'I was gobsmacked, I thought it was all over': My prostate cancer diagnosis 

Ray Finnerty had none of the usual symptoms when he was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer aged 47. He's back working following successful treatment but no longer takes his health for granted 

Ray Finnerty: The biggest shock was not having any symptoms— and then for the cancer to be so aggressive. Picture: Karen Cox

The morning Ray Finnerty arrived for a biopsy at the rapid prostate clinic in Galway, he found five other men waiting for the same procedure.

The 50-year-old dad of three, then aged 47, thought his chances of getting good news were high.

“Looking at the other men, I thought I was the youngest of them. And yet I ended up being the one in a bit of bother,” he says, recalling the moment about a month later when he and his wife, Patricia, were told he had prostate cancer and it was aggressive.

“On a scale of 10, I was nine on the Gleason score. I was absolutely gobsmacked. I thought it was all over.”

For Ray — from Foxford, Co Mayo — it was particularly shocking because he hadn’t any of the typical symptoms.

“I was getting a bit of stiffness in my legs but I put that down to doing a lot of cycling in the summer of 2019. I had no other symptoms, no frequency around going to the toilet. And I had no family history of prostate cancer.”

The leg stiffness brought him to his GP, who checked his PSA levels and found them elevated. Another check three weeks later showed they’d again risen slightly. “The GP did an internal examination and found the prostate normal in size. She said we could leave it for three or four more weeks and do another PSA test — or I could see a specialist.

“I went for the second option. I wanted to be on the ball with this.”

That visit with the specialist led to Ray’s referral to the rapid prostate clinic. Following the devastating news he got there, he underwent a CT scan, MRI, and a bone scan. He was told his best option was to have an open radical prostatectomy — complete removal of the prostate gland. He did this in November 2019. He also had some nearby lymph nodes removed.

“I spent six nights in the hospital. I came home with a catheter,” says the dad of three teens — Kelly, 19, Oisín, 17, and Lucy, 16. For Ray, one of the hardest post-op consequences had been around continence. It means watching his fluid intake when he’s out and about — and at all times knowing where the nearest toilet is.

“In the middle of lockdown, nobody wanted to let you into a toilet facility,” he says.

The yellow-coloured card he got from the Irish Cancer Society, flagging that he “needs urgent access to a toilet”, has been a godsend. “I’ve had to use it on numerous occasions. Some places have been very good about it. But I’ve shown it in some shops and younger members of staff have to ask a supervisor [for permission to let me use the toilet] and half the shop knows.”

A train driver, Ray only recently returned to work. On the strength of his experience, many of his colleagues have got their PSA levels tested. But the experience has been very hard on his family, who were a great support to him, and he’s glad they all got to go off on a family holiday this summer.

“I’ve a completely different outlook on life now. Any time I get a pain or ache, I’m wondering.”

His PSA levels are tested every six months and he feels well. “But the biggest shock was not having any symptoms — and then for the cancer to be so aggressive.”

What we need to know

Aoife McNamara, information development manager with the Irish Cancer Society, outlines what we need to know about prostate cancer:

Incidence

About 3,890 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in Ireland. One in seven men will be diagnosed with it during their lifetime.

Warning signs

Prostate cancer usually only causes symptoms when it has grown large enough to disturb the bladder or press on the tube that drains urine. These symptoms are called prostate urinary symptoms:

• Passing urine more often, especially at night
• Trouble starting or stopping the flow
• A slow flow of urine
• Pain when passing urine.

Less common symptoms include:

• Blood in the urine or semen
• Feeling of not emptying your bladder fully

It is important to discuss any of these symptoms with your GP. Remember, there may be other reasons for such symptoms, apart from prostate cancer.

What increases risk

Age: Risk increases with age. It usually affects men over 50. Almost two in every three prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over 65.

Family history: Risk is higher if you’ve a brother or father with the disease. It is also higher if your relative developed prostate cancer at a younger age, or if you have more than one relative with the disease. The two genes identified as increasing risk are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Men with BRCA2 are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer.

Worth noting

Having a risk factor doesn’t mean you’ll get cancer. Very often people with no risk factors get the disease. The most important things you can do to reduce your risk is be a healthy weight, eat a healthy diet, and be physically active.

It’s also important to know your family history. Have a discussion with your GP about two tests you can do to monitor your prostate. PSA is a type of blood test and DRE is a digital rectal exam. Do discuss the pros and cons of having these tests with your GP.

• The Irish Cancer Society has a special card you can show at shops/other public places to get urgent access to a toilet. Get one from a Daffodil Centre or by calling Irish Cancer Society support line on 1800-200700.
• The Marie Keating Foundation’s fourth annual Stand Up for Your Prostate Campaign is encouraging men to be more open about their health and to speak to their GP about a PSA test when they turn 50 — or 45 if they have a family history of prostate cancer. Visit www.mariekeating.ie. Listen to the Foundation’s new #TalksProstateCancer podcast series at www.mariekeating.ie/podcast