Alex, 41, lost his father Michael, 66, a conveyancing solicitor from Devon, to prostate cancer in 2012.
My father had been experiencing the frequent need to urinate for some time before he first went to see his GP in November 2008.
He was 62 at the time and the doctor said the problem was simply because he was getting older and sent him home without doing any examination or tests.
Dad didn’t question the diagnosis – like many people in his generation, he simply took what the doctor told him at face value.
It was another 12 months before he felt the problem was significant enough to return to the surgery and query what had been said.
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He was finally referred for tests in December 2009 and quickly diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Tragically, by this stage the tumour was already quite advanced and had become inoperable.
Despite a course of radiotherapy, within months the cancer was in his lymph nodes and later spread into his back.
Ultimately, it was too little, too late. He died in January 2012, aged 66.
I was so angry because when it is caught early, prostate cancer can be treated.
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I know things get missed, but Dad’s symptoms should have been such an obvious red flag for a man his age.
I can’t believe his GP didn’t refer him on and I can’t help feeling that his lack of action ultimately cost my father his life. That wasted year could have made all the difference.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that no one should be embarrassed to ask for a second opinion or to be referred for tests if they don’t think their GP has made the right call.
