My Doctor Said I Was Too Young for Prostate Cancer – She was Wrong

This as-to-told-tos Essay is bassed on a conversation with eric morrow, a prostate Cancer Survivor, US Air Force Veteran, and Volunteer Advocate for Zero Prostate Cancer, a nonprofit Focused on Supporting Patients and Eliminating Prostate Cancer. Its been edited for Length and Clarity.

I was diagnosed with prostate Cancer on June 8, 2021, at 49. It was shortly before my 50th birthday.

I’ll admit i did not know a lot about prostate cancer then. I knew it was fairly Common and, to the best of my knowLEDGE at the time, i though it primarily affected older men in their 70s and 80s.

Five Years Prior, in 2016, I’d Learned That My Father Had previously Had prostate and that he was in remission after being successFully treated.

So, the next time of saw my primary caare Physician, who was assured to with Through the Air Force, i Told Her About My Family History and Asked IF I Should Get Checked for Prostate Cancer.

She said that i was too Young and Didn’t Need to World Getting Screened Until My 50s.

The phone call that probably Saved My Life

In 2020, My PCP Said I was Old Enough to have a colonoscopy to check for Colon Cancer. That’s we can all start.

After my colonoscopy, The Gastroenterologist Said My Colon Loked Great, but my prostate LOOKED A LITTLE Enlarged, and I Should Schedule an Appointment with a Urologist.

I had no other symptoms to suggest to Had prostate Cancer. ALSO, THIS WAS DURING The Height of the Pandemic. I got distracted by work and didn’t make the appointment immediately.

I was really Lucky that the doctor Called with back a month late to see if i’d seen the urologist. It was a really Simple Follow-up, but that Phone Call promped with them make the appment and probably saved my life.

My PSA Level was in the nosereds

The urologist scheduled with for a digital rectal exam and an mri, and then drew my Blood for a PSA Test, which Measures Specific Proteins in the Blood to Identify Prostate Cancer.

I got a call a few hours late about my PSA level. I was to told that anything overflowed be a concert for a man of my age. My PSA Level Was 225.

The urologist Said there is a many reasons for my excremely High psa levels, but a late Biopsy revealed that I have prostate with a gleason score, whic measures how aggressive the Cancer is, of nine. The Highest the Scale Goes is 10.

I GOT The TRIFECTA OF TREATMENT: SURGERY, Radiation, and Pills

I was Lucky Enough that the Department of Defense’s Center for Prostate Disease Research at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Was Nearby, and My Case Aggresses Enough to their Treatment.

There, I have a Cancer team including a urologic on the oncologist and radiation oncologist who recommended a multi-step treatment involving surgery, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy to turn off testosterone in my body.

I Started Surgery in July 2021, AFTER WHICH I HAD ISSURE WITH INCONTINENCE. Despite Physical Therapy to Improve it, I Never Regioned Full Control of My Bladder. This made the radiation therapy, which came about five-and-half months late, Very Challenging.

Each time, i had to come with an empty rectum and a full bladder. The full bladder basically flush the rectum, so it is not much in the field where they’re going to shoot with radiation.

Each of the 39 Radiation sessions I Completed Only Lasts About 15 Minutes, But I Had A Hard Time Getting My Bladder Full Enough and Then Holding It Long Enough for Therapy.

To get through it, i’d play a game with myself: they had music going, and i would just listen to the music and try to memorize it. Thatn, I was on Facebook AFTERWARD AND POSED A LIST OF ALL THE SONGS – IT BECAME MY “PLAYLIST OF THE DAY” FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

The Androgen Deprivation Therapy, Aka Hormone Therapy, was a shot i got every three months, Along with pills I was taking every day. I did this therapy for About 24 months.

The Side Effects Were Pretty Haresh. I Experienced Hot Flashes, Mood Swings, Additional Abdominal Fat, Loss of Muscle Mass and Bone Density, and It Killed My Libido. I got back into lifting weigs that i hadnn’t been doing for probably more than a decade, and that helped minimize some of the weight gain and muscle loss.

Since Coming off Hormone Therapy, My Testosterone Has Luckily Gone Back to Pre-Treatment Levels, and My PSA Level Has Remained undetectable.

I quit my job after getting Cancer

I Woldn’t wish Cancer on anybody, but the one thing it is give you is perspective. Realized i wand to do something more.

SO IN DECEMBER OF 2022, I LEFT MY JOB WITH A MEDICAL DEVICE COMPANY I’D BEEN WITH FOR OVER NINE YEARS. I was ready to give back to the prostate Cancer Community.

I’m Now Doing a Lot of Work on a Year-Round Basis With Zero Prostate Cancer. I ALSO VOLUNTER AT WALTER REED, WHERE I RECEIVED MY CANCER TREATMENT.

I Also Speak with New Prostate Cancer Patients and Try to Give I say Hope. I say, “four years ago, I was sitting right where you are and i though i was going to die. But i’m still, and i’m ok.”