Five things to know about Prostate Cancer

In a blog like this, while I wait for something to happen (first consultant appointment next week), you the reader need something to keep you going so here are five top things that I've learned about the prostate and its associated cancer.

1. What is the prostate?

It's a little gland, typically about the size of a walnut, that sits around the urethra (the tube down which your wee comes from the bladder), above and behind your testicles. This means that if it swells, your flow of urine is restricted. So, one of the symptoms of prostate cancer for example is difficulty passing water - although it might just be that your prostate has grown, because the little blighter will do that all through your life (just like your ears). What's it for, I hear you cry. It makes the fluid in which your sperm are transmitted, through the urethra, when you come. If you have the prostate removed, you'll have a dry orgasm whenever you have sex. In other words, you still get the good bit, but without the mess.