One of the first men in Cornwall to have a new, less-invasive prostate treatment said it made a “complete difference” to his life.

James ellis, 64, a retired police officer from Truro, has not looked back since having a quick procedure to have implants inserted rather than the removal of tissue to treat his enlarged prostate.

Instead of the usual operation, in which the enlarged sections of the prostate are cut away, and spending two nights in hospital, James was in and out of West Cornwall Hospital, Penzance, in seven hours.

“What really attracted me to this procedure was the less invasive nature of it, the possibility I’d be quickly in and out of hospital, that there was no need for a catheter and no cutting,” he said. “All of that was true for me.”

Benign enlargement of the pros- tate is one of the most common health conditions in older men. As the enlarged tissue grows it can con- strict the tube carrying urine out of the body, causing uncomfortable pressure and symptoms such as going to the toilet more often.

“I think the word the doctor used is that an enlarged prostate is ‘both- ersome,’” said James. “It’s certainly a nuisance. It interrupts your life and you have to plan where you’re going to stop to go to the loo.”

James had just been diagnosed when he saw the UroLift System spoken about on the local television news.

At the time, no NHS hospitals in Cornwall were offering the treat- ment and James went on a waiting list for the usual operation.

However, in the meantime, Mat- thew Hotston, a consultant urologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, started to offer the new treatment on the NHS.
And, in May last year, James underwent the life-changing proce- dure in Penzance.

Despite some discomfort, he bounced back quickly and returned to work in his part-time civil service job within a week.

“UroLift has been brilliant,” he said. “After about a month, I told my wife Jenny that I couldn’t remember what it was like to have an enlarged prostate. In so many ways, life is better.”