Paul Burrell has emotionally opened up about being diagnosed with cancer. The former butler of Princess Diana revealed he has prostate cancer and fears he may not make it to next Christmas.
The 64-year-old spoke to Lorraine Kelly about his diagnosis. Mr Burrell appeared on ITV Lorraine show on Monday morning (January 30) and recalled having to tell his two sons, Alexander and Nicholas.
Wales Online reports Paul was "so tired" having been diagnosed last summer. "I'm on hormone therapy at the moment and it's robbing me of my testosterone," he told Lorraine. "So my beard isn't growing as it should and I'm tired and I'm emotional and I get hot flushes."
"Oh Jesus, it's like a male menopause, Paul," Lorraine pointed out. "It's kind of like that with the treatment you're getting and the side effects."
Explaining how he had discovered his diagnosis, Paul said that he had needed to go for a medical last year and that, as part of their duty of care he had a "full MOT", reports The Mirror.
A blood test found high levels of PSA and his GP suggested he undergo an MRI scan, which showed a shadow on his prostate. "I'm on an emotional educational rollercoaster - ups and downs - and not knowing where I'm going to be the next minute," he said. "Having the biopsy itself and finding the cancer..."
Becoming emotional, Paul began to tear up as he continued: "Wrapping Christmas presents up this year and thinking, 'Am I going to do this next year? Am I going to be here? I need to tell my boys."
"Well, that's the hardest thing of all, isn't it," Lorraine said. "How are they? Are they alright?" "I went to America over Christmas and told them," he replied. "They sat with me and held me and said, 'Dad, we need to spend more time with you.' And that's what it's about."
"At the same time you realise that there are thousands of men out there like me who have no symptoms and don't know they have it," he continued as he said that he wanted to raise awareness.
"I was really lucky they caught it early," Paul continued. "I don't think men are particularly good about going to the doctors - they need nudging."
Dr Hilary Jones explained that there aren't always symptoms when men are diagnosed with prostate cancer. "Every man over 50 should think of having a PSA test," he said, though suggested that they are "not as reliable as having a mammogram" as they can provide a false negative result.
Paul first joined Charles and Diana's household at Highrove House, Gloucestershire, in 1987 as the butler to the princess until her death in 1997. At the time, he suggested that Diana had said he was "the only man she ever trusted".
Since his royal career ended, Burrell appeared on 2004's I'm A Celebrity and went on to star in a number of reality and TV shows - Australian Princess, Stars In Their Eyes and In Therapy.
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