But it was nearly overwhelmed by his battle with Sydney doctors about the cost of the surgery.

Mr Haigh, a retired diplomat from Orange, said he was stunned to find the fee applied by some surgeons related to where people lived.

The richer the area, the higher the bill.

“A lot of these specialists in Sydney really play a game, which is the important person game,” he said.

Mr Haigh said that after diagnosis in 2015 he saw a Sydney specialist who initially charged him $15,000.

He then discovered it was twice as much as a friend was charged in Perth.

When he complained the fee was dropped, but was still much higher than interstate.

Mr Haigh said he received feedback after writing a newspaper article titled The Meat Market on his case.

That included people living on Sydney’s north shore were being charged three times what he was charged for the same procedure.

“They play on the postcodes,” he said.

And then he learned the entire operation could have been done in Orange.

“I could have gone here.

“I could have gone in as a public patient and it would have cost me nothing.

“People should seek a second opinion.

“Just don’t accept anything upfront on the money front.”

Mr Haigh said people diagnosed with prostate cancer were vulnerable and keen to act quickly on whatever professional advice they received.

“I’m a retired diplomat so I’m used to not being pushed around.”

He said his specialist had pushed his own procedure, for surgery rather than being treated with radiation.

“He weighted all his advice in front of his own procedures.

“He did mention radiation but he gave no weight to it.”

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists [RANZCR] has urged men to get advice about radiation therapy before agreeing to surgery.

Associate Professor Dion Forstner, a radiation oncologist and RANCZR oncology faculty Dean, said the shock of receiving a cancer diagnosis led many men to accept the first treatment they heard about – which was surgery.

“We want men and their families to know that unlike some other cancers, prostate cancer tends to be slow growing cancer,” he said.

“Some men don’t even require treatment.”