James Kidner’s Story
James Kidner
Born in 1950, now retired, I started my working life in the Flour and Animal Feed industry. A career change saw me qualify as a Dispensing Ophthalmic Optician and later, a Contact Lens Fitter, largely self employed in Lancashire, in the 80’s. Lynda and I moved to Dumfries with our family in 1988 with me taking up a position with Stephen Rowe Opticians, then in 2002 I became self-employed with practices in Annan and later, Lockerbie, eventually retiring with a Staff hand-over in 2016.
My main interests and relaxation outside work have been sailing and a love of classic cars. I’m from a Somerset farming family with records from around 1120 right up to 1928!. My Grandfather, an army man, eventually sold up in 1952. Prostate cancer was almost solely detected by PSA readings. My PSA had slowly risen from 2.00 over about 8 years, reaching 4.00 by 2023, 5.00 by 2024, and by March 2025, 7.9. An MRI in March 2025 showed no sign of any prostate issues, (normal size).
Observation was therefore considered. As frequent night toilet calls were being made, a decision was made in November 2025 to undergo a Transperineal Biopsy (early is best & not to be put off) with Mr. Mitchell at the Spire Hospital in Edinburgh (easy train from Lockerbie). The ‘Gleason Score’, another important reading, was 4+3, so it was agreed that action was required.
Considering my age, rather than go through Radiography it was decided to have my prostate removed, hopefully taking all cancer tissue with it. The procedure was undertaken by Professor Alan McNeil at the Spire, Edinburgh in January 2026. After the procedure the PSA in March recorded a less than 0.075 as expected. This had risen to 0.01 by June, so not a concern. Monitoring continues and we believe all the cancer was contained within the removed Prostate and its surrounding tissue but of course, should this turn out not to be the case, Radiotherapy remains as a future option.
I consider myself very lucky & happy to have caught my prostate issues early. I am happy to offer my support if needed, especially now that I’ve been recruited as a Prostate Buddy.