Letter to the editor

Here we are again at the end of summer, and we are into Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in Canada.

We would like all men in our community to take a moment to do a little self-examination.  Time and time again we hear that we have to be our own best health-care advocate.  In a time when we are seeing fewer and fewer family doctors per population, folks are forgoing the dreaded annual checkup.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a male disease that we know is very treatable – if caught in its early stages.  Recent advances in surgical methods, radiation treatments, and hormone therapies have extended life expectancy to some very comfortable levels.  But make no mistake, PCa is a deadly, fatal, mortal, end-of-life, terminal, killer disease if left untreated.  Stats Can tells us to expect that 4,600 men will die of PCa each year.

Our message is:  Get Checked

A simple PSA blood test can give a 50-year-old man a benchmark number.  Subsequent yearly tests will show if there is an increase that would require looking into with further examination. Yes!  We know it’s a pain in the neck and another thing to put on the dreaded to-do list.  But, for what it’s worth, let me say that I was diagnosed early, 17 years ago, and was able to be treated with surgery.  I am living cancer-free and am still around to annoy my wife these past 17 years.

We have a group in Cranbrook that meets on the third Wednesday of the month at the College of the Rockies at 7 p.m.  Everyone (patients, care-givers, loved-ones, hangers-on, next-door-neighbours) is welcome to attend.

You can’t get medical advice from us – that comes from your doctor – but you can talk to other guys who have had the various types of treatment.  You can hear about the side-effects and after-effects of treatment, and how we cope with them.

Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada sponsors the annual Light up in Blue campaign designed to stimulate national dialogue on the importance of scheduling regular prostate exams.  This year, more than 130 landmarks, buildings and bridges have pledged to shine blue on select days throughout September.

Now we can’t figure out how to light up Fisher Peak, but several of us have put blue lights on our homes.  When you see a blue home, be reminded to look after yourself.  If you are a man over 50, get checked.

You can contact me anytime to talk about this: [email protected]

Kevin Higgins, Chair,

Prostate Cancer Support – Cranbrook

Article Share