In April of last year, I was rapidly closing in on the end of my forties. My 49th birthday was just a week away, but I was looking ahead with great optimism to the coming year.
And why not? I had a wonderful family, a successful and inspiring business that I loved, and on top of it all, I was in excellent health. I worked out regularly, ate well, and felt as good as I had at twenty!
A little over a year later, all of that is still true. But one thing has changed: I’m celebrating my one year anniversary of being cancer-free.
“You Have Prostate Cancer”
When I first heard these words, my first thought was that there’d been a mistake. I felt great. How could I have cancer? My denial was like a scene from a movie—I simply refused believe what I was hearing.
After a flight to Boston to Massachusetts General Hospital and a meeting with an oncologist from the Harvard Medical Centre. I began to realize that this was no mistake. Following further conversation with Dr Nam, my brilliant Urologist/Surgeon at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, and a follow up with my friend and personal doctor at Scienta Health, there was no longer any doubt or denial: I had prostate cancer.
After discussing my four treatment options, I decided to have a radical prostatectomy. In the last week of June, Dr. Nam removed my prostate.
After check-ups every 90 days for the last year, I’m very happy to say that I am cancer free and feel 100%.
But in many ways, that’s just the beginning of the story.
You DO Want to Know
Most cancers, if caught early enough, are treatable. The trick is actually catching them.
My cancer was found extremely early by Dr Elaine Chin of Scienta Health, the most proactive and brilliant doctor I’ve ever met. My oncologist in Boston said to congratulate her because I could have easily walked around with the cancer for another five years before having any symptoms. At that point, it would have been much more difficult to treat.
Many of us have an “I don’t want to know” or “I feel fine” attitude towards our health. We don’t take prevention or proactive screening seriously, and our conventional medical system is built the same way. Our current system is set up to treat you once you are already sick. When do most people go to the doctor? When they are already sick.
Prevention and early detection make so much more sense. But right now they play a very minimal and sometimes even discouraging role in health care. I found it odd that someone under 40 years of age, regardless of family history, would have to pay for a PSA test to detect prostate cancer. Imagine the millions of lives and dollars that could be saved by focusing on staying healthy and detecting disease so much earlier. I know health care is making headway on this movement, but the reality is that it’s not the government’s job to do this. It’s ours.
We simply must take responsibility for our own health and wellness. So why is it that the vast majority of people choose not to do anything about their health until they have to?
My realization has been that prostate cancer is something men don’t want to talk about let alone know about. I can’t believe how many men I’ve met who have had prostate cancer but would have never said anything to me if I hadn’t mentioned that I had dealt with it myself. Many men are embarrassed by the diagnosis, or feel that it diminishes their manhood.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It wasn’t that long ago that women faced a similar stigma around breast cancer. They didn’t want others to know they had it, and didn’t want to talk about it. Because of this there was little awareness and people suffered alone.
Now, women speak about breast cancer freely. That’s led to more frequent self examinations, earlier mammograms, and fundraising in the hundreds of millions for prevention, early detection and treatment. The result is that breast cancer is no longer the death sentence it once was.
Men, we need to do the same.
Speaking up creates awareness that inspires other to seek proactive care. And that reduces suffering and saves lives. Speaking up doesn’t diminish. It empowers.
I’m choosing to speak up and so are others like my friend Ken McLaughlan, who inspired me with his experience with kidney cancer, and how being proactive helped him.
If you’ve had cancer or any other critical illness or know someone who does, speak up and be part of the proactive health revolution! Start right here, right now. Use your voice and share your insights and inspiring stories of someone you know and love.
Thank you for letting me share mine,
Richard