I had prostate cancer – here are the first two symptoms I experienced

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“I would have probably just left it,” the retired motor mechanic and gardener from Petrockstow, Torridge, confessed.

Brian noticed minor changes to his urinary habits and had developed a backache.

Once Carol convinced him to see the doctor in September 2020, Brian was sent for an urgent scan due to a family history of cancer.

“I was very lucky with my wife, Carol, who pushed and pushed,” Brian said.

Brian had a cancerous tumour in his prostate, a walnut-sized gland that forms part of the male reproductive system.

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Diagnosed with prostate cancer, Brian was first put under active surveillance.

However, once the tumour started to grow in size, NHS treatment was offered – both radiotherapy and a radical prostatectomy (surgery).

Together, after talking to the medical experts, Brian and Carol decided to go ahead with proton therapy, a type of radiotherapy.

While there are two proton therapy centres in England – one in Manchester and one in London – neither of them treat prostate cancer.

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Thus, Brian got in contact with Proton Therapy UK, which treats UK patients privately at a facility in Prague, Czech Republic.

The couple stayed in the city for just over three weeks; during that time, Brian had five rounds of treatment.

Brian said: “I’m grateful that I can spend time with my family, including my grandchildren.

“If I didn’t get things sorted then these opportunities might not be here.

“I play football and tennis with my grandchildren all the time and I’m fortunate I can enjoy their company.”

Brian added: “I live for every day and have started to learn the guitar, all the things I have wanted to do but have put off.

“We now try to grab every opportunity we’ve got, in a way we probably wouldn’t have done before.”

Brian also raised awareness about prostate cancer in the village he lives in.

“What I tell my friends and people around the village is, go and get yourself checked and then take it from there.”

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