Life – Terror. Ecstasy. Fight. Denial. Flight. Failure. PAIN. Forgiveness. Reconciliation. Hope. Love. Peace – Death.
March 17th Saint Patrick’s Day – Is, and always will be, “Paddies Day” in Liverpool.
A huge day in the Liverpool Calendar. Liverpool’s Irish connections go back centuries. There was already an established community before the huge influx during the years of the “Great Hunger” of the 1840s. Irish settlement has continued up to the present day, resulting in an estimated 75% of Liverpool’s population claiming some Irish ancestry. March 17th marks St Patrick’s Day, the official feast day of the patron saint of Ireland, and the day is always a big occasion in the city.
My own ‘Irish Connections.’
Lafferty, my mother Hanna “Nancy” Lafferty’s maiden name. My “Grandar,” Peter Lafferty, was a true character, surrounded by outrageous stories of his dubious sea‑faring adventures. Many of these tales only surfaced after he’d passed away, at the remarkable age of ninety‑three, still with a full head of shocking white hair.
Post Brexit, I pursued my Grandar Peters, assumed, Irish ancestry to qualify for an Irish Passport. Shockingly, Peter Lafferty is in-fact Scottish! ‘Our’ Scouse Lafferty ancestors had ‘emigrated’ to Ireland when Grandar Peter was just weeks old.
My Paddies Day Connections
17th March 2016 (aged 56). My, Robot Assisted (Da Vinci), Radical Prostatectomy Surgery to remove my cancerous prostate gland. Today, the 17th March 2026, is the 10 year anniversary of the procedure, a significant milestone for myself.
Radical Prostatectomy Surgery
A radical prostatectomy is the surgical removal of the entire prostate gland, seminal vesicles and ‘localised’ lymph nodes, to cure, confined to the prostate gland, prostate cancer. Common techniques include robot-assisted (RARP) or laparoscopic surgery.
The da Vinci radical prostatectomy is a, minimally invasive, robot-assisted surgery used to remove the cancerous prostate gland through a series of small, keyhole incisions. In some cases, an open, retropubic incision (just below the navel) is used. Controlled by surgeon(s), the system provides a 3D, high-definition view combined with high-precision instruments, offering benefits like less blood loss, quicker recovery, and faster return to bladder & bowel continence.
Surgeon(s), not the robot itself, use a console to simultaneously control, [4-6], robotic arms, enhancing precision in tight spaces. Patients are sometimes located within a “jig”, and rotated, (suspended), often vertically and upside-down, for optimum accuracy. An average Da Vinci procedure is 1-3 hours. Longer, if procedures become “complicated”.
Radical prostatectomy or prostatectomy?
Prostatectomy – The prostate is separated from the bladder and urethra. To maximise recovery of urinary and erectile function, surgeons use “nerve-sparing” techniques, attempting to spare the delicate nerves surrounding the gland.
Radical Prostatectomy – removes everything, the theory being ALL cancer is removed preventing further metastases (spread) aiming for a ‘Cure’ situation. Higher success rate for curing confined prostate cancer. Allows accurate pathological staging of the cancer.
Patients are advised prior of potential consequences, (temporary or permanent) impotency, bowel & bladder incontinence. Cure or no cure.
Without having post surgery, ‘bits’, to analyse, it is impossible to ascertain an accurate assessment of cancer spread and urgency. Post Surgery biopsy is the only way of fully assessing if cancer has spread, i.e. cure or no cure.
10 years on, did I make the right choice?
I am still alive!
Honestly, I have (do) ‘still’ think about it? What would have been, could have been?
Post surgery biopsy confirmed my cancer had spread, to localised lymph nodes (at that point). No cure. If I had not had surgery I would not have known this at that point, 10 years ago.
Would I/did I, want to know?
For me, yes, 10 years ago, I wanted to know. That information shaped my treatment from then on.
I am an advanced prostate cancer patient of 10 years, way ahead of the median survival rate (3-5% ten year survival). What would have been the outcome without surgery? Would I still be alive?
I will never know but if I had been ‘offered’ that, a guaranteed 10 years, at that exact point in time, 10 years ago, I would have bit your hand off.
Would I recommend prostatectomy surgery?
Yes but no, but, yes!
Important factors are in play; it ALWAYS has to be ‘the’ individuals, personal choice. Age, general health, family – married, single, children, grand children and lifestyle. back in 2016, I was aged 56, then, considered young, to contract prostate cancer. This is no longer the case. There are documented cases of men as young as 22 contracting the disease. Aged 22 would you be happy to make that choice? To say goodbye, forever, to a ‘Hard-on’?
10 years ago I was presented with, several, “treatment” options, difficult, “choices”. However, the only option that suggested cure (or at least knowing if I could achieve cure), was surgery. All alternatives could not provide that outcome. Turns out my cancer had spread, advanced, no cure.
If I had known prior that I was “no cure”?
There are things you can change and things you cannot? No point musing on those you cannot?
Here’s to another 10 years!
Thanks for Reading
#peace
The Future of Surgery: Meet Renown’s Newest da Vinci 5 Robot – YouTube
Dying to Live 