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Ballroom Bill

Best wishes to Ballroom Bill and his family on the journey ahead. Really dreadful news.

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  • On a happier note he is currently on C4 baking light and dark blue cupcakes!

  • FA Cup cakes for us. Watching as I type. Good work Bill.

  • Just finished watching the Bake Off special on C4+1. Clear to see the effect the illness and treatment has had on Bill - such a brave man to speak out so honestly about how he missed the (possible) opportunity to improve his chances by not seeing his GP sooner. Obvious now why the news has broken today to coincide with the broadcast of this episode.
    Anyway, being of a certain age myself, it's prompted me think about seeing my GP for further advice on getting a PSA test
    Seems stupid not to really ..

  • Unfortunately when I have spoken to my doctor about having prostrates checks they refuse unless their is family history or symptoms. Well done to bill for speaking out hope he carries on to fight it.

  • Hoping Bill battles through this set back. Haven't seen him in the Woodlands for a little while but hoping to continue our chat at some point soon.

  • In 2005, I was having a routine INR test in Wycombe hospital (a blood test to check whether Warfarin dose needs adjustment) and I had occasion to phone my GP about something. I asked if I could have a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test. “We don’t want to go down that route; opens a whole can of worms” was my GP’s response. In those days, I was in the “oh, OK” camp.
    A year or so later, after a high PSA reading (not by any means always a reliable indicator) I had the biopsy and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It had spread slightly beyond the prostate apparently and surgery to remove the prostate was not considered appropriate. I had four weeks of radiotherapy followed by regular oestrogen implants.

    Nearly 12 years later, I am still in reasonably good health and looking forward to the big eight oh later this year.
    So, despite the much delayed diagnosis, I have been singularly fortunate. (I’d been concerned for some time, even before the rather dismissive response from my GP, that I might have the disease and, if anyone wants to know what gave rise to my suspicions, please do send me a direct message.)

  • Crikey, I wanted to paint an optimistic picture based on my own experience but I (typically) forgot to say how much I hope Bill Turnbull’s cancer can be stopped in its tracks or at least respond to palliative care.

  • We are all told to contact our GPs...upon which we find a lot of the time they cannot be arsed.

  • Being arsed was a particularly unpleasant element in the diagnostic process.

  • With apologies to @Croider.

  • edited March 2018

    It would be good to show our support for Bill on Saturday. Maybe a standing ovation or an “only one Bill Turnbull” chant ?

  • @micra said:
    Being arsed was a particularly unpleasant element in the diagnostic process.

    Totally agree. I'll certainly never look at a jar of Vaseline again without wincing.

  • @homerlone pray for a doctor with small fingers...

  • I will risk being a bit coarse by saying that something akin to a staple gun was involved, never mind fingers. 12 snips.

  • What did you see at the swan

  • Can’t remember. I’m still asleep.

  • Sorry @LX1. I thought perhaps you were “wandering”. It was a Santana tribute.

  • @micra I admit I had to look Santana up! How was it?

    It is excellent that you have shared your experience on the gasroom. One of the hardest things seems to be people (particularly men) talking about it.

    Anyone who has met Bill at a match will know what a top bloke he is. We all support you brother!

  • Bill is indeed a top fellow and I'm sure his treatment will sort him out. As for @micra staple gun? One reason for not going to a GP. It's bad for you!!

  • The importance of early diagnosis and the difference it can make when it has been picked up early is fortunately something someone in my family was able to profit from.
    Fortunately his doctor who was treating other prostate related symptoms didn't have the attitude of not wanting to open a 'can of worms' by ordering a PSA, otherwise he might not be with us anymore.

    All the best to Bill and his family for the battle ahead, and thanks to him for his very moving monologue at the end of the celebrity bake-off programme (and @Micra as well for talking about his experiences). If it nudges one person to badger their GP for a PSA that then detects prostate cancer at an early stage, it'll have been worth it.

  • I'll second that @LX1 - I met Bill at Wembley at the Southend play-off and he's just a really nice bloke

    Hope he gets better really quickly

  • Your last sentence says it all @ReadingMarginalista. My own experience - survival despite delayed diagnosis. - is very much the exception, I think.
    Because of the duplication between this thread and the one started by @Uncle_T , I only got round to reading the latter this morning but I recommend that all guys on here click on to the link there which gives a succinct and fairly comprehensive insight into the signs and symptoms.

  • edited March 2018

    I started a discussion simultaneously with another on the same subject, unwittingly giving rise to duplication.

    The link from my post is below; there are further links within the article that provide more information:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43293328

  • Extract from my blog:

    "I already knew I had an enlarged prostate, but during early April that I noticed that I was having to visit the little chairboys room a bit more frequently and it was becoming more difficult to pass water. I thought this might be due to a change in medication so mentioned it to my GP on one of my many visits. This prompted the doctor to get a more intimate with me than I was comfortable with as he gave my prostate a little tickle (I don't even let the wife do that!) and he then referred me to the Urologist. A blood test showed my PSA (Prostate-specific antigen, a protein released from the prostate gland into the blood stream) to be 6.2, this was cause for concern as anything over 4.0 could indicate the presence of cancer cells. Normally, I believe the next stage would be to go for a biopsy, this was not possible in my case as I was still on anticoagulant tablets and these have to be taken for a year following an angioplasty to prevent the blood clotting around the stent. So, though it was worrying, it was left to check again in a month's time."

    All the best to Bill.

    Blog link - http://peterjemmett.blogspot.co.uk/

  • @Wendoverman said:
    Bill is indeed a top fellow and I'm sure his treatment will sort him out. As for micra staple gun? One reason for not going to a GP. It's bad for you!!

    I should perhaps have made it clear that the “staple gun” procedure is carried out in hospital at the final stage of investigation. The machine clips “samples” from the prostate (after 7 or 8 I asked them if they could make do with what they’d already got but to no avail and, without the full dozen, they may not have been able to detect that the cancer had spread slightly beyond the prostate).
    Not pleasant but well worth enduring if you want to get the appropriate treatment. Not only that, I am talking about procedures nearly twelve years ago and medical advances since then may have led to non-invasive alternatives.

  • @micra said:
    Not pleasant but well worth enduring if you want to get the appropriate treatment. Not only that, I am talking about procedures nearly twelve years ago and medical advances since then may have led to non-invasive alternatives.

    mica - Following on from my above story, because I couldn't have invasive treatment I was eventually offered an MRI scan which didn't show any cancer and the Urologist seemed happy with this.

  • I did wonder about scanners @Jocks_little_helper. My wife, who is a Scannappeal volunteer, says that she has heard anecdotal evidence that the “staple gun” procedure may have been superseded. Your own experience seems to confirm that.

  • I think the biopsy is still the standard procedure, just which I couldn’t have any risk of bleeding due to the anticoagulant tablets I was on at that time.

  • I’ve been on Warfarin for at least 15 years and probably had to stop taking them ahead of the biopsy (I can’t recall) but your heart condition is a very different matter I would guess. I clearly recall having to stop taking them for several days before my hip replacement in 2008.

  • Delighted to report that Bill will be joining us on commentary tomorrow afternoon.

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