I was waking up to pee – I didn’t know I should worry
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Sitting in the doctor’s office, I was so nervous. There were two people with me in the room – a community nurse and a consultant – then, the consultant said the words I’d dreaded hearing: ‘You have prostate cancer and it’s aggressive.’. It was the biggest shock of my life. I had the big C, and I could die. I was scared and totally lost.
![[Phil Kissi: A TV programme saved my life - other Black men aren't so lucky]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_232941903-ebe5-e1734079492622.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
And I wouldn’t have known a thing – if I didn’t happen to watch a chance TV programme. In October 2006, I sat down to watch an episode of the BBC documentary show, City Hospital: a live show, aired on BBC One, broadcasting from British hospitals and following the stories of many patients.
![[Phil Kissi: A TV programme saved my life - other Black men aren't so lucky]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_232941997-2682-e1733993885942.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=645)
It wasn’t a show I watched regularly – not by any stretch – but I’m so glad I tuned in on that day. It set in motion a chain of events that would change my life. The episode I saw happened to be about prostate cancer and it talked about the difference between early and late diagnosis on men’s survival chances.
![[Phil Kissi: A TV programme saved my life - other Black men aren't so lucky]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_232941998-882a-e1733993730102.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It really struck a chord with me, so I immediately contacted my doctor to ask for a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test that helps screen for this type of cancer. At the same time, I contacted The Prostate Cancer Charity (now Prostate Cancer UK) and spoke with its wonderful specialist nurses.
![[Phil Kissi: A TV programme saved my life - other Black men aren't so lucky]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_232941993-d110-e1733993745195.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
They told me that I was at higher risk of the disease being a Black man – one in four Black men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime – and also because both my grandfathers had been diagnosed with it. This made me more determined to get tested.
