Fakhruddin Adamally, known to all as Adam, was enjoying retirement alongside his ever-growing family, thanks to his dedication to fitness and healthy eating. With a loving marriage and close ties to his two married daughters and three grandkids, Adam and his wife were living a busy and fulfilling life, including cruises to different parts of the world. But then life threw a curveball when Adam was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
After routine bloodwork, his family physician referred him to a urologist due to rising PSA (prostate-specific antigen) counts, a potential indicator of prostate issues. First Adam was tested yearly then, as his count rose, every six months. In June 2022 his PSA count spiked, so Adam was referred for an MRI and then a biopsy: of the 15 samples, 12 were cancerous. As his urologist shared the news, Adam remembers, “I was dumfounded, it was like being hit by a Mack truck.”
For treatment, Adam was offered one of the hospitals in downtown Toronto, or Trillium Health Partners (THP). Adam chose THP because Credit Valley Hospital was close to his home and part of his urologist’s network.
Adam was then booked for an introductory meeting with THP radiation oncologist Dr. Jasper See Yin Yuen. Adam went with his wife and younger daughter, the older daughter joining by phone. “Dr. Yuen was great, really confident, reassuring, very knowledgeable and answered all our questions,” recalls Adam. Dr. Yuen discussed all the options, and they agreed on a treatment plan of hormone injections, brachytherapy, which is a type of internal radiation that delivers radiation directly to the affected area, followed by external beam radiation.
Four and a half months after his first hormone injection, Adam went for brachytherapy at Credit Valley Hospital. A total of 16 needles were inserted into his prostate to deliver a precise dose of radiation during the three-hour procedure. “It involved a lot of preparation and was pretty intense,” he says.
A week later, he began external beam radiation with 23 sessions over five weeks, Monday to Friday, each session lasting five to eight minutes. Adam had worked as a supervisor in eight different hospitals in the GTA so was familiar with the linear accelerators used to deliver radiation at Credit Valley Hospital. The preparation was challenging but Adam mastered it within the first three days, and he really appreciated that the booking staff were able to accommodate appointment changes as needed.
Adam was very pleased to ring the bell and toot the horn at Credit Valley Hospital in front of the staff, his wife, daughter and son-in-law when he completed his treatment in December 2022. “I was impressed with the entire team – Dr. Jasper Yuen, my primary nurse, Ivy Palattao, and her fellow nurses, therapists, technicians, receptionists and other support staff – all very dedicated, knowledgeable, empathetic and professional. They were very proactive and always available to answer my questions or concerns. It felt, and feels, very comforting and secure to be in the hands of such a diverse and focused team.”
What’s next for Adam? Now enjoying a productive retirement, he continues to visit with family, goes to the gym and has returned to his local swimming pool, “the best exercise I can get,” and he enjoys going for long drives with his wife to the countryside and to provincial parks. Now, thanks to his care at THP, Adam and his wife, Fauzia, are excited to be choosing where they will take their 14th cruise to explore a new part of the world.
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