Angus’s Story

Angus Tait – West Group Buddy

I was born in 1945 in Rutherglen on the south side of Glasgow, one of two children, having a younger brother and spent the first eighteen years of my life in the Rutherglen area. After leaving school, I applied to the Forestry Commission to train as a forest officer (a civil servant) where I served a six year training programme, two of which were based at the Forestry Commission’s Training School at Pitlochry.

I met Janette, my wife, in 1970 and we were married the following the year. We now have a daughter and twin sons, six grandchildren and in late 2019, a fourth great grandchild is expected very shortly. I took early retirement from the Forestry Commission in 1996 and worked at several jobs, including farming and gardening work.

In 2007 my wife took ownership of an old supermarket in Newton Stewart and turned it into a café and Christian bookshop.

Really, since the age of 45, I have had prostate trouble which resulted in TURPS (the removal of Prostate tissue) operations in 2010 and 2014. But in March 2018, my PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) reading jumped to 14.5 (ideally it should be no more than 0.2%) and due to this I was referred to the Urology department at the DGRI. I was subsequently sent for an MRI scan in July 2018 and following this, I had an internal biopsy examination which confirmed I had prostate cancer. In September 2018 I had a bone scan at Ayr Hospital which, thank God, showed no cancerous cells in my bones. I had been caught ‘early’.

November 2018 saw me in the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh where I was given two options for treatment.  One was robotic surgery for the complete removal of the prostate and the other was hormone injections followed by radiotherapy, both in the Western General. I elected in April 2019 to have the complete removal by robotic surgery and can honestly say I am well on the way to recovery.

I was grateful for friends, who had recovered from both types of treatment, coming alongside to advise an encourage.  By joining Prostate Buddies D&G, I have found essential support and friendship through this recently formed group, both to help others and also receive ongoing support for myself.

If any man reading this story should feel any concern about his own health, please do go and have a check-up. Prostate problems don’t go away by themselves.