🤨I couldn't do it all immediately, so I started with just one thing!

There is nothing special about me, I just want to live a bit longer...

Eat this, ditch that, chug kale by the bucket load, make sure you HITT, sugar is the devils work, worship supplements (but only the good ones, obviously) and don’t even talk alcohol. Welcome to the cancer wellness circus, where the rules are changing faster than your gut bacteria!🤯

Let me take you back to pre-diagnosis. I was happily pottering along in my life enjoying the odd glass (or bottle) of Rioja, I used to smoke, food pretty much had a barcode printed onto the side of it, I worked hard and I did a moderate amount of exercise. I was your typical middle aged white bloke enjoying the fruits of his labour knowing that there was an NHS safety blanket there ready to look after me if anything with my health went wrong.

Then that day happened…

Doctor Akhtar: “Hi Mr Stevenson, you have Stage 3 prostate cancer”

My brain: “What, no, really, me, what the fuck! Well that is shitty news!”

Me: “OK”

My brain: “Thanks for letting me know, now your the Doctor, lets get me fixed up and sent on my way”

In amongst all of the medical treatments, mental angst and physical recovery that prostate cancer brings to ones life, there was something in the back of my head…

My brain: “I bought this on myself, look at the way I treated my body, expecting nothing to actually happen! Really?”

In reality I know that sometimes it just happens and unfortunately someone is handed the prostate cancer card, no matter who they are. I look around and see some amazing characters walking this earth (and no longer) that have had the prostate cancer card handed to them (*thank you Wikipedia):

Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games*

Harold George Bellanfanti Jr (March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist*

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025*

Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer*

Now these are people that have done some amazing things (and some not, depending upon your political leaning and we are not here today for that debate) and who would expect an olympian or a former US President to get bloody stage 4 cancer? Go figure!

So let me take you now to where I am today, knowing what I know. I appreciate that I might not have done the best for my body over my younger years, however, that does not stop me from giving it some respect now. No matter how bloody hard it is to give up alcohol or sugar (chocolate and Jammy Dodgers are my nemesis) or anything else that is just nice tasting!

I picked just one thing to change…and the first big one was alcohol. Yes, out went the happy juice and it was one of the hardest things that I have done (second to giving up smoking back in the 2010’s). I did not try to implement anything else until I knew that I had control over my urge to have a drink. That is not to say that I have not had an alcoholic drink (I had a social pint or two just before Christmas 2024), however, I have stopped it being part of my weekly diet and for me, that has had such an amazingly positive affect on my physical and mental health.

I can remember a UK based radio DJ saying something on a show about his cholesterol levels being high and what his wife said to him, it went something like this…

“Do you love butter more than spending time with your kids?”

Appreciate that this could be considered as being a little brutal, however, it (apparently) did the trick with him and I carry that forward in my thoughts when making any change to my lifestyle. If I take ownership and make a small change, I might just live a little longer and get to spend more precious time with my family.

So, what am I trying to share here…suppose I am saying, don’t get overwhelmed by everything that is out there. If you are wanting to make a change, just pick one thing that you want to do it and go for it. Own it. Feel immensely proud that you have done that one change. And when you are rocking it, pick the next one. Before you know it, those little changes have created a massive difference.

This journey was not perfect for me, there were days that I walked into the local supermarket and a bar of chocolate or packet of biscuits magically appeared in the basket. I owned it, appreciated that for whatever reason I had record breakingly absorbed a whole packet of biscuits with a cup of tea and then I put all of my energy into trying not to repeat it. And believe me, it took an immense amount of my willpower not to repeat it. It was not easy, but I reminded myself why I am doing.

I want to spend more time on this earth with my family.

It is bloody hard for anyone to break a habit or to change an element of their lifestyle if something has been ingrained for such a long time…but by taking a small step towards a healthier approach you could just help your own bodies natural defence pulverise one of those annoying cancer cells right in the bloody face. Surely that is worth doing?

And what I can share with you is, that I am adamant that the collection of little changes that I have made (diet, exercise, supplements and mental wellbeing) have made a positive and direct impact on my prostate cancer reoccurrence.

So are you making a change due to a cancer diagnosis? Go on, share your approach in the comments below and let others know that get are not alone in all of this.

If you need more support then there are some great charities ready to help:

United Kingdom: https://prostatecanceruk.org

United States: https://www.pcf.org