Movember – Saving Lives By Raising Awareness of Prostate and Testicular Cancer
Movember – The month formerly known as November
The men in moustaches are taking over!
All around you, men are growing moustaches for charity. Ok, it’s not exactly a difficult challenge, but the reason behind is very serious.
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in the UK and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.
Some statistics for you…
- The rate of cancer diagnoses in men is considerably higher than the rate in women.
- In every 100,000 men there will be 417 cases diagnosed, compared to 366 cases per 100,000 females.
- Evidence suggests that about a third (39%) of 12 common cancers in the UK could be prevented through diet, physical activity and body weight.
- 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
- In 2008 37,051 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed and 10,168 men died.
- Testicular cancer in the UK affects younger men between the ages of 20 and 50. 1,990 men were diagnosed with the disease in 2007.
I will be joining the army of men across the country in an effort to raise these much needed funds and am campaigning to raise as much money as possible. Even though you may not know me, you may wish to still donate to this very worthy cause. Please visit my Movember page at http://www.mobro.co/rogermayne in order to leave your donation, and I will respond to each and every contributor.
Whilst campaigning for sponsorship, I was sent the following letter. The author would like to remain anonymous, but it highlights the effects of prostate cancer.
Written by “The Idiot”
Hi Guys,
Over the past 15 months I have made a point of talking about Prostate Cancer with as many blokes as possible. Although most will say they are aware of the potential problem, some even have known of friends who have suffered and died, very few (none) have actually done anything to ensure they are not/will not be victims’
I sincerely hope the following real life experience will make every one of you get down the doctors for a PSA blood test. Yes that is all it takes a simple blood test not even the greased finger up the jacksy. The average PSA is 4 when I finally stopped being a bloody idiot and got tested mine was an alarm bell ringing 26.
Prostate Cancer is one of the easiest to diagnose and treat yet it (2008 figures) kills 10,168 men it that year, that’s 12% of all male cancers deaths and is only 2nd to lung cancer. Do the sums and that is one bloke dying every hour.
The main reason for the high mortality rate being that so many blokes are complete idiots (like myself) and don’t take note/do something at the first warning signs.
What is the Prostate –?
It is a walnut sized thing that the pee tube from the bladder passes through to exit at the willy. The two sperm tubes from the balls also join the pee tube in the prostate (sorry about the technical jargon). You could call it the Clapham Junction for all routes to the willy.
What are the warning signs-?
Loss of pressure when having a pee
Frequent need to have a pee
Only being able to manage a dribble each time – I became over a period of 12 months a dab hand at jumping into the back of the cab and having to have a dribble into a bottle between jobs, sometime twice an hour.
Reduced ability to ejaculate or not being able to ejaculate. I blamed the wife for this one and how wrong was I.
Well after some 18 months of ignoring all the warning signs – doing that blokish thing and just finding ways round the problem to compensate for the bloody obvious. It all came to a climax when walking back to the cab after having a coffee with my accountant (we all have to see them once a year) the front of my jeans suddenly became quite warm and a darker shade than normal. On arriving home my wife (a quiet person by nature) went bloody ballistic and in no uncertain terms told me to “get down the doctors and get myself sorted out.
Next day she went of to work I now had two choices, make that appointment or spend the whole day (in-between umpteen visits to the toilet) removing every ornament (potential missile) to the garden shed.
Off to the docs I went and suddenly found myself caught up in the fantastic machine that is our National Health Service. Had an urgent blood test, appointment with a consultant at East Surrey Hospital within days and the operation called a TURP a few days later.
It turned out it was not a case of not being able to hold me water but that I could hold it better than most. My prostate had squeezed my pee tube to a virtual closure so my bladder had to be full to bursting (which it came very close to doing) before a dribble could get passed.
The TURP in short is drilling a bigger hole through the prostate so I can now pee like a horse and go several hours without needing the loo. However it did bugger up the plumbing from the testicles a bit. After a week or so I just had to try the ejaculation stuff out. Well it responded all the sensations were there and so was that final relief satisfaction. But no ejaculation as it all back flushed up into the bladder, hey ho sex without the mess could save a fortune on boxes of tissues.
How much of an idiot was I?
Due to my own stupidity the cancer had burst out of the prostate and into the lymph nodes below so now I have been on female hormone implants for 14 months. That’s chemical castration (so no tissues required) menopausal hot flushes (still waiting for that female ability to multitask – think it is a myth). Due to start radio therapy on the 18th that’s then every day Mon-Fri for two months.
I can only blame myself for being so stupid WHO are you going to blame as some 50% of blokes will experience some form of prostate problem.
I do not want to receive any sympathy replies; I am quite capable of crying in my own beer. What I would really like is to hear that every male member has booked that blood test. Don’t be a bloody idiot.
BTW at no time did I experience (after the trip to the docs) any pain so relax it may be a tender and much loved part of you so take care of it.
The aim of Movember is to raise awareness, and I sincerely hope that this letter above does exactly that. I’m sure that you will encounter a “MoBro” or “MoSista” this month, which is great, but if you’d like to donate, please visit my Movember page and support everyone involved.
Thank you.
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