"Overall, the service and treatment was absolutely superb"

I’m a 65 year old married man with 3 adult children. We had moved from Brighton to Glasgow a couple of years ago and had registered with a new GP at Merryvale. The practice nurse took various details and took blood pressure etc, which were all fine as I have enjoyed good health and am relatively fit. The nurse then asked if I wanted to discuss anything else and asked about “ waterworks” and “sexual function” in a very open and understanding manner. I considered everything was ok, if not perfect! This is not a discussion I’d had before but she suggested I see Dr Morton and an appointment was arranged. Dr Morton was equally positive and understanding and undertook a digital prostate examination and advised that he had detected an anomaly which I should have checked further. Over the next few weeks I met a consultant for a PSA test and later an MRI scan at the New Victoria Hospital. The scan confirmed that I had prostate cancer that was confined to my prostate. I was then given the options available of Radiotherapy or a radical prostatectomy. After a period of time I decided to go down the radical prostatectomy route with the hope that this would completely eradicate the cancer.

I was operated on at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital late November 2024 by Dr Rodger who was very positive about the operation and possible outcomes. She was very knowledgable and responsive to the concerns I raised. I was discharged the next day after a slightly difficult night as there were no beds in the urology ward and I was kept in a recovery ward where my wife was not allowed to visit despite being a nurse herself and being told on the phone that she could come in.

I have been in business all of my life and have been lucky to have enjoyed good health. The prostate cancer diagnosis was a shock as I felt absolutely fine and would not have gone to a doctor without the quite amazing intervention of the Merryvale Practice nurse. This was followed up by a number of medical professionals including, physiotherapy, MRI, urologists and nurses.

I am delighted to note that I have made a very good recovery and consider myself to be exceptionally lucky that the cancer was found and dealt with so quickly and processionally. 

I had never been in hospital before and had read the reports of the “ broken NHS” over the years. I can say that the service and attention from the team involved from start to finish was absolutely first class and I do not believe it could have been any better. I include the receptionists, doctors and nurses, medical secretaries  and other medical professionals involved. The lack of a bed in the urology ward showed me how busy the service is  but I think that the nurse in charge of the  recovery ward should have allowed my wife in to visit as she’d travelled to the hospital having called ahead and been told she could visit.

A cancer diagnosis is a shock and you have sleepless nights worrying about the outcome and the future. Your family are also fearful of what is happening. The team who dealt with my carcasses me I could be cured and for that I will be eternally grateful .

Overall, the service and treatment was absolutely superb and I cannot thank those involved enough. The experience bore no resemblance to the negative stories that regularly appear on the news and in the press and which must wear down those working in the NHS.

Since my diagnosis I have told friends to get checked and two of them are scheduled to have surgery for prostate cancer so the benefit of this whole process has positively impacted number of lives.

Finally, I am planning to do a half marathon soon to raise some money for cancer research to try and give something back to the people working in this area.