A Newfoundland artist's blood work was normal. His prostate cancer diagnosis was not

Newfoundland artist Lloyd Pretty knows that choosing the right medium is the key to getting the result you're looking for in art.

So he's disappointed that the method relied on by health professionals to screen him for cancer hasn't led to a good outcome.

Pretty, whose paintings in oil, acrylic, and watercolour are well known across the province, has Stage 4 prostate cancer.

The diagnosis came in spite of normal blood work and only after Pretty insisted on getting a physical exam, which found a lump in his prostate.

"I was devastated. I couldn't believe it, because I was 68 years old at the time. Looking back at everything, all of this could have been avoided," he said.

Picture of health

Pretty is now nearly 75, and the years since his diagnosis have been a struggle, with drug treatments, surgeryand chemotherapy robbing him, he says, of his independence and enjoyment of life.

Up until about a decade ago, Pretty was extremely busy with his painting and printmaking,

He kept occupied outdoors too:cross-country skiing, hiking, biking, and swimming.

He describes his health at age 65 as "top-notch."

"Everything about the outdoors, I loved. And I was so active. Tons of energy," he told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.

Different perspective

All that changed after Pretty's cancer diagnosis, one he was lucky to get, he says, even if it came later than he thinks it should have.

Pretty is one of the rare men experts say about two per cent who are diagnosed with prostate cancer despite having normal levels of prostate-specific antigen, which is normally elevated in men with prostate cancer.

Pretty's blood work showed normal PSA levels and, so, neither he nor his doctors initially thought further investigation was needed.

I don't go asking how long I've got left or anything like that.- Lloyd Pretty

Buteven after his problems with urination were diagnosed as prostatitis and treated with antibiotics, Pretty felt sure there was still something wrong.

Eventually, Pretty insisted on having a physical examination an exam that takes only minutes to do and in which a doctor inserts a finger into the rectum to check for abnormalities.

When Pretty had the physical examination done, a lump was found which was biopsied and turned out to be cancer.

Lessons learned the hard way

Pretty didn't have surgery right away to remove the prostate gland; instead he was treated with medication to shrink the tumour.

When that didn't work, Pretty opted for surgery, but, by that time, the cancer had spread.

The surgery was far more invasive than it might have been, and it required the removal of tissue around the prostate, leaving Pretty incontinent and without sexual function.

Last year, he was told there was a spot of cancer on his lung and in his bones.

Pretty says he wants to share his story to encourage other men to not rely on a single test result but to get good information and push for more testing and followup.

"The men out there that's like me today, they need to know. Get a physical, don't listen to low PSA, get your physical done," said Pretty.

"Demand knowledge and, the more data you have, the more info you have, the better you'll be able to make a decision."

Just one test

Stuart Edmonds, vice-president of research, health promotion, and survivorship with Prostate Cancer Canada, says elevated PSA levels are still considered a reliable indicator of prostate cancer.

But Edmonds says it is just one test among many diagnostic tools that range from physical examinationsto biopsiesto MRI.

Edmonds echoes Pretty's assertion that men have to be their own best advocates when it comes to health.

"We hear it very often that men actually don't follow up, and aren't as concerned as they should be about their health, and don't follow up when things don't seem right," said Edmonds.

"So I really applaud this guy for actually following up and doing the right thing."

Art is long, life is short

Pretty isn't sure he was assertive and vigilant early enough, or the cancer might not have spread as it did.

He hopes other men ask the right questions sooner, so they don't end up battling a disease that, while still treatable at this point, is not curable.

He thinks an earlier diagnosis would have made a difference, for him, and for the health-care system.

"After eight years in hospitals and back and forth to St. John's, I would have saved a lot of money," said Pretty.

"I wouldn't have cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I would be a healthy man today."

Pretty still paints, but he's scaled back to doing smaller pieces.

He says he's not well enough to do what he'd hoped to do at this point in his life, but he tries to stay optimistic.

"I don't go asking how long I have left or anything like that. It's just one of those things that I feel good, I have a positive attitude and, to me, that's the way to go."

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