My Prostate Cancer Story
Hi, my name is Chris Williamson, and this is My Prostate Cancer Story.
Chris Williamson, Wills Transfer IT Manager & Prostate Cancer Survivor
Introduction
A long time ago, when I was a young teenager, I would go sailing on Lake Huron with my dad. Our sailboat was a C&C 26, the Hannah B, named after my sister. We cruised on Georgian Bay and raced out of the Sarnia Yacht Club. Everything I learned about sailing back then came from my dad.
Recently, I bought a boat, an old C&C 27 sailboat, to take up cruising and racing again on the St. Lawrence River. This has been a bit of a full circle for me as it has allowed me to connect, in a meaningful way, with the memory of my dad.
In the mid-90s, my dad passed away from Prostate Cancer, as did his brother Mike. It was a horrible death, and probably preventable if they had performed regular PSA tests for early detection.
So, because of my family history when I turned 40, I started taking the PSA test to screen for prostate cancer.
A simple PSA test, the first chapter of My Prostate Cancer Story
In the spring of last year my doctor, at the time, said I didn’t need to take another PSA for 6 months, but something in me decided I should. I took another PSA and tested positive for an aggressive level of Prostate Cancer, with a Gleeson of over 8 if I recall.
Read here to learn about a Gleeson Score
Both my dad and my uncle passed away from Prostate Cancer, and because my Gleeson Score was high, I was recommended to have a robotic prostatectomy surgery. Robotic prostatectomy surgery is where they remove the prostate gland using robots, a minimally invasive surgery.
My prostate was removed after a few hours of surgery and then I was on the road to recovery. My battle scars from the surgery are 6 small incisions where the various robots and probes entered the body.
Chapter two of My Story
The final prognosis was excellent, zero PSA after 1 year and I am cancer free! All because I decided not to listen to my doctor and took another PSA test.
Because of the aggressiveness of this type of cancer, the surgeon who performed the surgery said if I had waited another 6 months for a PSA test, it could have spread to other parts of my body and become a type of cancer that could not be stopped.
The conclusion to My Cancer Story
One year later I’m enjoying life and my energy is slowly coming back. I will, God willing, have a long life to enjoy with my son, Samuel who is 12. And because of a simple PSA test, I can continue to teach him all about sailing and tying bowline knots.
Afterword to My Prostate Cancer Story
Having your prostate removed bears obvious side effects. However, they are small in comparison to having cancer spread throughout your body.
Please reach out to me if you have any doubts or concerns about getting regularly tested for PSA. We can discuss it privately.
Sincerely Chris W
The appendix to Chris’ story
You may wonder why a company that is in the business of warehousing and distribution would share a post titled My Prostate Cancer Story on its website. Well, the answer is simple. At Wills Transfer our people matter. And when one of them wants to share their story with our readers, well we do too.
Want to learn more about PSA testing?
Check out our post titled ‘Get to the Bottom of it.
All in support of Movember at Wills Transfer.
