The medics were looking after my body but I needed someone else to look after my head, says Stephen Kenny, who has recently recovered from prostate cancer. This is his story as told to Fiona Tyrrell
I WAS diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago while recovering from a mild stroke. My initial response was shock and anger.
I am in my 60s and having just recovered from the stroke I wondered "why me". I'd say I only missed two days through illness my entire working life. I never drank or smoked and here I was with cancer after having just got over a stroke.
Although the stroke was more life threatening, I found the cancer more difficult to deal with. Something about the word cancer itself is so devastating.
The bad news was that I had cancer, but the good news was that it had been discovered early. I was lucky. It was only because I was being monitored after my stroke that the cancer was discovered.
Because it was an early diagnosis I was treated with brachytherapy. Instead of external radiation to kill off the cancer cells, radiated seeds (small radioactive rods) were implanted into my body. This allowed the radiation to work while I got on with my daily life. Over a period of a year these seeds dissolved and left my body as a waste product.
The radiotherapy made me quite tired and also presented some unusual difficulties. A week after getting the seeds implanted I went on a weekend away with some friends. I kept activating the alarm in the security check area in the airport, but the security guard couldn't find the source. Eventually it dawned on me that it was the seeds. I showed him a card I was given at the hospital, which stated that I could not be cremated for three years. He jumped back quickly and waved me through.
On a more serious note, I was advised not to go close to pregnant women or children for the first three months of the treatment. I had to give up my role as manager of one of the ladies' hockey teams at Three Rock Rovers in Rathfarnham - I couldn't be going around asking the girls if they were pregnant.
Avoiding children proved awkward at times. Once while taking a breather on a bench in a shopping centre a lovely little black kid sat down beside me with a big smile. I had to get up and walk away. His mother gave me a funny look, but I couldn't explain, I just had to leave.
During my treatment I was looked after by what I called the three wise men - my GP, my urologist and my consultant. While the medics were looking after my body, no one was looking after my head. I found it fairly hard to talk about prostate cancer. It's not something you can talk about in a pub.
The fact that I had cancer and didn't know what my future held preyed on my mind. I went into depression. Then I began to attend Arc Cancer Support Centre in Eccles Street. It was the best thing I did. I attended cancer-counselling sessions, walk-in services such as relaxation classes and t'ai chi and workshops teaching people how to live with cancer and stress management. I found everyone at Arc to be good listeners and I felt much more confident in what I was going through.
At the beginning I knew nothing about prostate cancer but with the help of Arc and the Irish Cancer Society I educated myself about the disease.
There are places like Arc all over the State offering support services to cancer patients. In my experience, far more women than men attend these centres. There seems to be something in the male psyche that tells us that we can do it ourselves. I tried to do it on my own and it didn't work. I needed support and needed it badly. It made all the difference. My last check-up was three months ago and my doctors say I am doing very well.
• Arc Cancer Support Centre can be contacted on 01-8307 333. The Irish Cancer Society's Prostate Cancer Information phone service is staffed by specialist cancer nurses can be reached on 1800-380380.
If you have had a health experience - good or bad - that you would like to talk about, please contact healthsupplement@irishtimes.com
Prostate cancer: symptoms
As men get older the prostate gland can get bigger. This is usually due to a condition not caused by cancer known as benign enlargement of the prostate. Sometimes the symptoms of this benign condition can be the same as that for cancer. They may include the following:
• Pain or difficulty when passing urine.
• Trouble starting or stopping the flow of urine.
• Passing urine more often, especially at night.
• The feeling of not having emptied your bladder.
• Painful ejaculation.
• Blood in the urine or sperm.
If you have any of the above symptoms, you must get them checked out by your doctor. But remember that most symptoms are not due to cancer and can be easily treated.
In general, prostate cancer affects men over the age of 50. Small areas of cancer in the prostate gland are very common in men. They may not grow at all or else grow slowly during a man's lifetime and often do not cause any problems.
Most men over 80 will have some cancer cells in the prostate that they may never know they have. In other cases, the cancer grows more quickly and may spread to other parts of the body, such as the bones.
• From the Irish Cancer Society's Understanding Prostate Cancerbooklet