Month: September 2023

This time five years ago I was in the Mater Hospital in Dublin parting company with a dodgy prostate. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but I’m a lot wiser since. I was surprised back then how slowly the health care system moved after my initial diagnosis. So slowly in fact that it forced me to take control of the situation and make my own arrangements.

After the surgery, the consultant told me we were lucky to move when we did because the cancer was beginning to migrate beyond the prostate. It was a close call. If I had sat back and waited for the system to deal with me, I may not be here today to talk about it.

We can’t fool around with prostate cancer. The ostrich scenario doesn’t work. You must be pro-active and fight your corner – nobody else will do it for you. As men, we are reluctant to go looking for trouble where our health is concerned. We prefer instead to sit back and ignore anything that might interfere with our normal routine.

We see a visit to the doctor as an inconvenience. Completely unnecessary until we are at death’s door, or a limb is about to fall off. That of course can be a costly attitude. Much of what ails us these days can be dealt with satisfactorily if caught in time so burying our heads in the sand makes no sense.

I have been banging this drum for some time and I regularly ask my male friends if they’ve had a check-up and a blood test, and I make no apologies for being a pest. I was nagging a buddy recently and he eventually relented and went to the doctor. When he told the nurse he had been pestered into the visit, she told him he should be grateful. The world needed more naggers she said.

There are those who are critical of the PSA Test and argue that it’s not an accurate indicator of prostate cancer but that’s just what it is, an indicator. I often see comments dismissing the test as being unreliable and some suggest that it can lead to the removal of a healthy prostate but when it comes to advice, I prefer to take notice of the experts like the Irish Cancer Society.

When my GP spotted a rise in my PSA level, it sent up a red flag and he acted on it. It wasn’t a case of calling a surgeon to make an appointment to have this thing removed immediately. There was a process. He sent me to a consultant for a digital examination, then an MRI to have a better look, then a biopsy to see how bad it was and then a further test to see if the cancer had travelled beyond the prostate.

It was only then, after all those steps had been taken, that the decision was taken to have it removed surgically. So, my advice to all men of a certain age is not to listen to amateur physicians on the high stool in the local pub but go and have a regular blood test so any change in your PSA can be identified as soon as possible.

The other piece of advice I would offer is not to wait for symptoms to show up because they might never present themselves. I had none and most of the guys I have come in contact with over the last few years who have had prostate cancer had no symptoms either. So don’t wait, make an appointment with your GP today, it could save your life.

The Irish Cancer Society tell us that prostate cancer is a common cancer in Ireland. Around 3,940 men are diagnosed with it each year. It’s found within the prostate gland and there may be no symptoms but if it’s caught in time, it is very treatable.

The assistant director of research at Prostate Cancer UK agrees and he told the Sunday Times that when a man’s prostate cancer is caught early, it’s very treatable but sadly, more than 10,000 men each year are diagnosed too late, when their cancer has already spread.

One in eight men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives and the disease accounts for 14 per cent of all cancer deaths in males according to Cancer Research UK. Early diagnosis is crucial to reducing the UK’s mortality rates.

Survival rates are close to 100 per cent if it is caught early, falling to just 50 per cent if it is caught at stage 4, when it has spread to other parts of the body.

There is some good news on the horizon too. Testing for cancer when you have no symptoms is called screening and while there is no national screening programme for prostate cancer in Ireland that could be about to change.

Up to now, there was little evidence that screening would reduce deaths, however a new study by University College London has found that MRI scans are effective at spotting tumours and could form the basis of a “desperately needed” first NHS strategy for routine prostate screening in the UK.

According to the Sunday Times, all middle-aged men there could one day be offered MRI scans as part of a national screening programme that could save thousands of lives each year. Experts hope that within five to ten years all men over 50 will be invited for the scans, in the same way women are offered mammograms for breast cancer.

That sounds promising and screening for men in Ireland will surely follow from the UK. Until then though, we must continue with what we have, the humble blood test. It won’t kill you to get one, but it might kill you not to.

Jack Chambers, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Environment, Climate and Communications has a plan to reduce fatalities on our roads. He wants to lower the speed limits on the national road network and one of the proposals is to cut the limit to 30kph in our towns.

I was driving home from my morning swim when I heard Minister Chambers announcing this on the radio. I immediately set my speedometer to 30kph to try it out and I can tell you now, it won’t work. We may as well return to the days of the man with the red flag walking ahead of cars.

It’s impractical but Minister Chambers is insistent. He says it will be enforced by gardai and GoSafe vans but if he is so confident that his new legislation will be enforced, then why not just enforce the current speed limits? Maybe it has something to do with resources.

But if you believe the garda commissioner, Minister Chambers and Minister McEntee, we don’t have a lack of policing resources in this jurisdiction. The ability of An Garda Siochana to carry out its functions has not been compromised due to lack of manpower, allegedly. The garda representative organisations disagree.

Conor Faughnan, CEO of the Royal Irish Automobile Club, disagrees too. He said garda presence on the roads is not where it needs to be. ”There has to be a physical presence of gardaí. I sympathise with their challenges, but I think that’s a major thing that we need to do.”

He added, “Often when road safety hits a crisis, the minister of the day brainstorms up a new law or a tougher punishment, but actually, our law is strong.”

I agree with him. In the aftermath of every serious road traffic accident there are calls for a reduction in speed limits and tougher legislation but if we can’t enforce the current legislation what’s the point in creating more? Furthermore, poor driving standards are as much of a hazard as speed.

I’ll give you a few examples. While driving into Cobh recently, I approached the Cathedral. A minibus was parked at the main gate delivering a few passengers very close to a sharp bend, so I pulled in behind the minibus.

The car behind me overtook both of us and came face to face with a taxi driver coming against him on the bend. The taxi driver reacted quickly in fairness to him and prevented a collision. It was a dangerous overtaking and a bad piece of driving that had nothing to do with speed.

Later on, I saw a car on the right-hand side of the road facing me. He was double parked and about to reverse into a parking space. Another car came behind him and without warning overtook him forcing me to stop as we met head on. Again, speed wasn’t the problem.

Last week, I was driving home from Cork on the N25 when I overtook a small Nissan Micra. The driver had the seat reclined with his left arm behind his head and looked like a guy who was going for a snooze. I’m not sure how much of the road he could actually see because his head seemed to be at the same level as the dashboard, but he was well under the speed limit.

Examples of bad and dangerous driving are easy to find, and they’re not always connected with speed. If you want a cure for constipation, just park near a school any day at finishing time and watch the antics of the drivers, especially if the day is wet.

One commentator suggested that for all the innovations modern cars boast, like state-of-the-art entertainment systems, there’s still no system for tracking, monitoring and recording the behaviour of motorists that could provide evidence of what happened following a traffic accident.

Well, I beg to differ. That technology does exist but whether or not we’ll ever see it in general use is another question. We used it when I served with the United Nations in Cyprus. The four by four, 3 litre jeeps we used were mostly Toyota or Nissan Hilux models with plenty of power for driving over rough terrain. On the dirt tracks in the Buffer Zone, the UN vehicles observed a speed limit of around 25kph.

Several UN vehicles had been involved in accidents over the years, so they took the step of fitting them with car log systems. Every driver was issued with an identity card, and before you could start the car, you had to log in by swiping your card on a little device on the dashboard. Once you took off, everything that car did was monitored and recorded.

Where you went, the times you stopped, the speeds you reached and the times you reached them. The vehicles were limited to a maximum speed of 90kph which was no problem while driving in the Buffer Zone but holding a 3-litre car at that speed while travelling on a motorway took a bit of getting used to. Once you hit the 90kph mark a buzzer sounded in the cabin and kept buzzing until the speed was reduced.

In Headquarters, there were people keeping an eye on these things. If you exceeded the speed limit for too long on any one occasion or regularly exceeded it for short periods, you would be called upon to explain why. A regular offender could be fined or have the card suspended. We soon learned to hate the sound of that buzzer, but it was effective.

But here’s the thing. While this system has its merits, that alone won’t rid us of the poor driving standards on our roads. To achieve that we will need to use all our resources – training, education, enforcement and technology.

I heard a lady being interviewed on the radio recently who was selling her home in Cyprus and moving to Ireland permanently because of the weather. I was surprised to hear that because while Ireland might have a lot going for it, I never thought of the Irish weather as being particularly attractive.

I spend a lot of time in Cyprus and have often considered moving there permanently for the same reason, the weather, and there’s no shortage of like-minded people harbouring a secret desire to spend as much time as possible in the sun, but it seems the glorious Mediterranean heat isn’t for everyone.

Andrea Busfield said she was looking at buying a property in Tipperary or Cork because she was fed up with the changing climate in Cyprus. She said the weather has become too extreme for her and her three horses, five dogs and four cats but particularly for her horses.

She wants them to live like regular horses, grazing in open fields and enjoying the kind of freedom they simply don’t get in Cyprus anymore. She’s also worried about fires which she feels are getting more intense. She reckons the weather is noticeably changing for the worst and she finds the humidity difficult to cope with and worries that her animals are uncomfortable with it too.

She previously lived in Afghanistan, which I would imagine is quite hot, and also lived in Austria. She left there because she was tired of their long winters which makes me wonder how much she knows about the climate she is headed for in the Emerald Isle. She might be better off having a trial run before making a final decision.

I’m very familiar the climate in Cyprus and I’m not convinced it’s changing to that extent. Some winters are colder than others and some summers are hotter. Temperatures hit forty degrees in Nicosia in the height of the summer this year and ten years ago it was just as hot up there. There have been years when I was roasted during the Easter period and other years when I’ve been frozen – it changes.

There is something else she should consider before making her move too apart from the weather. According to the Irish Examiner, new data confirms Ireland to be the most expensive country in Europe for household goods. European Commission’s figures show Switzerland and Iceland are the only European countries with higher consumer prices.

Ireland was the most expensive country in the EU for household expenditure on goods and services last year with prices 46% above the EU average. The high prices in Ireland are largely driven by expensive alcohol and tobacco, energy, transport, and communications prices.

Ireland also has the second highest energy prices in the EU after Denmark. The cost of electricity and gas in the Republic is 38% above the EU average and prices for communication services are 56% above the EU average.

The cost of restaurants and hotels is 28.5% above EU average prices for eating out and tourist accommodation making Ireland the fourth most expensive after Denmark, Finland, and Luxembourg. Motoring costs in Ireland are the third highest, while public transport prices here are the fourth most expensive together with Denmark after Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands.

Sophie Steinebach, of The Broke Backpacker, has written a blog offering some advice for anyone considering making the move to Ireland. She says, “Ireland is a fantastic option known for its ancient traditions and gorgeous scenery.  It oozes charm and offers a unique perspective on contemporary life but cautions that there are a few things to be considered beforehand – not least how much it actually costs to live there.”

She says, “It’s famously dreary when it comes to the weather. The cost of living in Ireland is among the highest in the EU, and the public transport infrastructure is nothing short of nightmarish. Like everywhere else in the world, it comes with good and bad aspects that need to be weighed up.”

She also warns, “Public transport is notoriously terrible in Ireland. Irish Rail offers an extremely limited service across the island, with all routes running via Dublin. The bus service, operated by Bus Éireann, is a little bit better with an extensive network throughout the country.”

Transport within the major cities isn’t much better she says, but smaller cities like Cork and Galway are pretty walkable so it’s less of a concern there, but within Dublin the bus company is universally loathed by the population.

She has some good things to say about Cork, “As the second-largest city in the Republic of Ireland staying in Cork should not be overlooked. It’s near the sunniest part of the island and is surrounded by some truly stunning scenery. The city maintains an independent spirit – and many locals believe Cork is the nation’s rightful capital. Cork simply oozes creativity and has an alternative vibe.”

“Cork is full of that traditional Irish charm. The inhabitants are very proud of their city, and for good reasons. From its natural surroundings to its vivacious live music scene, Cork has so much to offer expats. Gorgeous scenery, luscious forests, cascading cliffs and understated mountains make Ireland one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. Irish people are friendly and welcoming.”

On the negative side, she says, ‘The weather is terrible – I can’t say for certain whether Ireland has the worst weather in Europe, but I’m pretty confident that it probably does. Whilst the east coast isn’t quite as bad as the west, it can still get pretty bleak.”

I’m sure Ms. Busfield will get a great welcome wherever she decides to settle in Ireland and her horses will definitely have a better quality of life. I hope she’ll be able to say the same for herself.

I was sitting at home watching the World Athletic Championships on the TV, minding my own business when my phone rang. It was 7.30pm on a Thursday evening and my wife asked me if I could come to the tennis club to collect her. She had a fall and couldn’t drive the car.

I struck off on foot and got there about ten minutes later to find her sitting in a chair at the side of the court surrounded by club members. She was in obvious distress. Another club member, who is a GP, was called and she came from her home to render assistance. A caring gesture for which we are very grateful.

She suspected the clavicle was broken and gave Gaye a shot of Diphene to help with the pain. She also suggested an ambulance might be the way to go but my wife was reluctant to make a fuss and wanted to travel by car instead. In hindsight, that was our first mistake.

Two lads carried her on a chair up to my car and when she was seated comfortably, we headed off for the city. Where we were going exactly, I didn’t know.

The Mater Hospital was my preferred choice, but that wasn’t an option after 6pm. Neither was the Affidea or the Orthopaedic Hospital in Gurranabraher but somebody suggested the VHI Swift Clinic in Mahon so that’s where we headed.

It was getting on for about 8.30pm when we arrived at the Swift Clinic. The receptionist there advised me that as we weren’t VHI customers we would have to go elsewhere and suggested the Mercy University Hospital instead. We took her advice and that was our second mistake.

We arrived at the Mercy at about 8.45pm and as I hadn’t been there for a long time, I pulled up outside what was the old A&E Department and realised that things had changed. The layout was a bit confusing, but I eventually found a porter who brough my wife to the A&E Department in a wheelchair.

She was seen by a triage nurse who also suspected the collar bone was broken but an x-ray would be needed to confirm the diagnosis, so we were asked to take a seat in the waiting area in the Accident and Emergency Department.

My wife by then had a blanket over her but she was visibly in distress and shivering with the cold but that’s where we remained until about 4.15am. Almost nine hours since she had fallen and over seven hours since we had arrived in the hospital.

I asked for a nurse at one point who gave my wife two paracetamol. That was all the medication she had during the course of those seven hours and at no stage during that time did anyone check on her even though she was in obvious distress.

A doctor came into the room looking for a patient and I suggested to her that my wife was in considerable pain and had been waiting for hours. She asked me for my wife’s name and before I had finished giving it to her, she had turned and walked away.

The waiting area wasn’t crowded but things were moving slowly. There was a guy next to us whose clothes were bloodied, and he had some cuts to his face. Blood dripped onto the floor, so he got some tissue from the bathroom and cleaned it up himself. He was still there when we were leaving but he had managed to fall asleep on the chair.

Others were going in and out for a smoke and didn’t appear to be in too much discomfort. Another man threw in the towel at about 2am. I heard him saying he had to be somewhere early in the morning and couldn’t wait any longer. There was a woman with a child in her arms who said she had driven up from East Cork because her child was having difficulty breathing. After several hours when she couldn’t take anymore, she also left and suggested the child would be better off in his own bed.

Around 3am another guy wandered in with what appeared to be a cut to his hand. He sat down next to one of the other patients and they were chatting about how long she had been waiting. When she told him she had been there for hours, he went to reception and asked how long it would be before he would be seen. Obviously not satisfied with the answer he got, he waved goodbye and off he went into the night.

Around 4.15am we were eventually called to another area where a doctor introduced herself to us and checked on Gaye’s injury after which she too suspected the clavicle was broken and we were sent for an x-ray.

Ten minutes later we were back with the doctor and Gaye was fitted with a sling. At that stage she was given a painkiller, a prescription and a referral letter for the fracture clinic in the C.U.H.

It was just before 5am when we were free to leave the Mercy. The actual time it took for the assessment, the x-ray and fitting a sling was probably twenty-five minutes.

In hindsight, it would have been a wiser decision to call an ambulance and get straight into the treatment area, but my wife is the kind of person who didn’t want to create a fuss and waste the time of the ambulance personnel. As it happened, she was the only person showing any consideration because there was a complete lack of empathy displayed throughout our entire experience.

Maybe that’s because this chronic healthcare system has beaten the staff too which is understandable. It’s not until you experience it yourself that you realise how broken the HSE actually is.