Some more stuff about prostate cancer.

This image is taken during a procedure that I do at work called 'percutaneous nephrostomy'.

One of the nasty things that prostate cancer does is grow insidiously around the base of the bladder and slowly destroy the structures in the vicinity. There's quite a lot of important stuff in a man's pelvis. Unfortunately this commonly includes the ureters which are the tubes that connect your kidneys to the bladder. It's usually painless, strangely enough, but the result is slowly progressive kidney failure which creeps up on the patient. You've got two kidneys, so usually one side goes first silently with no signs or symptoms. The 'good' kidney takes up the strain until that one eventually gets blocked too, and then you're in big trouble. Soon it will becomes obvious that the patient is 'ill' and blood tests reveal renal failure. Without treatment you're dead in a couple of weeks, unless the blockage can be relieved, or you have dialysis. We're not talking about really ancient old codgers here.... these are otherwise fit and active men as young as in their 50's. Just normal blokes who work, play golf, dote on their families, people like you and I.

We can bypass the blockage in two ways. The surgeons usually try and pass a tube up through the bladder through the holes where the ureters insert. This is not always possible because the cancer has caused so much damage and distortion. The other way involves radiology, and that's where I come in. Using ultrasound and X-rays I've inserted a tube through the skin and into the middle of the kidney where the urine is collecting, so that it can drain out through the tube and allow the kidney to hopefully function again. I would normally then pass another tube called a stent down the ureter to the bladder and get it across the blockage to leave the lower end in the bladder. I'm not blowing my own trumpet here. I've been trained to do this...it's my job. It's a team effort too, involving radiographers, nurses, anaesthetists etc.

The point is, 50% of us on the planet have a prostate. Men are rubbish at reporting embarrassing symptoms to their doctors, and ridiculously self-conscious with regard to being examined. I hope there will be a cure out there for prostate cancer, maybe not for my generation, but what about my son? Without lobbying, research and publicity it won't happen.

I've done this procedure twice in the last three weeks, so it give you an idea of how common this problem is.

Yesterday I did 67 miles. We had a gig last night. I'm tired! It's tipping with rain, so I won't be cutting the grass (again).
So, I'll be busy fitting my new saddle, checking my bike over after cleaning it, and then it's time to watch Wolves put 3 or 4 goals past West Brom... I hope.