Five Years And A Day Later

Five years ago yesterday, I heard the devastating news that one of my favourite icons had died. No, I am not talking about Jackson. I am talking about the Angel Heaven gained on June 25^th 2009. I adored both the woman and her name so much that my daughter was given the same name.

In 2006, she was diagnosed with cancer, a strain that is not often heard of. She had Anal Cancer, and underwent chemotherapy, then not long after her 60^th birthday, a press release said she was cancer free, and I was so happy at this news. She has been an icon of mine since I saw her in Charlie’s Angels in 1976.

The following year, Farrah Fawcett was diagnosed with a malignant polyp, so she travelled to Germany in an attempt to challenge the disease, and also to try to remove liver cancer. In 2009, she returned home to spend her last days with her long-time partner, Ryan O’Neal, and her son was allowed out of prison to see her, although he was still shackled.

Farrah Fawcett lost her fight against cancer at 09:28 on June 25th 2009. I was at a friend’s house at the time and I was stunned at the news. This was overshadowed later by the news of another death, but I will always remember June 25th 2009 for the death of one of my favourite TV and film actresses.

Heaven’s Angel

Farrah Fawcett

February 2^nd 1947 – June 25^th 2009

Prostate Checks – The Finale (Revisited)

This is the third part of my Prostate Cancer check July 24th this year. Please please … PLEASE … get checked. It may save your life. I am revisiting these for Movember, Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

***

To show people that there is nothing to be afraid of, I went for a prostate check two weeks ago. I had the DRE which you can find the details of that post here. 

Then, last week, I had the second part of that which was the blood tests. You can find details of that here.

I did these and blogged about them so that people would know that there is nothing to be worried about. The tests take no time at all, and women have it worse. The “smear” test they have is not the most comfortable of things to have, and having to have a a breast cancer test is equally uncomfortable, so please … do it.

As I said, I had my blood tests last week. Then I received this letter.

So, naturally, I panicked. I didn’t want to say anything on my blog as I was too scared. Odd, how I was doing this to stop people being scared. I only told one person, who managed a few more grey hairs over night. I didn’t even tell my kids or my family.

I phoned the doctor’s this morning and they said that they needed to get me in straight away. So, naturally, I panicked some more. My appointment was at 11:30 my time (06:30 Eastern time … 03:30 Pacific time). I was called and followed the doctor who looked at his notes. He told me there was nothing they could do. My cholesterol was slightly elevated. It should be 6 and mine is 6.6 – nothing to worry about with my background. There was nothing they could do because I had not had a heart attack, a stroke, above 60, diabetes or overweight. Just alter my diet slightly and I will be fine.

So there you have it. I had the Prostate Cancer checks and found there to be nothing wrong except a slightly elevated panic button.

Please .. get the tests done. 

 

Prostate Check Part Two (Revisited)

The second part of my prostate check that I posted back in July. This one was on July 19th, eight days after the first check. Remember, Movember is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month where men grow moustaches in daft and silly ways. I am definitely not showing off what my daughter did to it the other day. She turned it into handlebars with the aid of hair gel.

***

If you read my previous post on the first part of my test, then you will know that I threw everything aside and went to the doctor’s to be checked for Prostate Cancer.

Part one involved the DRE … Digital Rectal Exam … and you can find that post HERE.

Part two was the Prostate Specific Blood Test. This is actually a misnomer. It is not specifically for the Prostate levels. It was a standard blood test, and so nothing to worry about. If the first part comes up as normal, you don’t even need the blood test.

For the sake of showing there is nothing to fear, I decided to for the whole lot, so I could blog about it and allay the fears of men.

So I implore you … go for the test. It is a a few seconds for the first part, and it may even save your life.

PLEASE …

 

A Prostate Check (Revisited)

We are more than halfway through Movember, and it occurred to me that I have not reblogged my Prostate Check posts. I am not going to link back to the three posts, I am going to post them in their entirety. This was first posted on July 11th 2013. Anything that says “today” refers to July 11th and not actually today.

***

At the end of April, my Uncle died of Stomach Cancer, but had previously been treated for, and cured of, Prostate Cancer.

Just recently, here in the UK, there have been a lot of adverts on about the need for men to have their prostate checked as Prostate Cancer is one of the biggest killers of men. If it is caught in time, it can be dealt with, and hopefully dealt with. There is also a program called This Morning where they deal with cancers sometimes, and just recently they did a part on Prostate checks. After that, I made an appointment to see my doctor.

My appointment was today, and I was very nervous about going as I knew the examination that was needed for it. When I went in to speak to the doctor (it was a female and she asked if I was happy with that and also if I wanted a chaperone) and she explained what the test entails.

There is a two part test. There is the “Digital Rectal Exam” and then there is the “Prostate Specific Test”.

The “Digital Rectal Exam” consists of the patient (myself) laying on the couch, sideways with the knees up level with the pelvis. The doctor then inserts a finger into the rectum to feel the texture of the prostate. It is uncomfortable for about 2-3 seconds as the prostate is checked. It should be smooth which shows that there is more than likely no cancer there. If it is lumpy, or enlarged then this means there is a possibility of cancer, but not definite.

The second part is the blood test. I will be having this next Wednesday. Once the test comes back, this will tell if there are any problems with the prostate.

I have had the test today. I was extremely nervous about having it done. It was not as bad as I expected. Just uncomfortable. I would suggest every man has this done. It is better to have a couple of minutes of discomfort than find out the hard way.

ADDENDUM:

I forgot to say, DRE test showed no abnormalities.

Related articles

• This “Movember” the focus is on Men’s Health (jgordonacupuncture.co.uk)
• Coffee and prostate cancer (ddcmusc.wordpress.com)
• “Movember” is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (kristenbrakeman.com)
• Movember- What is your creepy ‘stache really saying? (thevitalvegannutrition.wordpress.com)