The Commtel Motivation for Movember was driven by a colleague's Story. Here is that Story.

" My journey started in May this year. During Customer Site Acceptance Testing, I did a drug and alcohol test. During that test the nurse said I looked dehydrated. This test was at 6AM in the morning. I have been drinking a lot of water as required. She told me to go and get it checked out by my doctor.

On my return to Perth I made an appointment for my annual medical checks. I was due for it anyway. Blood tests were taken on Thursday Morning at 8.30. I got a call from my Dr at about 5.30pm instructing me to go to emergency room at my local hospital. This was due to abnormal blood test results which he said was an indicator of leukemia.

He said it probably wasn't but in this case he was wrong. During the overnight stay at hospital they also detected an enlarged prostate.

The diagnosis of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) was confirmed. A week later I had a biopsy and MRI that confirmed that I had a small cancer in my prostate.

Prognosis:

The CML is treated by a tablet I take every day. This has reduced the CML and my blood indicators look really good. I need blood tests every 3 months to monitor that. There are side effects of the drug and these are improving.

The specialist I see for the Prostate cancer has delayed surgery until March next year. The cancer was detected very early and my PSA numbers have dropped dramatically from when I went into hospital. I get PSA blood tests every 3 months and he reviews them.

Observations:

I had no symptoms prior to going to hospital other than high temperature and night sweats one night after I came back from up north and prior to going into hospital.. This is an indicator. I had never had them before.

I get annual blood tests - No fingers are involved. However, I'm sure if you ask nicely they will do that test for you.

I went to Perth Prostate Clinic and these rooms were full of guys ranging from 40s to their nineties. I was surprised at the number of young guys in that room. So don't assume it's an old bloke's cancer.

So in my case the CML medication impacts me more than the prostate cancer. I have to be very careful with the medication and interaction with other drugs and also certain foods.

There is no correlation between the CML and prostate cancer.

The other thing I have to do prior to my operation is lose weight which I find a slow and frustrating experience.

On a side note my partner had a mole on her neck that she got checked out. She has annual mole checkups. They cut it out and it was found out to be a melanoma. She then had to go back into hospital and they cut a big section out around where the mole was located. They got it all out. She has the scar to prove it.

So don't neglect to get moles or marks on your body checked out that seemed to have changed shape or colour. Especially if you have exposure to the sun or family history of it."