{"id":119275,"date":"2025-09-06T20:01:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T20:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/119275\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T20:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T20:01:13","slug":"father-of-three-59-dismissed-backache-unaware-it-was-sign-of-stage-four-prostate-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/119275\/","title":{"rendered":"Father-of-three, 59, dismissed backache – unaware it was sign of stage four prostate cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Working as a senior cancer<\/a> nurse, Matt Riddleston was very familiar with the signs and symptoms of deadly tumours\u2014but nothing could have prepared him for finding out he had the disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Riddleston, 59, was diagnosed with\u00a0stage four prostate cancer after experiencing fatigue, urinary issues and backpain, which he initially put down to niggling injuries picked up while cycling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The father-of-three, who lives in Chelmsford, Essex with his wife Kate, 55, admitted that the diagnosis came as a huge shock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said:\u00a0‘Nurses, healthcare professionals, we think we’re immune to everything that we treat our patients for, so I didn’t even think of cancer at first.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

In early 2022, Mr Riddleston\u2014father to Maya, 25, Lyla, 23, and Rosa, 18\u2014noticed feeling ‘tired a lot of the time’ but put the fatigue down to working hard during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Mr Riddleston, who has worked as a cancer nurse for 32 years, had also been experiencing back pain while cycling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, after having ‘more classic symptoms of prostate cancer’, such as urinary issues, he went to see his GP in April 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There, it was found he had a ‘hard, irregular prostate’, and he was referred for a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test where high levels could indicate a prostate condition, according to the NHS.<\/p>\n

\"Matt <\/p>\n

Matt Riddleston has worked as a cancer nurse for 32 years\u00a0<\/p>\n

In May 2022, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer following a biopsy.<\/p>\n

After having further scans and being referred to The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, he was diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer during the first week of July 2022.<\/p>\n

With his lengthy career as a cancer nurse, Mr Riddleston said he ‘knows too much’ which is often ‘not helpful’.<\/p>\n

He said:\u00a0‘The healthcare professionals that look after me are amazing, and I don’t need to, but I sit there and make suggestions,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘It gives me an element of control and they humour me along the way, which I’m very grateful for.<\/p>\n

‘The thing is, you never are in control with cancer and that’s one of the most frightening aspects for me \u2013 it’s panic stations really.<\/p>\n

‘You’re just waiting for it to become more active and rear its ugly head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Some days are better than others, some are worse.<\/p>\n

\"He <\/p>\n

He is taking on a cycling challenge with his best friend\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

An avid cyclist, he experienced back pain during excursions on his bike\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘You’re living with that unwanted guest, that unwanted passenger and you’re stuck with it.<\/p>\n

‘I kind of think of myself as Matt the nurse and Matt the patient \u2013 I haven’t fully reconciled myself to Matt the patient just yet.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Riddleston received his PSA result while at work, where a colleague noted he suddenly went ‘ashen’.<\/p>\n

He said: ‘My PSA level was very elevated so at that point, I knew things weren’t going to be very good.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I just felt like vomiting all over my computer, it was a really visceral, violent reaction.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

When he was diagnosed, Mr Riddleston started androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a hormone treatment which reduces testosterone levels to prevent prostate cancer cell growth.<\/p>\n

He then underwent six cycles of chemotherapy followed by daily radiotherapy treatment from March to April in 2023, and is now continuing ADT treatment while his cancer is monitored.<\/p>\n

Mr Riddleston added that he feels he is ‘forever waiting’ for a test which shows the disease is progressing, saying this is a matter of ‘when not if’.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The father-of-three was shocked to find out that he has stage four prostate cancer<\/p>\n

\"He <\/p>\n

He is using his love of the open road to raise vital funds for prostate cancer charities\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has continued working throughout, although he now does not look after prostate cancer patients after feeling this was ‘too close to home’.<\/p>\n

‘I can be quite compartmentalised in my job and you have to be mindful that you don’t project your own feelings and emotions into it,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘But obviously, I do feel I have a greater understanding of what it’s like to live with a life-limiting condition.<\/p>\n

‘I’ve never walked in those shoes, but now I’m walking in them everyday.’<\/p>\n

At present, Mr Riddleston is ‘relatively well’ and his PSA level is low, but he is ‘forever waiting’ for a blood test which may indicate the disease is progressing.<\/p>\n

‘There are other lines of treatment to explore when I progress \u2013 and it’s when not if,’ he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sunday September 7, he will be taking part in Sir Chris Hoy’s Tour De 4 cycling challenge in Glasgow, accompanied by his life-long friend David Abbott, 59.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

They are fundraising<\/a> for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity with the challenge, raising more than \u00a32,000 so far, and he and David will tackle the red route\u2014a 56-mile ride with an elevation of 3,772 ft.<\/p>\n

‘Those of us with stage four cancer, we don’t all look ravaged and unhealthy \u2013 we’re still capable, able, we still want to contribute, so there’s a lot in it for me,’ he said.<\/p>\n

WHAT IS PROSTATE CANCER?<\/a> <\/p>\n

How many people does it kill?\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 11,800 men a year – or one every 45 minutes – are killed by the disease in Britain, compared with about 11,400 women dying of breast cancer.<\/p>\n

It means prostate cancer is behind only lung and bowel in terms of how many people it kills in Britain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the US, the disease kills 26,000 men each year.<\/p>\n

Despite this, it receives less than half the research funding of breast cancer and treatments for the disease are trailing at least a decade behind.<\/p>\n

How many men are diagnosed annually?<\/p>\n

Every year, upwards of\u00a052,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK – more than 140 every day.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

How quickly does it develop?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prostate cancer usually develops slowly, so there may be no signs someone has it for many years, according to the\u00a0NHS<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the cancer is at an early stage and not causing symptoms, a policy of ‘watchful waiting’ or ‘active surveillance’ may be adopted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some patients can be cured if the disease is treated in the early stages.<\/p>\n

But if it is diagnosed at a later stage, when it has spread, then it becomes terminal and treatment revolves around relieving symptoms.<\/p>\n

Thousands of men are put off seeking a diagnosis because of the known side effects from treatment, including erectile dysfunction.<\/p>\n

Tests and treatment<\/p>\n

Tests for prostate cancer are haphazard, with accurate tools only just beginning to emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is no national prostate screening programme as for years the tests have been too inaccurate.<\/p>\n

Doctors struggle to distinguish between aggressive and less serious tumours, making it hard to decide on treatment.<\/p>\n

Men over 50 are eligible for a \u2018PSA\u2019 blood test which gives doctors a rough idea of whether a patient is at risk.<\/p>\n

But it is unreliable. Patients who get a positive result are usually given a biopsy which is also not fool-proof.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scientists are unsure as to what causes prostate cancer, but age, obesity and a lack of exercise are known risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anyone with any concerns can speak to Prostate Cancer UK’s specialist nurses on 0800 074 8383 or visit prostatecanceruk.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Working as a senior cancer nurse, Matt Riddleston was very familiar with the signs and symptoms of deadly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[97,59,102,388,104,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-119275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}