SUNNINGDALE resident, Roland Weir-Smith (73) who is a sales manager, was diagnosed in 2015. He highlighted the importance of having a regular check up because he did not experience any tell-tale signs that would indicate something was wrong.
“I had no symptoms at all. I had no idea. It is so important to go for your check ups annually. I should have just gone. We don’t realise how important our bodies are, they need to be checked and taken care of. Please, go and get checked. It’s so important. I don’t know if I would still be here if I waited a few more years and didn’t get tested,” he added.
Wier-Smith said that if it was not for his daughter, he would not have discovered that he had prostate cancer.
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“My daughter, Cara Noble works for the Cancer Association of SA and was nagging me to do a PSA test. I hadn’t done mine in five years. I just didn’t prioritise doing it, I was always busy with something more important, but she was persistent and I went and had it done at their CANSA Durban Care Center. I didn’t expect anything to be wrong, I had a clean bill of health, was working long hours and was feeling fine. I was shocked to find out that I had a PSA level of 11. CANSA explained that they needed me to go to a urologist and get checked out and do further investigations to see what was the cause of the high level – it could be hormonal or possibly cancerous and to my shock, it was cancerous. I was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer,” he said.
He received treatment soon after the harrowing discovery.
“I had brachytherapy – radioactive seeds- inserted in the prostate, which slowly release radiation and kill off the cancer. I also had a simple prostatectomy to prepare for the effects of the radiation,” he said.
“I was relieved that I could have less aggressive treatment as I was at such an early stage of cancer,” he added.
While it could have been worse, treatment was tough and Wier-Smith battled side effects of pain, discomfort and exhaustion.
“I was in shock and I was scared. Even though they said it was early, I was still overwhelmed with the diagnosis and procedures. I have friends who had it hard before I was diagnosed. I had only had one operation before this when I was 32 and at 69 it was a lot to take in. I am definitely not a fan of counselling and talking about my feelings, but I did meet with CANSA’s counsellor a few times and that helped put me at ease and put things in perspective. I battled with exhaustion while recovering after both surgical procedures, otherwise I did well and responded to the treatment. Four years later and I have a PSA of 0.02. I am healthy and living my life and I’m a grandfather to two girls,” he said.
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The ordeal has forever impacted Wier-Smith who has since made changes to his lifestyle. “I changed my diet and I take better care of myself. You learn what’s important and value your support system even more. When you are lucky enough to get a break like this and beat cancer, you are grateful for everything that you previously took for granted. My girls are my life and they were so supportive throughout my journey,” he said.
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