Early Warnings Matter – In Health and in Business
I wanted to share something personal, because it carries a message that reaches well beyond medicine and into how we run our professional lives.
Last autumn, I went for what I assumed were routine GP blood tests. I had no symptoms and no particular concerns. The tests, however, showed a raised PSA score – a potential indicator of prostate cancer.
Further investigations followed: an MRI scan, then a biopsy. The diagnosis confirmed cancer in my prostate. Like many such diagnoses, it came as a shock; not least because I felt entirely well. As my daughter, a doctor, said: most men die with it; few from it.
The good news was that, at that stage, it appeared the cancer had not spread beyond the prostate. A precautionary bone scan confirmed that. I was then faced with a difficult but well-explained choice: hormone therapy and radiotherapy, or a radical prostatectomy.
After careful consideration, I opted for the surgery.
Last week I underwent robotic prostate surgery using the Da Vinci robot system, operated by a highly experienced surgeon. It is an extraordinary example of what modern medicine can do when early identification allows for decisive action. I am recovering well, with minimal discomfort, and the early signs are encouraging.
I am immensely grateful to the NHS for its testing and follow‑up regime, and to Mr Tang and his clinical team at the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle for their care and skill.
The Parallel I Can’t Ignore
As someone who spends his professional life advising partnerships and LLPs, this experience has sharpened something I already believed strongly:
The most serious problems often give the fewest obvious warnings.
In partnerships, as in health:
- The absence of symptoms does not mean the absence of risk;
- Early indicators are easy to dismiss or defer;
- Delay narrows options; and
- Timely intervention preserves choice, value and relationships.
I regularly see firms grappling with disputes, exits or collapses that could have been avoided had early signs been tested rather than ignored. Financial imbalances, governance drift, unclear succession plans or growing dissatisfaction rarely arrive with flashing lights. Like my diagnosis, they are often detected only when someone chooses to look.
A Simple Message
For men:
Get tested. It might feel unnecessary. It might feel awkward or embarrassing. It isn’t; and it could save your life.
For partnerships and business owners:
Pay attention to early warning signs. Review your agreements. Have the difficult conversations sooner rather than later. Prevention and early action are almost always less costly than crisis management.
I’ll be taking a short period of recovery at home – visitors, grapes and inappropriate prostate‑related jokes are very welcome (though anyone calling it a prostrate may need to lie down).
If this post resonates, either personally or professionally, I hope it encourages action rather than delay. If you are male, over 40 and haven’t been tested – get tested!
Early intervention works.
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