Savage Words: I’m not going to stop being an annoying advocate

I’ve written about this before, so forgive me if I sound like I’m hounding.

But two years ago this week, my life changed forever. For the rest of my life, I’m going to be an advocate for telling men my age to get a PSA test. It saved my life, and it’s such a simple test.

Two years ago, I was in New York City for one of the most memorable trips of my life, both for the good and bad. My daughter sang at the famed Carnegie Hall, and I couldn’t have been prouder.

The day before she sang, I got a call from Urology Specialists in Sioux Falls. Prior to making the trip to New York, I went in for my annual exam with my family practice doctor. Routine check-up, no big deal.

Just like normal, I was given a complete blood work panel. It’s a simple blood draw, and it checks everything from blood sugars to kidney function to protein levels. Everything.

One of those tests is called a PSA, or Prostate-specific antigen. It checks the prostate for cancer.

Typically, when that number comes back with anything under a 4.0, you’re in pretty good shape. I got my results back from my regular appointment a day before I left for New York and it came back 3.2. Relieved, I headed to New York with a skip in my step.

So, when I got the call from Urology Specialists that they wanted to see me a few days later while I was in New York, it took me back a bit. I didn’t really pay it much mind because I was confident my 3.2 was a solid number.

When I got back to my hotel in New York, I had an email from my family practice doctor that said because my PSA jumped from a 2.2 to a 3.2 in just a year, that I should probably have it checked out. I’m forever grateful to Dr. Joseph Mowery at Sanford Family Medicine for being vigilant and sending me to the urologist. 

So, I visited my urologist when I got back from New York. His exact quote was, “You can come see me in three months, you can come see me in six months, but there’s a biopsy in your future.”

That conversation made things a lot more real. I had the biopsy done, and I’ll be honest, it wasn’t fun. Two days later, I got a call from my doctor’s nurse who confirmed that I had cancer in my prostate.

Hearing the “C” word is a shocker. I was numb. At 52 years of age, I had cancer in my prostate.

I visited my urologist a few days later, and he comforted me. He told me I was “exactly the guy they were looking for: a man in his 50s where they caught the PSA number and subsequent cancer early.”

With his recommendation, I had Radical Prostatectomy surgery in April of 2022. When the pathology report came back after my surgery, I was more than relieved when my doctor told me that none of the cancer had spread and that I was in the clear.

For the past two years, I’ve been an annoying advocate to my friends about getting their PSA number checked. One in seven men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and if caught early enough, they can be annoying like me and hound their own friends.

Sometimes I wonder if I talk about it too much. I probably remind my friends about it too often. But I love those guys…I want them around.

Two weeks ago, my confidence was bolstered that I’ve been doing the right thing. One of those friends I stayed on came up to me at one of our local watering holes, and gave me a hug.

He told me because of my continued suggestions to stay on top of that PSA, that he asked for the test at his most recent doctor’s appointment. His number came back at 3.7, and a biopsy later showed that he did indeed have prostate cancer as well.

“You’re exactly the guy we’re looking for,” is what he told me his doctor said. “Man in his 50s, where we caught the PSA and cancer early.”

Exactly.

Fellas, I’m not going to stop being an annoying advocate.

The test is simple, and it saved my life, and a friend’s.