A top lawyer whose prostate cancer was discovered by chance in a routine health test is urging all men over 50 to get themselves checked out for the illness.<\/p>\n
Ian Edwards, 53, said he had no symptoms whatsoever of the cancer and the condition\u00a0was only flagged up when his blood pressure was measured.<\/p>\n
Mr Edwards, a director at leading North Wales and Cheshire solicitors firm Allington Hughes, underwent surgery at a top London hospital to have his prostate removed after his shock diagnosis.<\/p>\n
And as well as raising money for the Prostate Cancer UK charity, Ian is urging men to take a simple blood test which can indicate whether they might have the disease.<\/p>\n
Ian, who lives in Llay near Wrexham, is a prominent member of the Wrexham Business Professional organisation and a raffle at the group\u2019s\u00a0Christmas dinner saw more than \u00a31,200 raised for Prostate Cancer UK.<\/p>\n
Ian thanked everyone who contributed to the raffle and said it was important to raise awareness of prostate cancer \u2013 and for men to get themselves checked out, even if they\u2019re fearful of the outcome.<\/p>\n
Urging men to contact their GP, he said: \u201cIf it\u2019s there, it\u2019s there. Not having the test isn\u2019t going to change that, in fact it might make it too late when you do find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The husband and father said a nurse had told him he \u201cmay not have seen 60\u201d if the cancer had not been caught when it was.<\/p>\n
The health issue was initially flagged up by Ian\u2019s GP surgery after a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test was carried out.<\/p>\n
High levels of PSA in a blood test\u00a0may be a sign of a prostate condition.<\/p>\n
Ian said: \u201cI was told about four years ago that I have got high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo as well as being on medication, I get blood tests about every six months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn October last year I got a text from the GP surgery saying\u00a0they had made me an appointment and I had to go in, they didn\u2019t tell me why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Symptoms of prostate cancer include trouble urinating, frequent or painful urinating, bone pain, and blood in the urine or semen \u2013 none of which Ian had.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI hadn\u2019t been suffering any of the symptoms of prostate cancer, I had none of the classic symptoms you are told to look out for.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I went in, and they told me the PSA levels were a bit high.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did an internal examination and said the prostate seemed a bit lop-sided and they sent me to Wrexham Maelor Hospital for a biopsy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I get a message to have an appointment to get the results of the biopsy, and Wrexham Maelor told me there was cancer there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey described it as \u2018intermediate\u2019 risk and they said they would call me back in a couple of days to let me know what the suggested course of treatment would be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said the suggested course of treatment would be the complete removal of the prostate at a hospital in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said I was free to explore other options so I took a look at radiotherapy first.
\n\u201cI had an appointment at Glan Clwyd Hospital and the radiotherapists there said it had to be surgery, and so I was referred to University College Hospital in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen when I am on holiday in Tenby in July I get a phone call saying they had looked at the MRI scan and the biopsy again and they said there was probably more cancer there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said they were definitely recommending removal because they had taken 13 samples in the biopsy and there was cancer in nine of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to University College Hospital in London in September, they put you to sleep, they take it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said the cancer had got right to the perimeter, so they had to take out more of the surrounding tissue than they wanted to, but they had to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not an expert on this, but the nurse I spoke to said \u2018you wouldn\u2019t have seen 60 if it hadn\u2019t been caught\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s why I keep talking about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t got any symptoms right up until the day I went in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian, who is married to Delyth and has\u00a0a 19-year-old son Jamie, said work colleagues and fellow members of the Wrexham Business Professionals organisation had also been very supportive after he informed them of his health battle.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThey have all been really good, very supportive, and they\u2019ve been asking how I am. They have been asking about prostate cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy main message to everyone is to go and get a test.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere could be people my age who have got it, who haven\u2019t got high blood pressure, who are walking around with it, and who won\u2019t find out until it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian said he was still on the long road to full recovery following his cancer treatment.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI feel tired, I will go home some nights and just go straight to bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome weekends, if I\u2019ve been working all week, I\u2019ll just spend Saturday and Sunday asleep in bed recovering, and then back to work on the Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose you can say it doesn\u2019t end with the operation, it starts with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already been sent follow-up appointments and obviously I will be having PSA blood tests at regular intervals going forward anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like it\u2019s all behind you, or that you can put it behind you and move on, it\u2019s still there hanging over you.\u201d<\/p>\n