Sunday 28 June 2009

My secret battle with cancer,by Strictly Come Dancing judge Len

"Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman has undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his prostate gland, he has revealed.

He had the operation three weeks ago – without telling any of his BBC colleagues – and now says he feels ‘right as rain’.

The 65-year-old told The Mail on Sunday he will be back on the show in the autumn, and credited his swift recovery to doctors spotting the disease early at his annual check-up."




"Len admitted he feared the worst when the disease was first discovered, but remained upbeat during his treatment.

‘I feel good,’ he said. ‘I was obviously worried at the start. We all worry if we get something like this. You do feel a bit vulnerable, but as long as you come out the other side all right, why worry?’

The private operation at a Bupa hospital in Blackheath, South-East London, was conducted by one of Britain’s leading urologists, Peter Thompson.

‘I was confined to the hospital for four days, and then it’s been a couple of weeks of convalescing and recuperating,’ he said.

‘The trouble with doctors is they won’t tell you definitely what you should do. They leave it to you. So yours is an uneducated guess. They said I could have radiation, but I thought the best thing was to have it removed.

‘It was left to me and I felt that was the best route, but whether it is or not I don’t know. You’re a bit sore for a while and you can’t play golf, which is the biggest blow at the moment. But I will be able to in a month’s time or so – I can’t wait.’

Len, who runs his own dance school in Dartford, Kent, urged middle-aged men to go for regular check-ups, saying: ‘Men, probably more than women, tend to ignore their health.

‘As long as you get checked up every year, then medicine is such now that if you do get something, then hopefully they can catch it early and you have a good chance. ‘I think that’s the most important thing – men of a certain age should have their check-up every year.’
My secret battle with cancer

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