When Tobermory dad Gordon Chalmers found a lump in his breast, he had a hunch it was serious.
He found the mass when he was in the shower just a month away from his 65th birthday.
His test results came back positive, and the now 68-year-old started his journey to recovery.
Gordon is one of just 400 men each year who are diagnosed in the UK with the life-threatening condition.
It was a diagnosis that shocked him – but he was determined to stay positive.
“It is a journey that no one wants to go on, but keep positive and you will get through it,” he said.
‘It’s the news no one wants to get’
Gordon recalled the moment he knew something was wrong,
“It was on April 10, 2021, and I was in the shower. It was a month away from my 65th birthday,” he said.
“I realised I had a hard lump in my breast tissue, underneath my nipple.
“It was a solid lump and it was misshapen.”
Because Gordon had some medical knowledge, he says he knew from the very start that it was likely to be cancer.
As fate would have it, he was due to have a health MOT that week and by May 8 he was in Glasgow following an urgent referral for a breast screening appointment.
The first test he had was inconclusive, something he says is normal as there is not as much tissue as a woman might have.
He continued: “So I had to go back to Glasgow for more tests.
“Those tests came back and, because I live on an island, it was agreed that instead of having to make the trip a third time to Glasgow, unusually I was able to have a call with the consultant on the phone.
“I was well prepared. It was the news no one wanted to get, but I decided that I needed to be positive to get through it.”
Gordon, who was a delivery driver and bed and breakfast owner on Mull at the time, said it was having “positivity” and a good mental attitude that got him through.
Well, that and the incredible team at his GP practice, medics at NHS Highland, Argyll and Bute Community Health Partnership, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS North Lanarkshire.
He also praises the CalMac ferry staff who made sure he got to his appointments on the mainland.
He said: “When you live on an island and have cancer, it adds an extra layer of complication to things. The CalMac staff made sure I got to every appointment.
“The Macmillan nurses in Oban were so supportive and made it work. I can not praise them enough.”
‘Early detection and treatment of cancer can save your life’
Three years on from his diagnosis, he wants other men to be aware that breast cancer does not just affect women.
Gordon, a former councillor, runs Brockville Bed and Breakfast with his wife Helen with whom he has two grown-up children .
He has even taken on a “wee job” delivering school lunches to pupils across the island.
Gordon and his wife will also be celebrating 30 years of marriage this year, which he says is the “best news for so many reasons.”
“Early detection and treatment can save your life,” he said.
“If it is a treatable cancer, if caught early enough you will have every chance of surviving it.
“And if you have cancer, keep your pecker up.
“It is a journey that no one wants to go on, but keep positive and you will get through it.”
