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Sir Chris Hoy has spoken movingly about what he called the ‘toughest year of my life’ after his incurable prostate cancer diagnosis.
There was an outpouring of support when cycling legend revealed last month that he had been handed a terminal diagnosis and could have just two years to live.
In an interview with the BBC last night he described the feeling of ‘absolute horror and shock’ of being told what he believed were just ‘aches and pains’ in his shoulder was actually a tumour.
‘I’ll never forget the words, it’s incurable but manageable,’ he said, adding that chemotherapy treatment was ‘like torture’ but that he felt ‘lucky’ because he had more time left than some others.
‘I’m not delusional – I know what the end result will be. But nobody lives forever,’ he said.
Sir Chris, 48, also used the opportunity to call for the NHS to roll out prostate cancer screening to men from the age of 45, adding that it was ‘a no brainer’ and ‘could save millions of lives’.
Recalling how he had suffered ‘no symptoms, no warning, nothing’ before his diagnosis, he said: ‘My grandpa died of prostate cancer and my dad had it.
‘If you’ve got a family history like I have, and you’re over the age of 45, go and ask your doctor.
There was an outpouring of support when the six-time Olympic gold medalist revealed last month that he had been handed a terminal diagnosis and could have just two years to live
In an interview with the BBC last night he described the ‘absolute horror and shock’ of being told what he believed were just ‘aches and pains’ in his shoulder was actually a tumour
‘It’s logical to me – why wouldn’t you get the test a little bit earlier. Catch it before you need to have any major treatment, to me it seems like a no brainer.
‘Why would you not reduce the age, bring the age down, allow more men to just go in and get a blood test.’
Currently, the NHS doesn’t offer prostate cancer screening – where all men are invited from a set age for regular tests, in the same way that breast, cervical and bowel cancers are screened for.
Men aged 50 and over can ask their GP for a PSA blood test – which picks up problems with the prostate – regardless of symptoms.
However those aged 49 and younger can’t officially be offered the same test, unless doctors have a strong reason to suspect prostate illness.
Sir Chris said he hoped to see this change. ‘Maybe people hearing about my story and then asking their GP [for a test] will create enough of a surge of interest that the people who make decision will address this.
‘In the long term, from a logical point of view, it will potentially save millions of lives.’
Roughly 55,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and rates have increased by more than 50 per cent in the past three decades.
Scotsman Sir Chris lives in Cheshire with wife Sarra, pictured, and their two children Callum, nine, and Chloe, six
Recalling his diagnosis Sir Chris says: ‘It came completely out of the blue. No symptoms, no warning, nothing’
While men over the age of 75 are most at risk, cases in men under 50 have soared in recent years – and doctors do not know why.
Unlike many cancers, prostate cancer is not generally thought to be linked to preventable lifestyle factors.
Scotsman Sir Chris, who lives in Cheshire with wife Sarra their two children Callum, nine, and Chloe, six, announced in February that he was being ‘treated for cancer’ and that treatment was going well.
But in October he revealed he had prostate cancer and that he’d known for a year that, in fact, it was incurable.
Recalling the moment he says: ‘It came completely out of the blue. No symptoms, no warning, nothing.
‘All I had was a pain in my shoulder and a bit of pain in my ribs. You know, I’m 48 now – still lifting weights in the gym, still exercising hard.
‘I just thought it was aches and pains. But this didn’t go away and eventually I was suggested to go for a scan.
‘I assumed it was going to be tendonitis or something. It was going to be, lay off the weights or cycling for a wee while, get some treatment and it would be fine.
‘I just thought it was aches and pains. But this didn’t go away and eventually I was suggested to go for a scan,’ said Sir Chris
‘When the scan result came back [showing] it was a tumour – it was the biggest shock of my life. I remember the feeling of just absolute horror and shock.
‘And from then, appointments and seeing different doctors in different hospitals.
‘You are in a world where you feel like you were just existing, you weren’t living. It was just like a living nightmare.
‘I’ll never forget the words: “It’s incurable, but manageable.” I think it’s only in really difficult situations you find out what you’re made of, and what you can deal with.
‘It puts it into perspective – riding bikes for a living, you realise it was just a bit of fun really.’
Sir Chris does, however, believe gruelling training for the Olympics helped ready him for the ‘battle’ of cancer treatment.
‘When you’re battling it out for an Olympic gold medal, it felt like life or death in the moment.
‘The stakes have changed dramatically and it is life and death.
‘But the principal is the same – it’s about focusing on what you have control over and not worrying about the stuff you can’t control.’
He added that chemotherapy treatment was ‘one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced.
‘Walking into a cancer ward, seeing really ill people around you and just feeling like you’re looking into the future – it’s not a pleasant experience.’
Sir Chris underwent cold cap treatment while having chemo to minmise hair loss, which he said was ‘horrendous’.
Cold caps are devices that are fitted over the head and are chilled to sub-zero temperatures.
This helps protect the hair from being damaged by chemotherapy drugs and falling out.
‘That was the biggest challenge,’ said Sir Chris. ‘I’ve not got much hair anyway, I wasn’t fussed if I lost it. But my son Callum was quite worried about what might happen.
‘He asked if I was going to lose my hair, so for him, I thought this is something I want to do.
‘It was excruciating – like torture, basically. The strategy was to take it one minute at a time. Watching that second hand go round the lock.
‘If you can do one more minute, that’s all you need to do. And when it gets round to the end of the minute, you do it again.’
Sir Chris is surging policymakers to consider offering prostate screening tests to all men with a family history like his.
‘Looking back, my gandpa died from prostate cancer. My dad had it and has been treated for it. Soi it’s a genetic thing – it is in the family.
‘But it can happen to anybody, and it’s not necessarily for old men. One in eight men will have prostate cancer in their life at some point, and if you’ve got a family history like I have, and you’re over the age of 45, go and ask your doctor.’
