A Youtuber who documented his journey to getting prostate cancer surgery has thanked staff at Southend Hospital for his care.
Paul Shillito, whose space, discovery and technology channel Curious Droid has 1 million subscribers, shared his experience with his audience in a video which discussed his diagnosis, the care he received and the importance of being checked which has been viewed over 300,000 times.
Based in Clacton, Mr Shillito underwent a robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in January which removed his prostate and hopefully cut out his cancer. Despite the major surgery he was well enough to leave hospital after 30 hours of recovery.
While detailing his ordeal in the video he also thanked staff at the hospital and urged people to have their prostates checked up.
He said: “I would like to give a big shout out to all those NHS staff at Southend Hospital in Essex who helped with my care, and in particular Anna and Jim in the recovery room. Jim even recognised me from YouTube, and we had a long chat about all sorts of stuff.
“I had no symptoms other than my urine flow or pee had slowed down over the past five years or so, and that getting started was equally as slow.
“Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men, with one in eight of us getting it. But if you catch it early enough, it is also one of the most treatable with a survival rate of over 90 per cent after 10 years.”
He added: “Even if I help save the life of one person with this video, or if they go to the doctor to get checked out, but otherwise wouldn’t have done, then me posting this video has done its job.”
Mr Shillito appeared to have made a big impression in his short time on the hospital with one of those who cared for him, staff nurse Anna Johnson, admitting it was a “lovely surprise” to be mentioned in his video.
She added: “It was lovely speaking to him when he was here in post op recovery and great to see him again on video.
“We put the patient at the heart of all we do, so getting such a unique thank you on his channel is really special and means a lot.”
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