The symptom that went unnoticed by an Australian dad before doctor told him he was about to die

A young woman who tragically lost her father to advanced prostate cancer believes he would still be alive today if he hadn’t missed the warning signs.

Sunday was a bittersweet day for Maddie Cooch, 26, as she spends time with husband Daniel and their twin boys Harvey and Dawson, who turn three on Wednesday.

It was her third Father’s Day without her beloved father Maurice Cole, who passed away in March 2021 at the age of 58.

Ms Cooch was planning her dream wedding when her world was turned upside down in 2018 by her father’s diagnosis of stage four metastatic prostate cancer.

After a battle with Crohn’s disease and surgery on his lower bowel, the Sydney lorry driver didn’t pick up on the first clues that something was wrong.

“It was my mother who pushed him to go to the doctor and get examined,” Ms Cooch told Daily Mail Australia.

“He’d lost a lot of weight and she’d noticed he’d run out of breath when he walked to the mailbox and when they went snorkeling together.

“We had noticed that he had a few problems. But Daddy was a very proud man and wanted the man to stay in the house, work six days a week and take care of his family.”

The cancer had spread by the time Cole was diagnosed, meaning he had limited treatment options.

“We were told he had five to ten years to live, which was very disturbing,” Ms Cooch recalled.

“It was a complete shock because cancer had never directly affected our family.”

Mr. Cole underwent ten rounds of chemotherapy, followed by radiation to his leg and groin.

‘He was occasionally ill for the first year, but he got his PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels under control,’ said Mr Cooch.

“He always tried to be positive and said, ‘I’m fine, I have a touch of cancer.’

Ms Cooch considered bringing her wedding forward in November 2019, but was reassured by her father, who was adamant he would escort her down the aisle.

Her big day was bittersweet, knowing that her father may not be around for long.

“The day and week leading up to the wedding were the healthiest he’d been in his last two and a half years — it was like it should have been,” she said.

“As daddy’s girl, it was a lifelong dream for him to escort me down the aisle.”

Mrs. Cooch and her new husband decided not to waste time planning a family, hoping that Mr. Cole would meet his first grandchildren.

Harvey and Dawson arrived just 10 months later in September 2020.

“Daddy absolutely loved the boys,” Mrs. Cooch said.

“He got up to bottle feed them, change their diapers, and sing to them.”

By Christmas 2020, Mr. Cole’s health was rapidly deteriorating.

“He was supposed to have surgery but by then the doctors said there was nothing they could do,” Ms Cooch said.

That news defeated him and his positivity went downhill from then on.

“Daddy didn’t want to know he was getting sicker, but for the past five days he knew it was time to say goodbye.”

Mr Cole died in March 2021, 18 months before his 60th birthday.

He spent his last two and a half weeks in palliative care, where the family celebrated the twins turning six months old.

“His goal was to be there for his grandsons’ first day of school,” Ms Cooch said.

“As he went downhill, he realized this wasn’t going to happen and turned it into being present on their first anniversary. ‘

“Instead, in his last days, he sang Happy Half-Birth Birthday to the boys.”

Ms Cooch believes her father would be alive today if he hadn’t ignored the warning signs early and gone to the doctor before his cancer spread.

She made a poignant plea to all Australian men to have their prostate checked and said her father would give the same advice.

“A simple trip to the doctor would have caught his cancer early and he would still be here with us. I don’t want other people to lose their fathers like me,” she said.

“Never be too proud to get checked out. Acknowledge the symptoms as soon as possible and act on them, because early diagnosis really counts.

“Instead of trying to be the man of the house, your family would be prouder when you get checked out.”

Ms. Cooch, her sister Imogen and their mother Kathryn have all registered to take part in The Long Run as part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month by running 30km each in September.

The long term raises vital funds for prostate cancer research in hopes of funding a cure.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Australia, ahead of breast cancer, with one man diagnosed every 22 minutes.

More than 3,500 Australian men die of prostate cancer every year.

The disease is responsible for more hospitalizations than any other cancer and costs the health care system more than $1.35 billion to treat.

“Community action during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month will provide a major boost to survival and help us achieve the vision of zero deaths from the disease,” said Anne Savage, managing director of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.