NT prostate cancer survivors back call for prostate cancer specific nurses in regional towns

Two Alice Springs cancer survivors say a dedicated nurse would have made a big difference while going through their treatment, and are now taking the fight national to make it happen.

Alice Springs locals Adrian Couchman and Craig Pankhurst. Both men are prostate cancer survivors, and want to see a dedicated prostate cancer nurse in Alice Springs. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Mateship, support, information: this and more are what two cancer survivors are hopeful a dedicated prostate cancer nurse can provide for their town, and they’re taking the fight national to make it happen.

Alice Springs locals Craig Pankhurst and Adrian Couchman are supporting the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia’s call for 21 prostate cancer nurses in regional towns across Australia.

The foundation is hoping for a $7.7m pledge from the federal government which will see the nurses stationed in regional centres such Alice Springs, Mt Isa, Rockhampton, and more.

Alice Springs Hospital. Picture: Alex Treacy

While Mr Pankhurst and Mr Couchman can joke about overcoming each of their diagnoses now, they sombre up – to the point of tears at times – when they talk on the difference a prostate nurse would have made in their cancer journey.

“We need help, we need people on the ground, we need someone here, and a prostate nurse would be a damn good start – 100 per cent a damn good start,” Mr Couchman said.

“Another day is another day too late. A lot of people suffer and the community suffers. The individual suffers, but the community suffers more,” Mr Pankhurst added.

Both are one of the more than 20,000 men in Australia who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer within year alone in Australia, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

But a dedicated prostate nurse in town will help those going through treatment or dealing with diagnosis be better equipped, the duo said.

Alice Springs locals Craig Pankhurst and Adrian Couchman. Picture: Gera Kazakov

“The side effects that you get from it as well, there’s a huge amount of side effects that go on for years and when you’re first told you got cancer, you have no idea that all this stuff follows on behind it,” Mr Couchman said.

“A nurse would help with the psychological stuff,” Mr Pankhurst added.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia’s director of nursing Sally Sara said men diagnosed with prostate cancer will experience “poorer survival outcomes” if they government fails to act.

“Unlike general cancer nurses, prostate cancer specialist nurses provide highly specialised clinical care both pre- and post-treatment, with strong oversight and support from Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia,” she said.

In the meantime, Mr Pankhurst and Mr Couchman have set up their own informal network of survivors in Alice Springs, phoning each other and being a shoulder to lean on times of need.

Alice Springs local Craig Pankhurst is part of informal network of prostate cancer survivors in Alice Springs, who communicate over the phone. Picture: Gera Kazakov

But Mr Pankhurst reckons with a dedicated nurse in town they could do one better.

“I would love the prostate nurse to go, ‘hey, how about some of you older blokes, do you want to catch up once a month?’,” he said.

“And it’s not to, you know, to go back over bad things, but I’ve got a bloke I want to bring him along – we’ll have a snitty and anything he wants to fire at you (we’ll answer).”

Coming from a family with a strong history of prostate cancer, Mr Pankhurst implored men to get tested now as opposed to leaving it too late.

He said it’s not as scary as men think it is – the first test is a blood test.

Originally published as NT prostate cancer survivors back call for prostate cancer specific nurses in regional towns