Drive Ban Blood Test Saved My Life
He said: “I had been banned from driving for 18 months and had to complete a private blood test to regain my licence.
“I got my licence back but I was advised to see my GP as my PSA was so high. I didn’t even know what PSA was at that time.”
Kevin’s road to diagnosis wasn’t a smooth one as some medics found it difficult to believe that a man so young would be at risk of prostate cancer.
He said: “I had never had any symptoms whatsoever so it never crossed my mind I could have prostate cancer. They ran lots of tests on me, looked at my insides with various cameras.
“In the end I was referred to Mr Duncan Harriss at the City Hospital’s Urology department and one of his team did a biopsy.
“When Duncan told me I had cancer my first thought was for my wife Marilyn. He offered to break the news to her too, but I wanted to tell her myself.”
Building worker Kevin, now 48, had an NHS funded full prostatectomy in February of this year and said he now recommends any man over 40 to have their PSA levels checked out.
“People think it can’t happen to them in their forties but it can, I’m the proof. It’s such a simple thing to have it checked out.
“The operation itself wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. Wearing the catheter was about the worst thing but that’s just for three weeks.
I just wondered if you were able to tell me how long you shouldn’t drink alcohol for if you need to take a blood test to gain your full licence back ?
Thank you.