […]
Read more Harry Williams* was one of the first men in the UK to be treated outside of London with the CyberKnife procedure for prostate cancer. Mr Williams, aged 77, outlines his experience, explains why he chose CyberKnife and how he got on with the treatment. “After a quite rewarding career in banking and finance I truly […]
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Richard Burdekin is a 70-year-old retired managing director from Shropshire, who worked in the grocery sector. Mr Burdekin had what has been described as the “classic and ideal treatment” for prostate cancer. He explains what happened and the choices he made. “I’ve had an annual medical every year since the age of 40. I am […]
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Christopher Hughes is a 68-year-old retired businessman from Rugby, Warwickshire. A chance PSA test would turn out to be life-saving. Identifying prostate cancer and as importantly, choosing the right treatment at the right time, would turn out to be life-saving and has allowed Mr Hughes and his wife to continue with their great love of […]
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Earlier this year, a new approach to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) received approval for use in the NHS. The new approach is called UroLift and is designed to alleviate the symptoms of BPH without cutting or vaporising the surplus prostate tissue. To understand this new treatment, we need to start by looking at what happens […]
Read more I frequently see patients who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, have decided on surgery, but are struggling with the choice of different types of surgery. Increasingly, there can be a choice, especially if patients seek opinions from two or three different urologists (which we certainly support). A common scenario might be: the patient sees […]
Read more Since the start of 2014, I have been carrying out prostatectomies using the robotic da Vinci system at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Robot-assisted surgery is the norm in America and in the UK, where a growing number of hospitals are investing in the da Vinci, many see it as the future and “gold standard”. My […]
Read more Treatment for prostate cancer is one of the most rapidly developing areas in medicine, providing men with a wide and sometimes confusing range of treatment options. While our scientific understanding of the disease is marching forward, the culture of the doctor/patient relationship in the UK is changing more slowly. Some patients remain reluctant to ask […]
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Peter Davis* was treated for prostate cancer, but subsequently found his PSA was rising. Mr Davis explains why he travelled to Germany for a special type of PET scan developed for men with prostate cancer. Your experience of prostate cancer My father died of prostate cancer in 2000 and my mother told me that her […]
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