{"id":471345,"date":"2025-10-03T15:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/471345\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T15:00:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:00:19","slug":"my-gut-told-me-to-push-for-treatment-and-it-saved-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/471345\/","title":{"rendered":"‘My gut told me to push for treatment, and it saved my life’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jason, 54, was told not to be conerned and his condition would be monitored\"JasonJason said \u2018no man should die from prostate cancer if we catch it early\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

A father-of-two with prostate cancer who was recommended \u201cactive surveillance\u201d but had a gut feeling that he should push for treatment has said \u201cno man should die from (the disease) if we catch it early\u201d. Jason Yeo, 54, a travelling sales manager from Devon, was shocked to discover he had prostate cancer in April 2024 after a routine health check and prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests, as he was healthy, sporty and \u201csymptomless\u201d.<\/p>\n

At first, he said he was told to \u201cwatch and wait\u201d by his GP due to his cancer being low-grade, before medics recommended \u201cactive surveillance\u201d \u2013 but this caused significant \u201cmental anguish\u201d for him and his family. After pushing for further tests, he said the cancer was found to be \u201cmore aggressive\u201d than initially diagnosed, but with support from the charity Prost8, he was able to undergo cryotherapy, a treatment not widely available in the UK.<\/p>\n

With around 12,000 prostate cancer deaths in the UK every year, according to Cancer Research UK, Jason has launched his own Kick Prostate Cancer into Touch campaign, and he wants to \u201cpush for a national testing programme\u201d. He is passionate about raising awareness and early detection and wants to encourage men aged over 50 to swallow their pride, ask for help and get tested.<\/p>\n

\"JasonJason wants to encourage men aged over 50 to get tested (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have that medical expertise, I just had my gut feel that said, \u2018this isn\u2019t right\u2019, and my wife and my dad saying, \u2018don\u2019t take that as an answer\u2019,\u201d Jason told PA Real Life. \u201cWithout those two, and Paul at Prost8, we wouldn\u2019t be having this conversation in this way \u2013 the outcome would have been so different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have started my campaign properly, and I\u2019m almost certain I would have cancer that now sits outside the prostate\u2026 it was more aggressive than they initially thought it was. \u201cI think it should be, \u2018your PSA result says you\u2019ve got a problem, your diagnosis then goes through the different stages, you\u2019ve got prostate cancer, let\u2019s deal with it now\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the NHS<\/a>, prostate cancer affects the prostate gland under the bladder and usually happens to men aged over 50, but it can be cured if diagnosed early. Before his official diagnosis, Jason said he \u201cnever\u201d went to the doctors and was \u201calways healthy, always fit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing in my lifestyle to suggest what was coming next,\u201d he explained. Other than asthma, Jason never had problems with his health, but he said his wife Donna bought two vouchers for a general health check-up in February 2023, with the additional purchase of a PSA test, a blood test, for him.<\/p>\n

Jason, who has two children, Ciaran, 23, and Louis, 18, said this is when \u201cthe game changed\u201d. \u201cIf there were 20 different points to that test, 19 came back with a green light and one came back with a red light and said, \u2018you need to take further action\u2019, for which we will be forever grateful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"JasonJason has\u202flaunched a nationwide football\u202fbillboard\u202fcampaign (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

After contacting his GP and having a second PSA test, he said it was confirmed his levels were above the normal threshold. Jason said he was told to \u201cwatch and wait\u201d in March 2023, but his family urged him to seek a second opinion, and he paid for a private MRI scan in May that year.<\/p>\n

This revealed Jason had an enlarged prostate, which he said was \u201cnothing significant\u201d, so the \u201cwatch and wait\u201d period continued, with check-ups in between. \u201cAt that moment in time, I\u2019m just rolling with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to put your complete trust in someone that\u2019s studied for all those years\u2026 but fast forward a year to February 2024 and my PSA levels have nearly doubled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason said he was referred to the urology department at Torbay<\/a> Hospital, where he had his first biopsy in April 2024. The same month, he said he was told he had prostate cancer and he shed \u201cmany tears\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we walked into that little white room, I knew I was going to be told that there was cancer there, it wasn\u2019t just an enlarged prostate,\u201d Jason said. \u201cThey said, \u2018It\u2019s a low-grade score and you\u2019re going to go on active surveillance. It\u2019s confined within the prostate, we\u2019re happy, and we\u2019ll call you in once every four months for a PSA test\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his diagnosis, Jason was sent a letter from Torbay Hospital in June 2024, seen by PA Real Life, which said he should continue an \u201cactive surveillance protocol\u201d. Jason said this waiting period caused significant \u201canguish\u201d and he struggled with his mental health.<\/p>\n

\"Jason,Jason, his wife Donna and his two children, Ciaran and Louis<\/p>\n

After finding the charity Prost8, founded by Paul Sayer, Jason got a referral letter for treatment from his GP, which he said was signed off in November 2024. Jason said he then received a letter from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which welcomed him on to a scheme for cryotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a follow-up where they said: \u2018Mr Yeo, we possibly owe you an apology\u2026 it\u2019s more aggressive than Torbay or ourselves had initially thought\u2019,\u201d Jason said. After biopsies and further consultations, Jason received the cryotherapy, which uses extreme cold to destroy cancer cells, in March this year at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.<\/p>\n

He said this \u201cnon-invasive\u201d treatment, compared to a prostatectomy which removes all or part of the prostate gland, means he has not suffered side-effects such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, giving him a \u201cbetter quality of life\u201d. \u201cThe cryotherapy treatment was an absolute game-changer for me\u2026 the team were just amazing,\u201d Jason said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(It\u2019s important to know) there are other treatment options out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May 2024, a new \u00a342 million Transform screening trial was announced, which aims to test new approaches that could more than double the impact of screening, and ultimately reduce prostate cancer deaths by up to 40%. Jason, who is now in remission and continuing to have check-ups and PSA tests, is on his own mission to help others through awareness and early detection, with the help of football clubs around the country, from Penzance in Cornwall to Bury in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n

He has launched a nationwide football billboard campaign, called Kick Prostate Cancer into Touch, to encourage PSA testing for men aged over 50 \u2013 and said nearly 70 clubs, including Plymouth<\/a> Argyle and Bury FC, now have signage displayed. With extra testing, Jason hopes more men will be diagnosed earlier and lives will be saved.<\/p>\n

\"JasonJason Yeo with his family<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the long term, by being proactive instead of reactive, we\u2019re going to save the NHS money and time and so much stress and pain for families,\u201d Jason said. \u201cWe need to be able to research different options, different solutions \u2013 that side of it\u2019s incredible \u2013 but early testing allows for early diagnosis, which allows for early, non-invasive treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI launched this campaign so other men and their families don\u2019t endure the same pain. No man should die from prostate cancer if we catch it early.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Peninsula Cancer Alliance said: \u201cWe can\u2019t comment on the specifics of the case but are sorry to hear of Jason\u2019s experience and hope that he is responding well to treatment. We work with all the hospitals in Devon and Cornwall to make sure that patients have access to nationally recommended investigation and treatment pathways for prostate cancer, including multiparametric MRI, template biopsy and robotic surgery where appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile all involved in the treatment of people with prostate cancer are keen to find a way to diagnose a larger proportion of men at an early stage, there is no clear evidence that one-off or regular testing of PSA is an effective way to do this. We eagerly await the outcome of trials that are expected to clarify this picture and will work hard to implement any change in national guidance when this is available.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JasonJason said \u2018no man should die from prostate cancer if we catch it early\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: \u201cWe wish Mr Yeo well with his recovery following his diagnosis. This Government would like to see screening in place, but the decision must be evidence-led.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe independent UK National Screening Committee is looking at this as a priority and we will act on its advice. We are also working to strengthen cancer services across the NHS and investing in research to find the best possible methods to detect prostate cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

NHS England, Torbay and South Devon<\/a> NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust were contacted but did not wish to comment further. For more information or support, visit Prost8\u2019s website at www.prost8.org.u<\/a> k.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jason, 54, was told not to be conerned and his condition would be monitoredJason said \u2018no man should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[2266,105,4348,211,8594,116739,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-471345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-nhs","12":"tag-plymouth","13":"tag-torbay","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115310836318114154","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}