Prostate cancer sufferer from Sheffield urges men to get themselves tested

 Peter Allen was diagnosed with advanced and incurable prostate cancer on October 4, 2016.

Initially, he experienced very few symptoms. He had noticed there was a slight increase in the amount of times he was using the toilet at night, but it was nothing he was concerned about.

Eventually, however, Peter began to lose weight and also lost his appetite.

He said: “Like a lot of men, I suppose, I ignored the symptoms until eventually my wife insisted on a visit to the doctors. By this time, I had also developed severe back pain.”

Following a number of tests and hospital visits, Peter underwent a CT scan and within a matter of days, he received an urgent phone call from the urology department at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, which resulted in an emergency appointment and biopsy.

The appointment was a week after his 60th birthday.

He said: “As soon as I entered the consultation room I knew that I was looking at something serious. The consultant was very direct and said ‘I'm ninety nine percent certain you have advanced prostate cancer’.

“I felt like my world had ended and yes, I cried. I couldn't take it in and the tests that followed confirmed the diagnosis.

“I was very confused and didn't understand a lot of what was being said to me. I remember going home and my wife and I hugged and cried for a while.”

Peter’s treatment began with hormone implants, designed to lower testosterone levels - on which prostate cancer ‘feeds’. Shortly after, he was referred to Weston Park Hospital, where he received six sessions of chemotherapy.

He said: “Initially, I was given between twelve and eighteen months to live. Well, I have beaten that and I intend on being around for a long while yet.

“If I can say one thing to the men out there reading my story, it would be get tested.”