If he can 'save ... just one person, that's all I need' says Barnaby

After his much-publicised brush with prostate cancer, the 58-year-old warns men to prioritise their wellbeing by booking a GP visit and not to dismiss stubborn symptoms.

His advice comes as Australia marks Men's Health Week, which ends on Sunday, June 15.

Mr Joyce kept his condition secret during the campaign, while supported by his family, he quickly came to grips with his cancer diagnosis and made plans to deal with it.

The Member for New England, who retained his seat for The Nationals with a swing of two per cent, went from the ballot box on May 3 to the surgical theatre within days of his voting booth appearance in Tamworth.

Mr Joyce likens the human body to a car, noting once it hits its 50s, "your tyres and diff, and the bearings start to wear out", and you need to be "a little more diligent" in how you look after your body if you want to keep living.

"Not out of just responsibility to yourself but to those who rely on you, and of course, family is foremost in your mind but also your work - your responsibilities that go beyond yourself to look after yourself," he said.

This was something Mr Joyce admits, he was slow to do.

"I did not feel that responsibility very well, and was lucky," he said.

"If I hadn't had a very good GP who pestered me to get all the tests needed, I would have just put it off," he said.

Mr Joyce believes a lot of men do the same thing, believing that because they lead active lives, they are "fit" and there's "nothing wrong" with them.

But, he said, "it's not your biceps that are going to cause a problem".

"It's more likely health conditions involving your heart, melanoma, prostate or bowel cancer," he said.

Mr Joyce said his younger brother, Tim, died six years ago at 43 of bowel cancer.

"He thought it was IBS [Irritable Bowel Syndrome] but was in fact symptoms of stage 4 bowel cancer," Mr Joyce said.

"Don't think, 'I'm outside the age bracket where I need to worry' - once you get over 40, you should start thinking about your health a lot more."

In Mr Joyce's case, health checks were always something he was going to do "next month".

When he did get around to it, a blood test noted an elevated PSA (prostate-specific antigen) level, and he was told he needed a follow-up test.

A conversation about the test while travelling in Western Australia was overheard by a staffer, who, unaware of the situation, urged him to stop being "a clown" and get the second test.

"I got the test, and [the levels] were elevated," Mr Joyce said.

Many medical visits and further testing followed, including an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to confirm something had been found. A biopsy under general anaesthetic confirmed the diagnosis.

Mr Joyce's doctor told him just prior to the election: "You have cancer, what do you want to do?"

His options were radiotherapy or surgical removal.

"It took me about 10 seconds to decide, and I said I wanted it removed, because I imagine it's hard to have prostate cancer if you don't have a prostate," he said.

"I knew about [the cancer] before the election, and if my medical advice had indicated it was really serious, I would have resigned from politics because obviously you would not be fit to do a term.

"I kept it to myself because I didn't want to go through the campaign with every second question being 'And how are you today?"

"That's not what people are voting on - they are voting on whether they believe Coalition policy is more appropriate to their life than Labor policy."

Once the election was out of the way, it was time to act.

Mr Joyce described prostate cancer as a slow burner, "but it's a burner", that "will kill you if you don't treat it".

At the time the Leader spoke with Mr Joyce, he was awaiting his final clearance results from his specialist to give him the all clear.

In sharing his high-profile medical journey, Mr Joyce hopes men, and those around them, will heed his warning.

"If one other person has a wife or partner who says 'Cecil, you haven't had a PSA test, go an get one", and it shows he's got [prostate cancer], and that test saves his life, then this was all worthwhile - just one person, that's all I need," he said.

During Men's Health Week, Mr Joyce said men need to remember "you are definitely fallible, not infallible".

"It's a sobering enough thought that at some stage you are going to die ... monitoring your health can make a big difference as to when," he said.

"If you close your eyes, well, you might be one of those lucky people who are genetically made to live without any medical treatment whatsoever and get to a ripe old age without any problems.

"But it's most likely you're in the other group, which could be progressing towards a major heart attack, stroke, or could have the first stages of a cancer of some sort.

"You get to an age where you have to think about your lifestyle - you might get away with being a bit overweight when you are young, but if you are overweight when you are older, you're really increasing the probabilities of a health issue.

"You have to be more conscientious."

Today, Mr Joyce doesn't drink at home or as much as in the past, having at times gone months between drinks, and has quit smoking.

He's also become more diligent with his sleep and exercise routines, and wears a fitness watch to track both.

When in Canberra, he swims to counter the long periods of sitting and never-ending dinner and lunch meetings; at home, on his Woolbrook property, routine jobs provide physical exercise.

"[My wife] Vikki always says I come back from parliament looking unhealthy, but then I spend a few days at home and all of a sudden start to look like a different person," he said.

Mr Joyce says he is feeling "a lot better" these days.

Coming out the other side of prostate cancer, Mr Joyce counts himself lucky.

"If I hadn't made time for the medical tests, nothing much would have happened for about two years, but then it would have been sad stories," he said.

"Ask yourself: have you had your skin checked for melanoma, have you had a colonoscopy for bowel cancer, have you had a blood test to check your PSA level, as well as liver and kidney function?

"Do you get a slow pain in your chest when you go for a bit of a walk? Have you had that checked?

"One of the great blessings of living in Australia is you can get all these things easily checked that could save your life.

"It's not about just living, it's about looking after yourself so you have the quality of life in retirement."

Mr Joyce said everyone is conscious of the amount of money they put into their super, but they forget about investing in their "health super".

"There isn't much point getting to retirement to collect your super and find you can't use it," he said.

"Blokes' investment in health super is often pretty minimal, but there is not much use having one without the other."