A BANGOR local has spoken out about his recent cancer diagnosis, urging men of all ages not to ignore symptoms.
David Johnston (59) said he ignored his symptoms for about a year, before he sought medical advice and subsequently was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer.
Alongside his wife, Diane (60) who is the practice manager at Specsavers in Bloomfield Shopping Centre, he is speaking out about his diagnosis after the optical team set off on a sponsored walk to fundraise for Prostate Cancer UK.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men across the UK, and in Northern Ireland, more than 1,400 men are diagnosed every year, with 13,000 men living with and after prostate cancer here.
Early-stage prostate cancer often has no symptoms, however when they do appear they can include difficulty urinating, feeling your bladder hasn’t emptied fully, needing to urinate more often – especially at night, and blood in the urine.
David commented; ‘It is very easy to ignore a little niggle, or a small change, especially as we get older and I think most men don’t like to talk about a lot of medical things. I was going to the bathroom more than usual, but again, I didn’t really question it as I thought that was just a consequence of getting older.’
Diane added, ‘We started to notice it was getting more and more frequent and discussed getting an appointment with the GP, however he just kept putting it off as generally he was in good health. It was a year between his symptoms beginning, and his diagnosis, and we want to make sure nobody else ignores these signs as they are very easily gone unnoticed.”
Diane, who was the first ever employee at Specsavers Bangor Bloomfield and has been with the practice for 31 years, says she is so grateful that her work family is supporting her family, which includes David and Diane’s son Chris (33), daughter Sara (29) and their grandson, who is 19 months.
Diane continued, ‘To have my team give up their personal time, rally together and show their support to my family is so touching. We are all so honoured that they chose to do this for us, helping us to raise as much as possible for Prostate Cancer UK, and of course highlight to other men that they should get checked and to see their GP as soon as possible.’
Andrea Ridgway, store partner at Specsavers Bangor added, ‘Diane is part of our family and when we heard the news, we wanted to ensure she and David knew they were supported. On 11th October, we walked from Seapark, Holywood and walked around 7.5 miles to Bangor Marina, with friends and family giving generously for Prostate Cancer UK in David’s name.’
To support Specsavers Bangor Bloomfield’s team trek for Prostate Cancer UK, visit their Just Giving page.
For more information on Prostate Cancer UK, visit prostatecanceruk.org.
