Prostate Cancer Awareness

Prostate Cancer Awareness

Mike Urette shares his story of survival

it's the most frequently diagnosed cancer and American men over the age of 50 that's why this month is dedicated to raising awareness of prostate cancer Micah Rhett was diagnosed in July of 2014 this last year has been like a roller coaster for him and his family he's here today to share his story in hopes of inspiring others to get tested and mike is joined by his doctor dr. julio pal sang thank you both so much for joining us this morning Mike let's start with you tell me how did you discover that you have prostate cancer I had been watching my PSA score for many many years and eventually it last spring it took a big spike and went from about a four or five level to about a nine or ten level so it almost doubled and my doctor dr. Paul saying determined that it was appropriate to do some further investigation and that's how we found the cancer yeah me about your treatments well I had two types of treatments I had hormone replacement therapy and then I had radiation therapy and the combination over about a four or five month period it was very successful then we're happy to hear that and happy that you're healthy dr. pail sang he mentioned his PSA levels is that something that's typically monitored through physicals is that something that men should be watching well it's a blood test and this very controversial there was a report a couple of years ago that probably it wasn't helpful in diagnosing prostate cancer nevertheless if it's well used and is discussed with a man with there is a benefit or risk of getting the test it could be a useful test like any other test is a tool he's not perfect but it's a tool absolutely and it's it incredibly important to catch this earlier rather than later later with any cancer and is that one way to catch it earlier yes that's one of the ways to catch it earlier also looking at whether a man has a history of prostate cancer in the family whether a one is african-american that increases the risk now it is important to understand that catching the currently cancer earlier might not be a good thing because many cancers are very quiet and indolent so it takes a lot of a conversation with a patient to a better understand it yeah and I was telling you guys both that my father also had prostate cancer and thankfully he's healthy now but might tell me what was the impact on your family over the past year as you went through this process the early stages of finding out about cancer and having cancer is a huge shock and the impact on the family frankly was very positive I mean I had tremendous support my wife was incredibly supportive my our children were always interested and to the extent they could be involved but it's really a very personal thing so it's not something that the family participates and accept my wife she really did a fabulous job absolutely there's a lot of fear and and we were talking a little bit before about men not always wanting to discuss this but it's incredibly important what do you want people to know especially this month of November where we're really raising awareness about men's health issues I think that the message that I would give is for men number one to be tested I I'm a firm believer in in the PSA test but then to talk to as dr. Powell sang said to talk about it with the doctors and with other men that have had it I found great support coming from other men that had had it up to 10 years prior but those that had more recently we're very helpful in reducing some of the unknown aspects of it and and making me feel more comfortable with living with it yeah well we are appreciative that you're okay and that you're doing well that your family has you hear this Thanksgiving a lot to be thankful for thank you both for coming on and talking with us this morning we appreciate it thank you very much I will to learn more about prostate cancer and see more stories from moffatts community of courage campaign go to our website WFLA com well the clearwater police department is showing their support for men's health they posted this they posed for this picture with their Movember moustaches hashtag Movember trended this month as more men use social media to spread awareness will share your movember mustache and support for people with prostate cancer on our facebook page WFLA News Channel AIDS well are you looking for ways to get into the holiday spirit this weekend's coming up after the break where you can find a little winter wonderland in the heart of downtown Tampa a.m. santa's comin into my god well it's hard to believe Santa is indeed coming very soon coming up how you can step up your light in game with some ideas from the world record breaker that's next

#Prostate #Cancer #Awareness

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