Well I don’t think anybody should be afraid of having it [a PSA test], as it’s only a normal blood test. I think you know may be for some people when you say the prostate and it’s a test for prostate problems they think that the test involves some squeamish, you know, invasive test on their genitals or something and they don’t even realise it’s a blood test. I mean I think one has to not assume anything and not assume that people know what a test involves you know. I mean

What did it involve exactly can you explain?

Well it just involved sitting there with the nurse and rolling up my sleeve and having, and shes one of the best nurses I’ve ever met, I mean she manages to take blood before you even realise shes actually done anything, it’s quite remarkable. But most practice nurses are very skilled in that regard, much better than GPs I should say, in my experience. So I think that you know, no one should be put off. I mean it’s the same, it’s just as straight forward as having a blood test for anything else theres nothing horrible about it and I think it probably is that sort of thing that people should consider even if they don’t have symptoms just because it gives you that peace of mind. Having said that though I mean obviously there needs to be a lot of, there needs to be something more done to kind of confirm this issue of false positives and being very careful not to send people into some sort of treatment route or even other invasive investigations based on what might actually be an inaccurate reading. I mean it’s interesting that you’re pointing out the thing about exercise and having sex and things because that certainly wasn’t, I mean this is the first time I’ve heard that and it would be rather alarming if I’d had a raised reading for some, some reason as innocuous as that. So I think that is a bit of failing really on the part of the practitioner and I think that’s something that people should pay a lot of attention to.

So the doctor at the end said ‘Is there anything else while you’re here, I see you so rarely?’ And I basically said, ‘Well it suddenly came into my mind and I said ‘Well look I’ve got no symptoms, I’ve got no logic for asking for this except it seems a sensible thing to do, can I have a PSA test?’ And his reaction was quite interesting he certainly wasn’t very keen on giving me one, he said basically he said, ‘Well it’s not always accurate and therefore we can raise fears and uncertainties that you know you might not cope with. His second reason was, ‘Well, men generally don’t cope with the uncertainty and I’ve found it creates more negatives than positives, and thirdly if you haven’t got any symptoms, you know, which was my argument, ‘why go looking for a problem?’ And I suppose it was his, his logic of putting me in this group that all men can’t handle problems and that all men can’t face issues, without any discussion of how I might deal with it, was just a kind of broad categorisation, so I suppose that was, as is like a red rag to a bull so I thought well I would exercise my rights. So I basically said, ‘Well look have I a right to have one?’ And he said, ‘Definitely. So I said, ‘Well despite all your arguments I would like one, and well basically he proceeded to do it albeit it was patently reluctantly. And I suppose it’s interesting the experience just to quote one example that subsequent to this I recommend it to another man who went to his doctor specifically and was sent home to think about it for a month and come back if he still wanted it. So it’s quite interesting that my doctor, whilst anti, others felt even more strongly and even told this particular man to go away for a month and only come back if he was really, you know really wanted it.

Yes then I, then I went to see the consultant and he had a surgery at the hospital that day and one of his assistants examined me further, did another digital rectal examination and found no problems there, he said it was smooth on the outside. But he did explain that sometime cancers can develop inside the prostate and just because the gland was smooth it wouldn’t necessarily indicate there was no cancer. But because I’d only had one PSA test at that time he suggested I had another one just in case it was a hype in the system. I also explained to him I had been riding my bicycle before the test and he just said that riding your bicycle can sometimes raise the PSA. Which again I didn’t know that was the situation.

So nobody had told you not to ride a bicycle?

No.

Before the test?

No.

Right.

It’s just one of those things, apparently it can activate the prostate and cause a possible leap in your PSA reading.