If you see my perhaps feeble attempt to grow a mustache this month and you think, I hate to say anything to him, but his upper lip is very dirty, dont worry, Im aware of it. I have always shaved my face every day, never growing a beard or mustache unless I missd a couple of days following surgery or something. The reason I am doing this now is for a very good cause. On Nov 1, I was watching the Today Show and the men on there were talking about this being No Shave November. Much like October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, where people are asked to wear pink and think pink (I think it is a great cause, by the way, and I support those efforts 100 percent). November is No Shave Month to recognize and bring awareness to prostate cancer in men. This disease can kill, just like any other cancer. I know it because I have a certain kinship to it. Three years ago around this time, my brother, Jeff, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His PSA was sky high after years of normalcy, but the doctor assured him with proper treatment prostate cancer was one of the most treatable forms of cancer. After the Christmas holidays, Jeff began the daily routine of radiation treatments -- somewhere between 39 and 42 altogether. They hurt his hips, he told me, but he endured them and he kept up with his daily visits to our house, to treat my dads diabetes, and to fix his favorite lunch of a hamburger, fruit salad and sugar free cookies. I knew he hurt, but he never complained. When the treatments were finished, he said he was feeling better and the numbers showed a bit of improvement. But as the spring turned to summer in 2012, he started feeling the same worn out effects, and his PSA had risen again. A different doctor told him chemotherapy would be the next logical choice. So, for his family, and the three precious grandchildren he doted on every single day, he agreed to the chemo. He continued to work in the early a.m. hours, and he continued to take his daily turn in helping my dad, even though we all would understand if he had to bow out every once in a while. The chemo treatments were done something like every three weeks, along with other medications, but he would only end up having three or four of them. Just about one year later, Jeff visited his oncologist on a Thursday and the doctor asked him to check into the hospital to receive blood and have another CT scan. The next day, with his wife and daughters around him, the doctor said he was very sorry, but the cancer had spread to his liver and there wasnt anything more they could do to treat it. He was allowed to go home and hospice was set up to look after him. I visited him that Sunday and he hugged me and told me to take care of Dad. That was a promise I had no problem keeping. I told him I loved him and I thanked him for making me a part of his life. For including me in the golf outings, even though I couldnt hit as far as everyone else. The next day, my dad and my brother, Lee, visited him and Im sure he gave them instructions, as well. Jeff was probably the most organized of all the seven boys in my family and it bothered him if things didnt go off as planned. That night, my sister-in-law, Dolly, called me and said Jeff was gone. I called Lee, who lived next door, and I whispered the news to him on the phone because I didnt know how to tell my dad. I dreaded having to do that and so did Lee, but when he came over, I told my dad exactly what Dolly had told me. To this day it is still surrealistic that Jeff is gone. I had always seen him with so much life and it was hard to see that taken away from him. Which brings me back to the beginning of this story. I dont expect people to grow a beard, I just want people to be aware that this is No Shave November and men 40 and older should get checked. Its very simple, with only a little bit of embarrassment. Mine has been checked every year since 2001 and fortunately, it has always been good. Jeffs may have been discovered too late, I dont know, but its true that if detected early enough, prostate cancer is very treatable. Trust me, I dont like mustaches, but Im doing this for a good cause. It may be No Shave November, but I chose the No-Mo Shave option. Im sure my brother is proud of my attempt.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 02:09:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015