The day of the brachytherapy operation

The morning dawned bright and clear and I was up with the lark ... well, with the alarm, actually that Gloria had set for six-thirty. I needed to be up quickly because my last chance to eat was before seven-thirty and I didn't want to faint with hunger before going down for the op at either 1pm or 3pm.

Gloria brought me tea and toast in bed - what a treat! Then we were up and about, getting some cereal down us before getting showered and putting the last things into the overnight bag. Then, the best part - a micro enema. Gloria had asked if she could administer it - absolutely not! It was a little tube of stuff with a long spout that had to be inserted right up your bum and then squeezed - and keep squeezing as you pull it out. Did that and then sat on the loo and waited. It didn't take long ... about five minutes and all of a sudden my back passage was clear and sparkly. Then it was time for a shower.

What's next? Trans-rectal, ultrasound-guided biopsy

Fate sometimes, conspires, doesn't it? I was away on business for the next few days so didn't receive the urgent first-class posted letter that had dropped through my door, only a couple of days after the MRI scan. Not having received it, I was a bit gob-smacked to get a phone call from a lady wanting to confirm my appointment for a biopsy.

"Er, what biopsy?"
"You've not had the letter?"
"Nope, I'm in Birmingham at a conference."
"Your MRI results are showing a shadow on the prostate and Mr Smith (name changed) has decided you need to have a biopsy."
"I see."

MRI scan of the prostate

It's all so easy. Once you are in the highly efficient mincing machine that is the NHS, (sorry if you're reading this in the USA, folks - you've missed a trick) then you get dealt with, if you are "fast-tracked" as a priority. Within a couple of days of the consultant's reluctant signing me on for a scan, I was walking through the doors of the MRI suite at my local hospital.

Normally, for an MRI, you zoom in head-first, headphones on to deaden the din that is clanking and thunking around you. However, for a scan of the prostate, you're whizzed in feet first. Oh, let's not forget the prep ...