Name and address withheld.
Some months ago, I underwent a radical prostatectomy: the entire surgical removal of a cancerous prostate.
While I was warned in advance of possible side effects, loss of bladder control and erectile dysfunction, they were always downplayed to alleviate my fears and to encourage treatment.
While the cancer does not appear to have spread beyond the prostate – good news – all the predicted possible, if not probable, side effects have kicked in with a vengeance.
My quality of life has been totally compromised. I am forced as an older man to live in super-absorbent pull-up pants and pads (nappies).
All sexual activity has come to a stop. The pleasures of the flesh are rapidly becoming a distant memory.
Theese are the consequences of what can only be described as brutal, invasive surgery. It is clear that little, if anything, can be done to reverse the situation.
I urge men with a similar problem to give the most serious consideration to any treatment for prostate cancer, particularly surgery, before giving the go-ahead.
Always seek a second, even a third, even a fourth opinion as one has only one life. The side effects of surgery can be, and often are, catastrophic. And, in the eyes of some, may even outweigh the risk of inaction.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
