PROSTATE SCREENING

A Prostate Screening session was held 10:00 on 9 November 2024. It was, as previously,held in the Odiham Cottage Hospital.

Thank you to all the Gentlemen who attended. We wish you all well.

PLEASE NOTE: THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER

YOUR DOCTOR MUST BE YOUR FINAL ADVISOR IN ANY HEALTH MATTERS

If you have any questions or require any more information please get in touch by email: mark.hazell@hookandodihamlions.co.uk or call 07817 886 002

Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer of men in the UK. We have made it free of charge to encourage as many men as possible to be tested.

Our prostate cancer screening process will provide you with your current Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) score and this will be accompanied by a Red, Amber or Green flag and any appropriate recommended next actions. Although this test is NOT conclusive, it can be a leading indicator if any further analysis is required. Another benefit of having a PSA test is that it can be used to compare with any previous tests and start to build an overall picture of your PSA 'velocity' (the speed of movement of your scores in a given direction).

In our attempt to help combat this disease we wish to provide prostate cancer screening, free of charge, for the first 240 men who register online. For those who were unable to attend our sessions at Odiham Cottage Hospital, our DIY home testing kits are also still available online, at a 50% discount for local men, that can be completed in the comfort of your own home.

If you think you have prostate cancer symptoms see the Prostate Cancer UK website via this link http://www.prostatecanceruk.org or you do not wish to wait for our next event, we strongly encourage you to arrange a visit with your GP or, if that is not possible, then to order and complete a Home Testing Kit contact via the link below

http://www.holc.mypsatests.org.uk

We have teamed up with the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust to provide the home testing kits (HTK) which typically cost £27.99. After our subsidy, using the code HOLIONS50, the HTK will cost local men £14.00.

A recent testimonial�..

"I am truly indebted to Hook & Odiham Lions for their initiative to encourage men like me to undertake PSA blood tests to indicate the presence or otherwise of Prostate Cancer.

The Lions persuaded me to have a PSA blood test as a preventative health screening measure, despite me not having any recognisable symptoms of Prostate Cancer. To my surprise and concern, my test results came back indicating abnormally high levels of prostate-specific antigen in my blood. As they say, the rest is history�.after a series of follow up tests to confirm the presence of the cancer, I elected to undergo surgery to have my prostate gland removed.

Thanks to the early identification of the condition, post-operative follow-up tests indicate that the cancer was caught in time and is likely to have been eradicated.

The proactive screening promoted by Hook & Odiham Lions, and the early and speedy intervention by the brilliant NHS has been critical

Another testimonial to our screening

"Following the initial fast track assessment, things did slow down a tad over the course of MRI scan, biopsy, review, CT scan and finally Full Bone PET scan, and it was near the end of October before it was confirmed that an aggressive Gleeson 4+4 cancer had fortunately not yet broken out of the prostate. So, treatment options discussed at Basingstoke Hospital were either a Hormone Therapy and Radiotherapy combo or Radical.

Not a difficult decision in the end, I opted for surgery and was referred to Royal Surrey, Guilford and their team of top-notch consultants and robots! The pace really picked up then, and following an almost immediate appointment with the Consultant, I was offered a prostatectomy for the following week, that all went very well and here I am now recuperating nicely.

So once again, a massive thanks for this truly wonderful testing initiative; such a simple test and yet having a potentially lifesaving impact."