Alison’s Story

I was born in Peebles but have lived in Lockerbie for most of my life. Prior to retirement I worked in Education, both as a teacher and manager.

I married my husband, Pete in 1970 and we have two daughters. Joanne lives with her husband and two children near Dumfries, Lynne with her husband and two children in Derbyshire. They and our two grandsons and two granddaughters (aged from 8 to 18) have given us much joy and pleasure over the years.

My interests are cooking, reading, walking, golf – and holidays! Although not gardeners, my husband cares for our garden and I enjoy growing tomatoes, cucumbers etc in our greenhouse and looking after my pots.

Pete was found to have a raised PSA level about 5 years ago after discussing his nightly loo visits with his GP. His condition was monitored and all was well until 2022 when scans and biopsies showed that cancer cells were now present. Obviously, this came as a great shock but we were reassured as it had been caught early. After several consultations at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Pete decided to have a radical prostatectomy involving robotic keyhole surgery. He underwent this procedure in May 2023 and (with a few minor hiccups on the way) has recovered extremely well.

The staff at WGH were excellent and, although he was only in hospital for one night, we knew they were there for us if we needed them afterwards. Pete went to his first Buddies meeting after he had been put in touch with Roly and had coffee and a chat with him. I went with him the following month after discovering that there was a separate meeting for wives and partners held at the same time.

We were both grateful for the friendship, support and useful, practical information we received from them. The Buddies and their Partners are all ordinary people who have had to face, and cope with, the devastating diagnosis of prostate cancer. They have benefited from that same support and help that we got, and realise that they can use their experience to help others at a very difficult time in their lives.

You may think that “support groups” are not for you, and that’s fine. But you may be surprised. Come once and if you don’t find it useful then you don’t have to come again.