My Story – Bruce Vickery
Living with Prostate Cancer
Image credit : Beth Crockatt
The Tide is Turning on this Disease
On the 10th of April 2018 I heard the words “You are seriously ill with Prostate Cancer”. My mind raced! I instantly went into shock, and not much later my mind was filled with the question “How much longer do I have?”
However, I was very fortunate on two fronts. Firstly I have a relative who is an expert on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, and – something I quickly learned from him – the diagnosis of this disease has made an immense stride in recent years, coupled with the most accurate of treatments to remove the tumour.
My relative never gave me a “number of years” estimate to live, but he constantly urged me to proceed with optimism and felt that I could possibly have a complete cure.
How right he was. By surfing the web I discovered that my chances of survival were very close to 100%. So no problem there!
Hence I went through the whole journey from that time onwards in a completely relaxed way and filled with the optimism he engendered.
I am a person who, for the whole of my life, has been frightened of “things medical”. But as my diagnosis and treatment evolved I found that I could easily cope with the medical side. I was very fortunate to be recommended for Radiotherapy treatment as it was non-invasive, easy to understand, and has, as things stand at this moment, completely destroyed my cancer. And all of my internal organs are still in place!
I never wake up in the morning with cancer on my mind, and I never go to bed at night with cancer on my mind. I’m living EXACTLY as I was before I had my diagnosis.
EXCEPT FOR ONE THING – I now VALUE my life much more than I did previously and I am completely filled with a feeling of how precious life is, and that I must enjoy every minute of it.
I URGE every man over the age of 50 to go down the same route as I did, the FIRST step being to obtain his current PSA value. No matter what it is, he will extend his life if he finds that he has Prostate Cancer and has suitable treatment.
Go out, find out, and LIVE life to the full.