Marc’s Story
Marc Butters – Dumfries Buddy
Hi my name is Marc Butters I am 60 years old
My wife Jackie and I moved from Northampton to Lochmaben in April 2018, having owned and run an audio/visual retail business for over 40 years. Deciding that was long enough to be looking out of the same windows, we both needed a change.
We happily settled into our new life, sorting the house, spending lots of time in the garden, getting various animals to look after, firstly 3 highland cows, then some pygmy goats and of course, chickens, ducks and geese.
Everything seemed great until I started getting up 3 or 4 times in the night to go to the loo. This was in June 2022, but being a bloke I ignored it and thought no more about it. Jackie on the other hand, booked a doctor’s appointment for me and having explained the reason for me going, he suggested a blood test, just to rule anything sinister out. The nurse who took the blood said that they would only contact me if there was anything to discuss. Imagine my surprise and alarm when not one but two doctors phoned to inform me that the blood test had come back and it showed a raised PSA level of 17.4. I saw the doctor a couple of days later.
And so the journey began, with a visit for a rectal examination with a Eurology doctor, a CT scan and an MRI. They referred me for biopsies at DGRI but with 12 biopsies taken, no lesion was found, so I was referred to Falkirk for a different type of biopsy. They successfully found the correct area on this occasion and would give me a call as soon as they had the results.
Meantime, life carried on with this cloud over us. We decided to have a day out at the Dumfries agricultural show and it must have been fated because as soon as we entered the showground the first stall we came across was the Prostate Buddies. Jackie made a beeline for it and within moments we were in conversation with Roly about where I was in my journey. He gave me a leaflet with the numbers of the Buddies, which Jackie kept handy.
A week later the Falkirk doctor rang and gave me the news that it was cancer and in fact I already had an appointment with Urology at DGRI the next day. Having informed that doctor I already knew it was cancer, he just gave me a Macmillan book on it and suggested I go home and read it.
That afternoon I gave Roly from Prostate Buddies a call, we had a brief conversation and arranged to meet for a coffee the next morning. He suggested I bring Jackie.
From that meeting, the journey became easier and more predictable, knowing what to expect when and where and even to the point of the Buddies arranging taxis to and from Edinburgh for us, which on its own would have been enough help but I knew if I had questions about treatment options or anything, he’d be there to advise, having been through it himself.
I had my operation to remove my prostate on March 6th 2023 in Livingston and because of the Buddies, there were no surprises and everything went well.
I came out of all this with a very positive outlook and want to say, ‘Thank you’ to all at Prostate Buddies D & G.