Here is the honest truth: I'm incredibly lucky that none of the leading men in my life have been affected by prostate cancer. I know that at the mention of prostate cancer, I may have lost half of the men who started reading this, but you can't ignore the statistics: one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.
Those numbers certainly got my attention as both a wife and a daughter. The good fortune of not having any of the men in my life diagnosed with prostate cancer meant that I didn't know a lot about the disease. I also quickly realized that most men don't know much about the disease either. The thought of prostate cancer immediately becomes one of those unpleasantries in life that we'd much rather ignore. As human beings, we are particularly sensitive to diseases that affect our reproductive organs for a variety of psychological and societal reasons. It is unfortunate that these sensitivities attach an unfounded stigma to a prostate cancer, particularly because there should be no shame in cancer. It is a diagnosis that no one would welcome with open arms.
In order to fight this disease, we need to know what we are up against. Men need to take stronger action in educating themselves on the disease. I can't stress enough how crucial it is to see your doctor and openly discuss any symptoms or signs, and if appropriate, screenings. A conversation now could potentially save your life later.
Conversation is what led me to become a Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) Ambassador. Hearing from friends and family who know or have known men diagnosed with prostate cancer really brought home the notion that maybe one day my father or husband would join the statistics. And after going through what I'd mentioned above -- the shared human denial of "it won't be me," I thought -- why wouldn't it happen to me? Cancer does not discriminate. There is nothing that separates me from all of those other wives and daughters, who have seen their loved ones affected by this disease.
And so it is for all of the wonderful men in my life that I am joining the SU2C movement and raising my voice about a disease that affects more than two million American men and remains the second-leading cause of cancer death for men in the U.S. I truly believe that we can make a difference with the progress of finding better treatments and ultimately, a cure. That is my wish, and a wish I share with so many.
SU2C has collaborated with The Safeway Foundation to help raise awareness and funds in the fight against prostate cancer by designing a limited edition, reusable shopping bag available for purchase at all Safeway locations. Many of us concerned with the environment have been carrying reusable bags for some time. This isn't a new concept, but it's one that can help save lives. Here are just a few reasons this reusable bag -- embossed with the words, "It starts with a wish; it can end with a cure" -- is better than any plastic or paper bag:
We all have men in our lives that we would be lost without -- men who have shaped our lives, been our best friends and loved ones. So the next time you're at a Safeway store, ask about purchasing this bag, available through the month of June. It is our responsibility to be not only environmentally conscious, but conscious of our fellow man, or men.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.SafewayFoundation.org and for more information on how to get involved with Stand Up To Cancer, visit http://standup2cancer.org/
Follow Angie Harmon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Angie_Harmon
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/psa-test_b_1547019.html
"He is a two-time diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a board-certified specialist in Preventive Medicine/Public Health, and a clinical instructor in medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. Katz is known internationally for expertise in nutrition, weight management, and chronic disease prevention."
He is not an oncologist, radiation oncologist, urologist, or a specialist in any kind of cancer.
The panel that recommended against the PSA test did not include a urologist or an oncologist.
The chair is a pediatrician. Working for a college with research grants from the federal government.
Are you here for your unnecessary and ill-advised prostate cancer screening? Dr. Madoff will see you now.
And to be clear--I had two digital exams and two PSAs before being sent to a urologist who did another digital exam before a biopsy before a diagnosis.
Based on my scores I had a 20% chance of 5 year survival with surgery alone. Less, of course, with no treatment.
The only symptom I had? I was peeing more frequently.
But you know what--don't get tested--that is your decision.
And when you're diagnosed with fatal stage IV cancer in your 50's I'm sure the fact that you were never screened will be a great comfort to your widow.
You can go to your grave proud that you saved the insurance company what-- $200?-- to give you a simple blood test.
But understand this--the panelists, the senators, the doctors, the insurance execs? They're all still going to get tested. As they work to deny insurance or medicaid coverage to people who need it--especially the at-risk AA community.
Because I never believed in WMD. And I'm smart enough to see this for what it is. Step one in the road to removing PSA screening from covered medical testing.
I have a check up every year. My cancer went from undetectable to stage II in one year. According to my scores, I had a 20% chance of going 5 years without a reoccurence if I was treated with surgery alone. Chemo, we believe, cut that number in half.
I had two digital exams and two PSAs before I went to a urologist. I had another digital exam before a biopsy. I wasn't diagnosed until 13 out of 13 samples came back positive.
I saw an oncologist and a radiation oncologist. My urologist and my oncologist actively recommended getting as many opinions as I needed. I was an educated consumer.
So don't get tested. You have the right to make that decision.
Unfortunately, medicaid and the insurance industries will use this finding to dismantle insurance payment for screenings. We'll go back to the old days when people were diagnosed after it was too late. Because the insurance companies will be removing the right to make that decision.
And we'll return to the days when 20K more men a year will die a slow and agonizing death from a disease that could have been stopped--if it had been caught in time.
But rest assured--the doctors on the panel, the insurance execs, and the republicans who are cutting health care to the already marginalized will still be getting screened.
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf12/prostate/draftrecprostate.htm
And this:
"Siegel said the report ignores or fails to explain the dramatic decrease in deaths from prostate cancer over the last several decades.
"About 250,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. That has stayed pretty stable. It is the death rates that have come down significantly," he says.
"In the last 30 years the deaths have dropped from 48,000 to 28,000 a year. The surgery is better. The radiation is somewhat better. But there haven't been significant advances except in some of the surgical techniques to explain this, other than screening.""
So when you or the panel manage to explain the how saving 19,940 lives (20K less the 3/1000 with fatal post treatment side effects) is not beneficial I will listen.
Remember--those are real men, with real families and real loved ones.
The number of diagnosis per year has not increased after the use of the PSA tests. But the number of deaths has gone down. Why? Early detection and treatment.
My grandfather died of prostate cancer because it attacked bone before they caught it. He died a slow and agonizingly painful death. And this is what you are "glad" to condemn men to.
Do you go to a vet because all doctors are crooked?
Men can help the economy by getting screened for prostate cancer: the lab that does the PSA blood test makes money; the urologist makes money by biopsying your prostate; the pathologist makes money by looking at the biopsies; the hospitals, urologists, and radiation therapists will make money...
NOW...I was 49 yrs old excellent healthwent to Doctor for Check up/Blood test..DRE normal..PSA cam back little high...antibiotics...PSA still high..NOW Urologist...DRE Normal..PSA test again a little bit higher..Sonogram/Biopsies...Sonogram normal...Urologist not sure what to say now...BUT Biopsie shows PROSTATE CANCER now....What the most Important thing "AmericanPatroit4ever" left out was ....I GET TO LIVE AN MAKE MONEY. GOD BLESS
To all the other's with "Cancer's" WHY they shouldn't be TESTED...DUE TO MONEY and not your "Theories".GOD BLESS
but it doesn't make it true.
Any more than saying "WMD in Iraq" made that true.
if their is a better method than a finger in the rectum?
the Doctor asked if I wanted a second opinion?
I answered "no!"
the Doctor answered jokingly was " I was going to give you 2 fingers!"
1 of 6 odds for prostate cancer is worth a finger once a year!
Thanks..We prostate cancer survivors appreciate your help. What you can do is contact the idiots who want us to stop using the PSA test (combined with a DRE) to diagnose the possible onset of prostate cancer As you know this group is the same group who wants to eliminate mammograms. At least with breast cancer you can do self exams. Ask your male friends how in the world they would do self exams of their prostate. Remember, there are no symptoms until it has metastasized and is then basically incurable