Though, as you might guess, it wasn't quite as simple as that.

For a start, though the range of treatment options open to him were just the same as those available in the United States or the UK, Niall's experience was a little different in that it all took place in southern of Italy and Rome. That said, the story is universal-prostate issues and treatments are the same in any language.

The sundried tomatoes on the cover-which do bear an uncanny resemblance to some images of the prostate gland-are not part of any Italian theme but rather are an example of one of the foodstuffs that, according to which internet site you browse, will either prevent, alleviate of cause prostate cancer.

In Experiencing Prostate Cancer, Niall explains how he found the internet to be a minefield of conflicting information, speculation and misrepresentation-most of it meant well, much of it based at best on anecdotal evidence and some of it no more than a sales pitch.

Experiencing Prostate Cancer is the antidote to much of that but then Niall was fortunate in being able to rely on his trusty 'Bullshit Button' to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Experiencing Prostate Cancer does not claim to be a blueprint. It is no more than an irreverent account of Niall's experience ... from his below-the-belt medical history to the mistakes he made when first faced with a high PSA score ... from the treatment he eventually had at the hands of a remarkable doctor to trying to keep a catheter bag from slipping down his leg.