A painter and decorator was diagnosed with prostate cancer after his customers noticed something crucial while he was working. The clients, who were doctors, spotted how frequently he was using their toilet.
Jeff Titmarsh, 67, was urinating 12 times a day, but attributed it to getting older. However, while he was decorating the home of two retired doctors, they observed his regular bathroom trips and urged him to get checked. The otherwise healthy and active grandfather-of-four was sent for tests, which confirmed he had prostate cancer.
Jeff received chemotherapy and hormone pills after discovering it was stage four and had metastasised to his bones. Although initially told the cancer was incurable, he responded positively to the treatments and is now in remission.
Jeff is now fundraising for charity and promoting awareness of the symptoms of the disease, which affects one in eight men during their lifetime.
The divorced dad-of-two from Stratford-on-Avon, said: "I had been peeing for England. I was doing some external paintwork for these doctors and I had to come down the scaffolding whenever I needed the loo, so they always saw me. They asked about it and recommended I go to my GP."
Speaking of being diagnosed, he said: "I was in a bit of shock - you don't really take it all in. I caught it quite late, but not too late thankfully. If the chemo hadn't worked, it would have been curtains for me."
"Going to the loo more was the only symptom I had, but I ignored it for a year. The doctors I was working for gave me the boot up the backside to get it checked out - my message is get checked out as soon as possible."
Jeff first noticed around 2023 that he was visiting the toilet more frequently - "easily once an hour" - and occasionally didn't make it in time. It wasn't until he was painting a house in May 2024 that he finally took action.
He said: "The clients asked and I described my symptoms - and they recommended I get checked."
Following a blood test, he was referred for an MRI scan. While on holiday in Devon with his daughter Samantha, 50, and grandson Croyde, 15, he received a call from his doctors confirming the scan had flagged something and that a biopsy was required.
By August 2024, the biopsy results had confirmed cancer, and further tests revealed it was stage four prostate cancer, which had also spread to part of his bone at the base of his rib.
Jeff said: "I was okay telling my family, but then I was in the gym with my friend, and I saw him and just burst into tears. It was two blokes just crying and hugging in the gym. Everyone else must have wondered what was going on."
He started chemotherapy in November 2024, alongside medication to suppress testosterone production, which his oncologist believed was "feeding the cancer". He was relieved to discover his cancer responded positively to treatment, and by December he was in remission.
He now requires blood tests every two months and daily hormone medication. Feeling considerably better, Jeff is currently training for Sir Chris Hoy's Tour de 4 charity cycling event in September, in support of Prostate Cancer Research.
He said: "The most common symptom of this is going to the loo more. Aside from that, you would never have known I was ill at all - I didn't lose any weight."
"Just get that checked out as soon as possible. Forget the British stiff upper lip. And my message is just be positive and have a good circle of family and friends around you."
Jeff's fundraiser can be found on GoFundMe.
