Chris Dando was in his late forties when he started noticing that he needed to get up and pee in the night more often than usual. Chris and his wife Marnie had recently welcomed twins to the family, who were just toddlers at the time.

“When you become a dad, the way you think about your health and the importance you put on it changes.” He shares. “If it hadn’t been for the kids, I probably wouldn’t have bothered going to the doctor to get things checked out.”

Chris’ GP told him that his extra nighttime pees were probably nothing to worry about “I’ve always needed to go quite a lot, but I knew that something just didn’t feel quite right. So, I asked them to look into it properly.”

A low PSA score was highly misleading

They organised a PSA test, which came back with a low result of 3. Because that was within the normal range, his doctor again advised that there was probably nothing to worry about. But Chris asked if there were any other tests he could take to put his mind at ease.

His doctor suggested a physical check there and then. Donning his gloves, he conducted an internal anal examination with his finger, which for the first time gave his GP cause for concern.

“He said that my prostate didn’t feel as soft as it should, but that it could just be a benign growth. Because I was worried, and he seemed a little worried too, he offered to refer me for an MRI scan.”

The MRI scan revealed abnormalities that needed further investigation, so Chris was booked in for a biopsy. “When I turned up at the hospital, everyone there was about 70 years old or over. I wasn’t even 50 at that point. The other people waiting thought I must be in the wrong place.”

Thankfully, the biopsy was a relatively quick and pain-free procedure, although Chris did have some mild discomfort when he got home. They retrieved six cores from each side of his prostate. Once the results came back, Chris was called in to see the specialist team.

A cancer diagnosis led to more questions

“I realised I had cancer when they handed me a little booklet in the waiting room, with a bunch of stickers to put on various forms,” Chris remembers. The doctor confirmed his suspicions: four cores in the left-hand side of his prostate and two in the right had come back testing positive for cancer.

“The nurses explained that they would plan to put me on what they called ‘active surveillance’. That would mean regularly measuring my PSA to check how the disease was progressing. They also discussed options such as radiotherapy that may be able to help if my PSA started to rise.”

However, the specialist nurses also told Chris that really, he was too young for radiation, as it can leave you with life-limiting erectile and continence issues. “Hormone therapy wasn’t right for me either, apparently, so ‘active surveillance’ was the approach they recommended.”

Chris decided he wanted to explore a different path from the one the NHS was suggesting. “My view is that if you have something inside you that isn’t right, you take it out. I didn’t want to leave it to chance with a ‘wait and see’ approach and have the cancer spread outside my prostate. So, I checked my company health insurance, and magically, I had cancer cover.”

Medical insurance opened new doors

“I was lucky that my company insurance covered the cost of private treatment for me.”

Chris also realised that his relative youth was on his side. ‘I was just 50 years old, young enough to have the operation before the disease could progress and still get over it.”

Chris’s mum was unfortunately going through treatment for lung cancer at the same time he remembers: “The whole process regarding my prostate and the discussions we were already having with mum felt very familiar.”

The lung cancer specialist Chris’s mum was seeing also advised him to remove the tumour rather than relying on active surveillance.  “I was there with mum for a check-up, and her consultant asked how I was. When I told him, he just said: Forget waiting, Chris, get the tumour out. That confirmed what I was already thinking.”

Seeking an expert second opinion

Chris’s wife, Marnie, works as a medical secretary for private care providers. Through her contacts and network, one name kept coming up for prostate surgery: Mr. Alan Doherty. So, Chris got in touch, taking all his NHS information, scans and reports with him to his first consultation.

Alan advised that since six out of the twelve biopsy cores had tested positive, he also thought the best idea was to remove the tumour and Chris’s whole prostate gland, in a procedure called a radical prostatectomy.

Open surgery for the best results

“Alan said that while lots of surgeons had good results with keyhole surgery, which can give you a faster recovery, he personally preferred open surgery where he could get direct access, see everything clearly and take the tumour out.”

“Alan said it’s a bigger operation and a longer recovery than with keyhole surgery, but I’m an engineer, so I understand the benefits. If you want me to fix a radio, I want to do it on a bench with clear access, not by putting my hands through a letter box, which makes everything more difficult!”

Alan discussed all the risks and benefits with Chris, including the small danger that he may end up losing his erections. But as he already had his twins, Chris and Marnie thought it was a risk worth taking to be cancer-free. “Alan also told me that my age was on my side and that I was likely to have a good outcome and recovery,” Chris remembers.

Alan followed up by letter, and they agreed on the way forward. “I liked Alan’s approach: He’s straight to the point, no faffing around or convoluted stories. He recommended that we just crack on and get it sorted.”

A successful operation with dedicated nursing support

When it came to the operation itself, worry started to creep in, and Chris prepared letters for all his family in case things didn’t go to plan. “I did get pretty anxious beforehand. But on the day, all I remember is lying there on my trolley bed before going into surgery. Then the next thing I knew, it was all over, and I was waking up in the ICU. There was a nurse by my bed who had been sitting there all night.”

When Alan came to check up on Chris in the ICU, he wasn’t there. “I insisted on going to the loo myself rather than using a bed tray. Alan told me that it was the first time he’s discovered a patient was not there on his morning rounds. He also told me that it’s normal to feel like you need to empty your bowels after the op, though they have already been emptied before surgery, so there’s actually nothing to pass. That explains why I spent another hour in there trying to go!”

Chris was moved onto the ward the next day. He stayed for three or four days, with the nursing team helping him to get moving and walking again. Chris went home but developed a mild infection, so he was brought back to the hospital and given antibiotics on a drip, which worked fast to clear it.

Active Chris found it hard to rest and recuperate

Chris was in a bit of discomfort and found getting out of bed a little painful for the first few days. “But it was nothing major, I just had paracetamol to help with the pain. Once I was up and about, I was ok.”

“I find it hard to sit down and do nothing, it’s just how I am. That made recovery a bit challenging. I couldn’t just sit there looking out of the window and watching daytime telly. I decided to wash the car, despite my wife telling me it was a bad idea. I was determined, and it took me about three hours to do it. She was right, of course. When I got back in, I felt terrible, so I took it easy the following day. The day after that, I felt fine.”

Chris readily admits that he was being a bit more active soon after his operation than was probably wise. “I’d taken part in the kids’ sport day at school and had come second in one race, but fell over in the other and was worried that I’d done myself some damage. I had also won the dad and daughter dance at school, which we’d done lots of practice for. I wanted to do it for my daughter,” he explains.

Regular annual check-ups show reassuring signs

Chris had a check-up with Alan three months later to see how the healing was progressing, and luckily, all was well. “Alan seemed very happy with how the surgery had gone. The plan is for me to see him every twelve months now for check-ups. I saw him again in December 2025.”

It’s taking Chris time to recover to the full health and fitness levels he had before his operation, and he’s had to learn to take it a bit easier in the soft play with his twins. But the great news is that his erection and continence functions haven’t been affected by the operation at all. “That all came back in double quick time.” Chris shares. “I guess being a younger man when something like this happens really does have its benefits.”

 

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