I can't remember when it was that I first started to hear about the importance of having regular prostate checks but it must have been some time ago because by the time I was 50 I was already thinking it was something I must do "sometime".
Of course time slipped by and by the time I was 54 I still hadn't actually done anything about it but I was noticing I was peeing far more frequently AND having to get up to go to the toilet through the night as well.
A cursory look on the net at "prostate symptoms" all seemed to suggest that the most common symptoms involved difficulty with peeing - hell, it was all I could do to hold it in once I'd had anything to drink- so I didn't really take too much notice of the fine print that also said symptoms could also be frequent urination.
When I finally made it to my doctor's, he didn't seem too concerned about doing the digital test so we did the blood test.
At the time I had never heard of a PSA test so was delighted I didn't have to go through the indignity of having the "gloved finger trick" done on me.
A subsequent visit for the results showed me as being on the upper side of normal high- at 4.
3.
Doctor Ross said we will keep an eye on that because the reading is elevated but not especially concerning so I reasoned next time I was in there, we would check it again.
That next time turned out to be early January this year, 12 months later.
Amidst getting other things attended to - like getting a couple of skin cancers burned off, and getting a scrip for some asthma medications, I actually ended up on the street before I realised both of us had forgotten to do the blood test for the prostrate.
When I think back now, I almost shudder when I realise how close I came to making a decision that could have spelled disaster.
Even now I still remember thinking, "Bugger it- too much trouble for nothing, I'll leave it till next time".
It was summer after all and my constant peeing hadn't worsened - it was only the winter nights that really irked.
I don't really remember what it was that changed my mind to phone up Doctor Ross again and make another appointment, but thankfully, that's what I did.
If I hadn't done it, it would have probably been another year (or possibly more) before I had been retested.
This next time, with nothing else to distract proceedings I insisted on getting both tests done- the digital and the blood test.
It was the first time I had ever the digital test- and it did not reveal anything.
Doctor Ross said, "It seems to be satisfactorily squishy.
" January 8th 2007 Another week went by and another visit for the results of the blood test.
This was the seminal moment (no pun intended) when my life started to change and for the first time the new experience of "being a passenger" on a train going somewhere I really didn't want to go, began.
Doctor Ross was direct.
"Your PSA has risen over one point in the last 12 months and you now have a reading of 5.
7 so I'm going to send you to see Dr G and he's going to want to do a biopsy to find out what's going on.
" That was it! There was no discussion about soft options - there weren't any.
Everything was flat and matter of fact.
While I didn't know how the heck the procedure would be done, I was aware that it was a sufficiently "big deal" in that it would involve a surgical procedure under general anaesthetic.
Not for one split second did the thought cross my mind that anything nasty would be found.
All I could think, was that some small, stupid irregularity somewhere was going to cause me to have to go through a whole lot of "stuff" for nothing - a total waste of time and money! I was even almost resentful of the way Doctor Ross grabbed hold of his pad and started to write the referral.
He never even asked me if I thought it was a good idea- it was a done deal!