Stephen Fry reveals prostate cancer diagnosis
Actor and comedian Stephen Fry has announced that he has been battling prostate cancer and has undergone surgery for the disease.
The broadcaster shared a video on his Twitter page in which he revealed he underwent surgery for prostate cancer in January and "it all seemed to go pretty well".
He added: "They took the prostate out, they took out 11 lymph nodes."
Fry, who pulled out of presenting the Baftas for the first time in years earlier this month, described the cancer as an "aggressive little b*****".
The 60-year-old said the cancer was flagged up following a routine check-up with his doctor before Christmas, but that it had not spread.
Revealing the news to his more than 13 million Twitter followers, Fry wrote: "For the last 2 months I've been in the throes of a rather unwelcome and unexpected adventure.
"I'm sorry I haven't felt able to talk about it till now, but here I am explaining what has been going on."
He explained that he had been out of the public eye in recent weeks as he "had been recovering" but had finally "come clean" about his diagnosis as "rumours had started to swirl".
Fry thanked his family, "darling, darling husband" and close friends for their support in recent weeks and for their help during his recovery from surgery, as well as praising his "wonderful" medical team.
He continued that he is "fit and well and happy", and that he hoped he "had a few more years left on this planet" because "I'm really enjoying life at the moment".
Fry said tests in coming weeks will determine whether or not the surgery was successful, or if he will require further treatment.
He continued that the initial diagnosis was hard to get his head around: "I went around saying to myself, 'I've got cancer. Good heavens, Stephen, you're not the sort of person who gets cancer.'
"I know it's an old cliche but you don't think it's going to happen to you."
"You don't think it happens to you, it happens to other people."
Urging all men "of a certain age" (the NHS recommends men of 50 and above) to take a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test which can flag up any irregularities, since one in eight men in the UK will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lives.
What are the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer?
According to the NHS, problems associated with urination are the most common symptoms of prostate cancer.
They include:
Needing to urinate more frequently, often during the night
Needing to rush to the toilet
Difficulty in starting to urinate
Straining or taking a long time to urinate
A weak urine flow
Feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
Other symptoms include a loss of appetite, pain in the testicles, back, hips or pelvis, blood in urine, and unexplained weight loss.