David Kemble, Trustee

I have spent all my working life in the aerospace industry, I started as an apprentice at The Alvis, then woked in a sub contract drawing office for 18 months before moving to Rolls-Royce as a production engineer, specialising in Jig and Tool Design. My final job was at Dunlop Aerospace (now Meggitt Braking Systems). I retired in 2008.

I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2007. My PSA reading was 54, my wife and I were told that it was an aggresive cancer, after a MRI scan it was discovered that the cancer had escaped in to the seminal duct and was therefore inoperable. I was offered the chance to be part of a clinical trial, using hormone patches. This was succssesful in bringing my PSA reading down from 54 to 4 in 4 weeks. I was on the trial for 3 years. I was then given hormone therapy until the cancer had shrunk sufficiently for radiotherapy to be undertaken. I am currently on no treatment other than monitoring.

I joined the support group because it offered an opportunity to learn more about Prostate Cancer and the treatments available. I also had the chance to meet other men and their families to show that my diagnosis was not the end of the world amd that I was not alone.

I became a Trustee to help otther men in the same situation as myself, and also to promote the awarness of early detection by way of PSA blood tests.