Did you know that September is, Prostate Cancer Awareness Month? Well it is, and in saying that I feel that this is an important topic to be aware of; for you to talk about it with either your husband, brother, father, friend, cousin, etc.
Why? Because unfortunately in today’s world it is still something that remains unspoken, amongst our men/male members. This is not a horrible secrete…well it becomes one if you don’t do anything to prevent or screen for it.
Apart from making you aware of this National Health awareness day, it is to really open up this door of conversation between MEN, women and men. Cancer is a scary word and you don’t want it to happen to anybody, especially to those you know, love and care about. Because when it does show its scary, ugly head you kind of feel numb. As this is what happened when my dad was diagnosed with it several years ago.
What made things easier to handle, was the fact that my dad went for his usual yearly medical check ups – which included the PSA blood test. It was from this that his fantastic GP then sent him off for further tests, due to the levels being a little out of range. Well to cut a long story short, everything worked out well for my dad after having surgery with no other side effects, due to it having been detected early.
Also, I was just talking to a (male) friend and I mentioned this to him. He agreed that unfortunately men do not like to look after their health or take the time to address issues when they present themselves. Especially when it comes to that little thing called “Prostate”, due to the fear of having the good old digital rectal exam! But, did you know that, unless you are presenting with symptoms this is not necessary!! Getting a blood test checking your PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) levels, as all that you need.
The funny thing about all of this, is that about a month ago I was watching my man playing soccer, and after the game this very same topic came up. It was brought up by guy’s uncle (roughly in his mid 70’s) who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He told the ‘younger’ men that they need to go and get checked out. Now, needless to say there was a lot of joking around about the digital exam (I'm sure you can imagine what was said), but what I liked about this moment was that they were all open about it, and not trying to change the subject. This is how it should be!
So, I encourage you to gently remind, or suggest, your male counterparts for them to get the blood test done. As I’m sure they may be thinking about it but are a little worried about doing it. Maybe you can shine a light on it by hosting a BBQ, to help raise funds for research https://www.prostate.org.au/get-involved/events/organise-a-fundraising-event/
If you would like to learn a little more about, you can check out the following websites