'Lovely send off' as NHS worker with prostate cancer retires after 40 year career

Kevin Berry had robotic surgery to remove his prostate in July 2024, but is still being treated as cancer cells had spread

A North Shields man living with prostate cancer says that counselling helped him enjoy his last few months at work and get a "lovely" send-off.

Kevin Berry, 59, started working in the NHS at the age of 17. In a career of more than four decades, he has made thousands of teeth, most recently in the role of a dental technician at the Newcastle Dental Hospital.

However, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, there was a possibility that he wouldn't be well enough to go back to work before his retirement this April. Robotic surgery to remove his prostate in July 2024 didn't come quickly enough, with some active cancer cells escaping and the cancer having spread.

He has had 20 rounds of radiotherapy, and is currently undergoing hormone therapy, with treatment expected to continue for the next two years. Kevin says that his prognosis remains "on the edge of things", and it has had a huge impact on him not only physically, but mentally.

Kevin told ChronicleLive: "It does crazy things to your body and your mind, there's quite a lot of wear and tear on your psyche. You're psychologically quite battered from the diagnosis and the treatment you've had.

"As I'm going through this, I'm trying my best to cope. But my prognosis is on the edge of things and there are some very poor outcomes and I'm worried as hell."

When a neurologist at the Freeman Hospital identified how much Kevin was struggling, he was pointed in the direction of Maggie's Cancer Care centre in the grounds of the hospital. Kevin's visits were among 16,000 made in 2024, with numbers expected to rise this year after the charity added a new annexe to its centre on Friday, April 25.

Of the thousands of people the charity supports each year, others include a Northumberland mum Laura Scott, who is living with incurable cancer, Raz Handa, who celebrated his engagement at the centre, and Anth Knott, who is set to run the Great North Run to raise money for the charity.

Kevin continued: "As everyone knows, mental health is a very important part of your life and a cancer diagnosis and treatment will throw up some very difficult for your mental health. That's where I've really lucked out with the help that I got, and it's all been given for free, and I'm really grateful."

The support hasn't just been available to him, but also his wife Wendy. The fact that they both access counselling there separately, has helped them to face his illness and "go for life in front of us".

"Psychologically, it throws up issues with a partner receiving treatment. She wants to check she's doing the right thing and that her feelings were valued.

"I think there are certain issues and certain outcomes that you don't want to speak about to your wife, you don't want to scare her, you don't want to overload your partner with all of your feelings. The fact that someone else is willing to have a conversation with you so it's one less to have with a partner, that is huge."

The mental health support Kevin has received has also meant he got to go back to work. He spoke to Chronicle days after his retirement, which he was able to celebrate with colleagues.

Kevin said: "It's been such a big part of my life, to never go back would have been expected. But I've been able to round off my career in a way that I would like because it's been such a big part of what I do.

"I really value what I do, the relationships I've had, and the input I've had into our community making teeth for them. It's nice for me to have been able to say goodbye to my colleagues at my own pace."

He finished by encouraging anyone going through the illness to get help with the psychological side of cancer. He said: "Because of the high grade of cancer that I have, it makes my prognosis unsure and there are no guarantees.

"But Maggie's have almost given me a toolkit for coping. The courses give you the power to analyse things and cope better and get on with the life that's in front of you, which is all you can ask for, and I'm very, very thankful."