Four years ago, Edward Cheeseman learned he had prostate cancer. The news didn't cause him to fall apart. "It brought on some concern. I know some people go crazy," he said. "I tried to keep calm. There's a time to think about death. You look back and you recognise you have to die of something. I found that was the best way to approach it."

A motor mechanic at Oleander Cycles, the then 66-year-old father-of-three and grandfather-of-five, said there was no panic at all in his family. He and his wife were calm and life continued as normal.

"I never actually felt sick so I wasn't very concerned," he said. "Sometimes I used to wonder if the diagnosis was even correct because I had no ill feelings."

What Mr. Cheeseman did have was a burning feeling when he urinated and a feeling of pressure on his bladder. This caused him to visit his doctor who referred him to local urologist Dr. Charles Dyer. "I had a biopsy done and an ultrasound and then he (Dr. Dyer) said there was a spot in the prostate and there was no urgency to have surgery for it," Mr. Cheeseman said.

Prostate cancer can remain localised, that is confined to this gland, for a long period of time. Typically it progresses slowly and because it usually affects older men, they are quite likely to die from something completely different.

Prostate cancer can progress to the bones and lymph nodes and at this stage is more difficult to treat.

Mr. Cheeseman said, in his case, Dr. Dyer advised him to take a special vitamin supplement – Prostrose. "I took those tablets for four years and during that time the PSA started dropping," he said.

The PSA is a measurement used to determine how fast the cancer is likely to grow. Mr. Cheeseman said when a biopsy of his tumour was first taken, the PSA level was quite high, but after taking the vitamin supplement the levels lowered considerably. He still suffered burning on urination and the uncomfortable pressure on his bladder as if something was pushing down on it. This also caused him to experience urgency in his urinating so that when he had to go, he had to go.

"There was no time for me to hold it," he said. "I felt as though I may wet myself and this made me anxious."

To help this problem his doctor prescribed Flomax which helped him to control the pelvic muscles in urinating. "I had to monitor my urinations and I would make sure that I used the bathroom before I felt the need to," he said. "I had to keep ahead of the game because when I had the urge to go it could happen suddenly and it would be urgent."

After about two years, he noticed he had to take more to have the same effect. "I had to increase the dosage from one tablet to two tablets a day," he said. Mr. Cheeseman carried on in this way until, in the fourth year, a test revealed his PSA levels had escalated. He said the doctor at that point advised him to have his prostate removed. "I was concerned that it might have spread to my bones, because that is the path it takes, but a scan of my bones was clean," he said. "I was relieved."

He said he began to talk with men who had had the surgery and just by chance Dr. David Saul came to the shop.

"He gave me the best advice," said Mr. Cheeseman. "He was instrumental in my decision to have surgery. He said if there are any problems have them take it out."

So on November 27, 2007, 70-year-old Edward Cheeseman had his prostate removed. "I was in hospital for six days," he said. "Recuperation was the worst part of it. I was having bladder spasms that were very painful. Very cutting pain in the bowels, in the surgery area," he said.

"I took pain killers for that. That went on for about three weeks. It wasn't steady pain. It would come and go," he added.

Despite the pain after surgery, Mr. Cheeseman does not regret his decision to have his prostate removed. It's been six months since the operation and admits he still has burning on urination and pressure on his bladder. "But it's not as much as before and it is settling down," he said. "I feel full of energy these days, more than before the surgery. I am contented and thankful to Dr. Dyer and the staff at the hospital (King Edward VII Memorial Hospital).

Since surgery Mr. Cheeseman has been supportive of other men with the disease. He was off from work for two months and on returning was recommended to advise a work colleague who had just been diagnosed with the cancer. "Rudy (Barclay – see story below) asked me about it, I encouraged him and advised that after surgery he should have a light diet of soup and mashed potatoes. Anything heavy would burden the bowels and could cause constipation and great discomfort," he said.

"It is important for men to talk about this. I have a cousin who didn't talk about it. Who hid it from family and now he's six feet under – it was too late for him. For me talking helped dispel concerns and made me more confident and calm."