Kevin O'Brien

Kevin O'Brien had always been the sort of person who avoided doctors. At sixty-two, he was fit, active, and thoroughly convinced that ignorance was preferable to bad news. It was his wife who eventually bullied him into a routine health check with their GP, where a PSA blood test was included almost as an afterthought. The result — elevated at 8.4 ng/mL — led to an MRI, then a biopsy, then the word he had been refusing to contemplate: cancer. Prostate cancer, Gleason 3+4, intermediate risk. Kevin spent three days in a state of numb disbelief before his wife booked his first appointment at Silvaris Cancer Center in Nashville.

The uro-oncology team's approach was methodical and unhurried. His urologist presented the full range of treatment options — active surveillance, radiotherapy, and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy — with detailed explanations of the evidence, the side-effect profiles, and the implications for Kevin's specific clinical situation. He was also referred to the clinical nurse specialist who ran the prostate cancer information service, meeting with her for a ninety-minute session that allowed Kevin and his wife to ask the questions they had been too intimidated to voice in clinic. 'She demystified everything,' Kevin says. 'She had heard every question before and answered all of them without embarrassment or impatience. We left understanding what we were actually choosing between.'

Kevin chose robotic surgery. The procedure was performed laparoscopically with robotic assistance, minimising blood loss and recovery time. He was discharged two days after the operation with a urinary catheter in place, which was removed ten days later at his first post-operative review. His surgeon had prepared him carefully for the potential post-operative side effects — temporary urinary incontinence and the possibility of erectile dysfunction — and had referred him proactively to a specialist nurse and a pelvic floor physiotherapist before his operation, so that rehabilitation support was in place from day one of his recovery. 'He didn't wait for problems to appear before addressing them,' Kevin says. 'He anticipated them and had the solutions ready.'

Urinary continence recovered within eight weeks, aided by disciplined daily pelvic floor exercises guided by his physiotherapist. Erectile function recovery was slower and required ongoing pharmacological support, which his team managed without embarrassment, monitoring progress and adjusting treatment at each follow-up. His PSA fell to undetectable levels by his three-month test — the result his urologist was looking for and shared with visible satisfaction. Annual PSA surveillance continues, and Kevin attends yearly uro-oncology review. He describes the follow-up care as meticulous: every test result communicated promptly, every concern addressed without delay.

Three years after surgery, Kevin is entirely well. His PSA remains undetectable. He runs regularly, recently completed a half marathon, and has fully resumed every aspect of his life. He is open about his diagnosis with friends and family, a decision he credits with prompting two male friends to request their own PSA tests — one of whom was subsequently found to have early prostate cancer. 'I used to be the man who avoided the doctor,' he says. 'Now I tell every man I know to go. The team at Silvaris found this early enough to cure it. That is everything. Go to the doctor. Just go.'