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THE OFFICIAL REECE CUSTOMER UPDATE
Photo of Jim Rogan

Jim Rogan

“Don’t think that it can only happen to your Grand Dad. It can happen to you!”

Getting to know you

Jim Rogan - Plumber and prostate cancer survivor.

Jim Rogan’s 68. He’s been plumbing for 53 years. He started at 15 because, as he says, “his mum said plumbers could make a lot of money, and the man up the road was looking for an apprentice”. He’s seen a lot of changes in that time. The biggest was when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

When I turned 50 I felt fit, but I thought I’d get a check up. After that I got checked every year.

I was first diagnosed at 58. Two years earlier I started getting up, seven or eight times a night. The doctor said my prostate was enlarged but not necessarily cancerous. He just told me to not drink much before bed.

Getting the news was a shock. I asked the doctor to rate the severity of my cancer from 1 – 10 (10 being the worse). He said I was about a 2. I then asked where I’d be in 3, 6, and 8 months. He said nobody knows and to go away and find out about it. So I did. I then decided to have my prostate removed, which was considered pretty radical.

I found it hard to find other men to talk to. It was a difficult time. They didn’t have many outreach groups back than. It’s amazing how far its come. There’s a lot more help available now. Blokes didn’t want to talk about it. One chap I’d worked with for years. I never knew he had it, but luckily he heard I was trying to find out about it. One day we sat on a toolbox and he told me all about life after prostate cancer, with erections and stuff like that. He was a marvellous help and to this day I thank him. He helped me make my decision.

My health’s 100%. I go to my GP once a year and the rest of my health is great. I work all the time. If I need to use the jackhammer or dig a trench I’m fine. Nothing’s changed.

The biggest asset is finding out early. You can never be too early to catch the bus, but you can be bloody late and miss it. If you go in at 40 and want a check up and the doctor says no, find another doctor.

Some doctors don’t want to remove the prostate. They’ll say you’ll probably die with it but not because of it. Don’t listen to them. Go to another doctor. Make your own decision about whether you want it in your body or not.

Of course getting up seven times a night to go to the bathroom doesn’t mean you have prostate cancer. You might only have an enlarged prostate. That’s simple to fix. They send a little borer up and unblock the line (just like rooter). It’s all over in 24 hours. On the other hand, you might have prostate cancer. The key is getting checked regularly.

I’m still enjoying life, still plumbing. I love being outdoors. I’m lucky I was diagnosed. No one else in the family had it. Now I make sure my sons get checked regularly.