Can we talk...

I've mentioned it before, men don't talk enough about this stuff. It was amazing how many men came forward to talk to me after the diagnosis was made and I started seeking information.

My neighbor, from whom I have lived across the street for eight years, told me he had his prostate removed about ten years ago (when he was just 46). Another man approached me at a social and literally yelled, "Hey, I hear you have prostate cancer!" I affirmed his statement and he responded, "I had my first radiation treatment today." I congratulated him on taking action.

At the same social, a friend dragged her husband up to me and said, "Tell him...go ahead, tell him." The poor guy told me he had just received results of a PSA measuring 56. "Tell him he has to do something, Bill." she said to me. I spoke for a few minutes about my biopsy with the uncomfortable husband, then said we could speak at another time (this story has a happy ending in that his resulting biopsy found no cancer...now the question is, why the elevated PSA?).

Fellow Rotarians came forward to tell me of their positive results from seed implantation, others told me of how happy they were with open radiation...still more who had opted for surgery.

The point is, there is a wealth of experience and information out there that can be tapped if we are aware of it. That's what this whole stupid blog is about, just starting a discussion.

Just before my surgery, a friend suggested I contact a friend of his who has been living with prostate cancer for eight or nine years. I contacted the friend and was blown away. He had been diagnosed years ago with a profile much like mine. Unlike me, he had adopted a very aggressive campaign to find the best treatment...traveling all over the country, and beyond, to interview the creators of various treatment options and visit the top treatment centers. To date he has not found a treatment that provides him the level of confidence he demands. He regularly monitors his PSA and has regular (almost disturbingly regular) biopsies and, to date, the disease progression is slow and causing no problems.

"I know I might wake up some morning with a pain in my side and be told the cancer has spread beyond my prostate and is now a real problem," he says, "but I'm just not convinced they have a treatment that will guarantee I won't have complications."

OK, not my choice, but one that deserves to be heard and considered. If you have been diagnosed, treated, or waiting for treatment...talk about it with anyone who will listen, it will help you both. End of sermon.