When I spoke with the publisher of MobileLife Today he gave me the go ahead to submit this article based on my personal experience with this topic, I am unofficially in remission from Prostate Cancer. I want to stress the importance of getting a complete series of tests to determine if one has indications of having a tumor that maybe benign or cancerous. I have been looking at the headlines and have found that the Prostate Specific Artigen (PSA) Test that detects severity or indication of a malignancy is just the tip of the iceberg.
My urgency lies with the fact that I am an African American Man in his late 40’s. Due to many factors, one being race, this is the prime time when this can develop. I did speak with some men of color that have not had th PSA Test done. From a cultural standpoint, it seems to be an issue that is shrugged off and I wonder why when this is a silent killer. I am on a mission to inform men of how important it is to get complete testing done to check the health of a prostrate, especially if the men are over 40 and African American.
To get a summarized account of my journey from the beginning here is an excerpt of my blog:
“Just got devastating news on St Patrick’s Day. (2008) I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. I was very shocked but they caught it early and the prognosis looks great. I am trying to get my appointment to consult with the oncologist (Cancer specialist) moved up. The original date is April 23 but I want to get this started soon. I have heard from friends and family that it is great that I did get diagnosed early since most men that get this disease are cured of it and it goes into remission.”
“I am lucky that I went and got the blood test and exam since I am in a quandary regarding who my biological mom is, therefore I am in the dark about my medical history. So I decided to get a biopsy done since the doctor detected an abnormality on my prostate and said it was of no major concern since my blood test or PSA was in the good range. This determines how severe the cancer could be if it was cancerous I believe. I could be wrong. Anyhow I went and got the biopsy and within two weeks I would know the results but it got rescheduled twice and the final date was on St.Patrick’s Day. Go figure on an ethnic holiday so that I can remember providing a mental milestone. I am not too afraid of the disease since I tend to minimize things even tragic events, but the waiting is hard so I am probably going for the radiation treatment vs major surgery which involves removing the prostate gland all together. The tumor is small and slow growing according to my doctor who was the messenger of bad news that day. He told me that I was the fourth one that he consulted with and told them that they have prostate cancer also.” This was a personal account of the initial events that took place though September 8th when my treatments were done. If this can change the mindset of one man that fits the criteria then I have done my job.
Kirk Fontaine is a personal fitness trainer. For more information you can e-ma him at:
http://kirkfontaine.blogspot.com
and you can connect over
Twitter: @fitnewbie
