Community
2 October, 2024
Get checked for prostate cancer, says Mount Isa widow
Yvonne McCoy is urging the men of the North West to get regular checks.
On a weekend away in Winton during the 1990s, Yvonne McCoy’s husband Terry got talking to a man who revealed he was suffering from terminal prostate cancer.
The man told Terry about the multiple surgeries he had undergone, which included claims of the removal of sections of his genitalia in a futile effort to save his life.
Terry returned from the conversation shaken by what he had just been told.
“They’re never going to do something like to that me,” Terry exclaimed to Yvonne.
Years went by and Terry was recording increased PSA levels in blood tests during his annual health check-ups – an indication he was at risk of prostate cancer.
He did not discuss the matter with Yvonne for several years and did not pursue any further medical tests.
One day he finally came into their bedroom and told his wife he was struggling to urinate.
Yvonne demanded he see a doctor. The lifelong grazier, who operated Hamilton Downs at Maxwelton and Barr Creek Station at Gunpowder, was promptly diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He was 70 years old.
Terry became sullen and withdrawn – only willing to leave the house for race events.
With the couple now living in Mount Isa, Yvonne took Terry to a NWQ Prostate Cancer Support Group meeting at the CWA hall on Isa Street in 2010 in an effort to get him out of his self-imposed cocoon,
It was the final meeting attended by chair and founder, George Apps, who was so ill he was unable to speak during the meeting and would pass away a few weeks later.
Father Mick and Tony McGrady were also in attendance.
Yvonne was asked by Father Mick to become treasurer of the support group.
A few months later she was asked by Tony McGrady to become treasurer-secretary. She has volunteered for the group ever since and can be regularly seen at the purple “Cancer House” facility at the Alma Street crossing.
Despite the diagnosis, Terry would survive for a total of 16 years – succumbing to his illness in 2020 following 63 years of marriage to Yvonne. He was 86 years old.
As she recounts her husband’s story, Yvonne says Terry’s reluctance to seek medical treatment was a common story of misunderstanding the modern regime of testing and treatment for prostate cancer.
“Men should not be burying their heads in the sand when it comes to their health,” she told North West Weekly.
“If there is a history of prostate cancer in your family, then you are at risk – so you should be getting information and your questions answered because early detection is important.”
To address the information gaps, the NWQ Prostate Cancer Support Group will this week host two Townsville-based specialist nurses in Mount Isa.
This includes a presentation at the Irish Club tonight (Thursday) at 6pm and a morning tea at Cancer House at 10am on Friday. All members of the public are welcome.
With federal government statistics revealing that prostate cancer makes up more than 25 per cent of all male cancer patients in Australia, Yvonne said it was planned for the nurses to also speak at some work depots in the city amid hopes the tour would start a conversation about prostate cancer awareness.