WHY ARE THERE NO EVENTS FOR PROSTATE CANCER LIKE BREAST CANCER(walk or runs)

PLW2ND

IAM 43yrs and I can not find any support groups for young men such as myself. I have been fighting for 2yrs now and notice that Prostate Cancer does not get as much pub as Breast Cancer. This is my first time on this site and i had alot of things on my mind. I have been looking for Prosate Cancer runs or walk in my area also can anyone let me know of a support gruop for men in there 40s. Sometimes it is easyer to talk to someone in your age group. Can anybody help me with this.


Thanks Preston

lewvino

Preston,
Sorry to hear about
Preston,
Sorry to hear about your cancer. I'm 55 and just had my Davinci surgery back in August 2009.
I also searched for support groups. It saddens me when I read of men even younger then I am that are facing this Battle with prostate cancer.
September was Prostate cancer awareness month but you didn't hear much about it like you do breast cancer. The closest large town to where I lived did have a prostate walk to raise money but I didn't know about it till AFTER the walk!
Finding support groups is difficult. Try calling different hospitals in your area or even ask your urologist if he/she knows of any. I had a hard time finding a support group but finally did. But I'm the youngest one in the support group at 55! I would suggest going to www.healingwell.com on the web. They have a very active online support group and ask your question there.
If you ever want to talk offline shoot me an email at lewvino@yahoo.com

Larry

lshick

Support groups
The largest network of local support group chapters that I know of is UsToo:

http://ustoo.com/Chapter_NearYou.asp?country1=United States

Good luck.

The other Larry

NM

52 yrs old
I also could find no support groups in my area but in defense I live in rural NE Pennsylvania. My main support came from people on this site as far as walks I have never heard of any anywhere. Its like this disease just isnt as important as the "other" cancers.

Read the old posts as they helped me tremendously. I did have 1 neighbor who is almost 80 who had open surgery 16 years ago. He had never heard of Davinci and assumed I had open surgery.

My cancer is inherited according to my doctor and I was wondering if your dad also had prostate cancer as you seem young to get it.Actually i though I was young when diagnosed this summer.

I am 5 weeks post op from Davinci and going back to work next week (kinda nervous about it too)I had a good experience as far as it goes with my surgery and any questions you have ask here a lot of experience on this site and you will get all the help and advice you need.

You just joined the club nobody wants to join but now arm yourself with all the info you can,take a deep breath,include your family,and make a decision on which treatment you choose.Because of my age and I wanted the cancer out I choose Davinci

Hope this helps some.......Nick

WHW

Support Groups
In addition to UsToo, the American Cancer Society sponsors the support group Man2Man. It has chapters in just about every city. Google it and you can find their locations near you. The Orlando area has 5 groups in the metro area.

As to why we don't have the same recognition as Pink Month. We just don't make enough noise about PCa. The women are much more organized and that is a fact. Just look at the number of men attending Pink functions. Most people did not know that September was PCa awareness month.

We need to do a lot better job of getting the word out. We all need to at least talk with every man we come in contact with about the advantages of establishing a baseline PSA and doing routine follow-ups. Men also need to get over the negativism of taking the finger from their doctor.

There is little publicity and definitely not enough awareness. Statistics prove that men are 33% more likely to get prostate cancer than women are to get breast cancer. About the same number of men will die from it each year as women will die from breast cancer. Some man will die from PCa every 17 minutes of every day this year.

We need to get these facts out. If your newspaper and tv station don't have anything about PCA Awareness next September 1st, we need to be sending emails and letters. Until we speak up we will never get the national attention and subsequently will never get the funding for support and care functions. Additionally we are sorely lagging behind in raising funds for PCa research to eliminate, control or come up with new methods of dealing with it.

Just my opinion, but one that I am finding that is shared by many.

Sonny

Amy41

Events
www.prostateconditions.org
I found this last year - I'll volunteer for the one in Seattle next month - Preston you were so lucky to get diagnosed at a young age - my husband is 51 and has advanced prostate cancer and maybe if he had an annual PSA test starting at 40 we would not be dealing with this horrible disease at this level.

steckley

Events that may be what you are looking for
Hi Preston,

The following link takes you to USToo's Chapter News. You might find some of these events interesting ... and maybe there is a USToo chapter in your hometown. Hope this is what you were looking for.

Bob

http://www.ustooevents.org/site/R?i=HL8ikm1YXSfOkf9e6AjUgA..

luckyman2

steckley said:

Events that may be what you are looking for
Hi Preston,

The following link takes you to USToo's Chapter News. You might find some of these events interesting ... and maybe there is a USToo chapter in your hometown. Hope this is what you were looking for.

Bob

http://www.ustooevents.org/site/R?i=HL8ikm1YXSfOkf9e6AjUgA..

Procure Walk - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
There is a "Procure" walk held every year on Father's Day in Montreal to raise awareness and funds regarding prostate cancer research, treatments and a cure. The majority of the funds raised go toward the Montreal General Hospital's urology/oncology research and treatments for prostate cancer. You will find individual and corporate sponsors giving a tremendous amount of support each year for this cause. The city's mayor as well as NHL and other sports figures walk in this event. It is capped off with a BBQ and prize draws for everyone.

You can go online to the procure website... "www.procure.ca" to find more information. It's a good start to developing similar walks in your own cities.

GBN

Prostate Cancer Walk
I would love to create a prostate cancer walk and to have this trend taken nationwide.
My father died of prostate cancer two years ago, and I have noticed that there is very little said about men's health in general.

If we can create awareness, then men will no longer be too afraid or ashamed to mention their prostate gland, and maybe we can get them to understand the need to be tested at an early age, for early detection, as you have done.

Prostate cancer, when caught early is 98% curable. It is unnecessary to die of this disease in this time of advanced medicine. However, men often do not look into their health because either they are too ashamed or afraid, and I feel that encouragement from other men, like a coalition on men's health, would provide the venue for them to push each other to check it out.

Men think differently from women. Most do not want cushy pink ribbons to remind them of their health, but need an army of pro-test to be pro-state and know their "state." I want this to be our mantra, "KNOW YOUR STATE - get tested - KNOW YOUR STATE"

Let's find ways we can all work together to promote this as a very necessary knowledge for men - because you're somebody's daddy, somebody's husband, somebody's brother, somebody's uncle, somebody's grandpa, somebody's priest, somebody's teacher, somebody's cousin, somebody's hero....and I am still Daddy's little girl!

Pleaase listen to me. Please comment. How can we get this thing going? Work locally, but let's think nationally - and globally. Men have prostate glands the world over, cancer is universal. However, it can be stopped.

lewvino

GBN said:

Prostate Cancer Walk
I would love to create a prostate cancer walk and to have this trend taken nationwide.
My father died of prostate cancer two years ago, and I have noticed that there is very little said about men's health in general.

If we can create awareness, then men will no longer be too afraid or ashamed to mention their prostate gland, and maybe we can get them to understand the need to be tested at an early age, for early detection, as you have done.

Prostate cancer, when caught early is 98% curable. It is unnecessary to die of this disease in this time of advanced medicine. However, men often do not look into their health because either they are too ashamed or afraid, and I feel that encouragement from other men, like a coalition on men's health, would provide the venue for them to push each other to check it out.

Men think differently from women. Most do not want cushy pink ribbons to remind them of their health, but need an army of pro-test to be pro-state and know their "state." I want this to be our mantra, "KNOW YOUR STATE - get tested - KNOW YOUR STATE"

Let's find ways we can all work together to promote this as a very necessary knowledge for men - because you're somebody's daddy, somebody's husband, somebody's brother, somebody's uncle, somebody's grandpa, somebody's priest, somebody's teacher, somebody's cousin, somebody's hero....and I am still Daddy's little girl!

Pleaase listen to me. Please comment. How can we get this thing going? Work locally, but let's think nationally - and globally. Men have prostate glands the world over, cancer is universal. However, it can be stopped.

There are things done but
There are things done but they usually are not getting the media attention that breast cancer does.

I found out about a local Prostate Cancer walk---AFTER THE FACT!!!

If you hadn't heard this is MOVEMBER - You can google but basically started by some guys in Australia. Men Grow a moustache in November (Hence MOVEMBER) when people ask about your new look you can then tell them why you are growing the moustache. THen you shave it off at the end of the month. Mine is growing...I've had 2 people ask me about it. This can also be tied to fund raising.

Larry

txbarton

lewvino said:

There are things done but
There are things done but they usually are not getting the media attention that breast cancer does.

I found out about a local Prostate Cancer walk---AFTER THE FACT!!!

If you hadn't heard this is MOVEMBER - You can google but basically started by some guys in Australia. Men Grow a moustache in November (Hence MOVEMBER) when people ask about your new look you can then tell them why you are growing the moustache. THen you shave it off at the end of the month. Mine is growing...I've had 2 people ask me about it. This can also be tied to fund raising.

Larry

Movember
I had a post about Movember a couple weeks ago.

My son started a team, a link to the team site is - http://us.movember.com/mospace/212361 (the picture will be familiar)

The team is "Helo-Velo" to reflect a connection with helicopters and cycling.

VB

15thClub

Why No Awareness Events?
I dunno. I don't wear any ribbon for awareness of any sort. There are no bumper stickers on my car. Maybe men are not "wired" that way.
Maybe finding some prostate cancer survivors for a weekly game of group tennis, hoops, golf, fishing...something that requires physical activity. What we do have in common with the women in our lives is that we love our get togethers amongst ourselves and a couple hours out of the week...well it's a matter of what you want to commit.

erisian

15thClub said:

Why No Awareness Events?
I dunno. I don't wear any ribbon for awareness of any sort. There are no bumper stickers on my car. Maybe men are not "wired" that way.
Maybe finding some prostate cancer survivors for a weekly game of group tennis, hoops, golf, fishing...something that requires physical activity. What we do have in common with the women in our lives is that we love our get togethers amongst ourselves and a couple hours out of the week...well it's a matter of what you want to commit.

Networking
Women are apparently much better social networkers than men. Just look at the number of women here who are posting for husband, father, etc. Go over to the breast cancer board and see how many men are there posting for their wives. Not many, I'd bet.

RRMCJIM

WHW said:

Support Groups
In addition to UsToo, the American Cancer Society sponsors the support group Man2Man. It has chapters in just about every city. Google it and you can find their locations near you. The Orlando area has 5 groups in the metro area.

As to why we don't have the same recognition as Pink Month. We just don't make enough noise about PCa. The women are much more organized and that is a fact. Just look at the number of men attending Pink functions. Most people did not know that September was PCa awareness month.

We need to do a lot better job of getting the word out. We all need to at least talk with every man we come in contact with about the advantages of establishing a baseline PSA and doing routine follow-ups. Men also need to get over the negativism of taking the finger from their doctor.

There is little publicity and definitely not enough awareness. Statistics prove that men are 33% more likely to get prostate cancer than women are to get breast cancer. About the same number of men will die from it each year as women will die from breast cancer. Some man will die from PCa every 17 minutes of every day this year.

We need to get these facts out. If your newspaper and tv station don't have anything about PCA Awareness next September 1st, we need to be sending emails and letters. Until we speak up we will never get the national attention and subsequently will never get the funding for support and care functions. Additionally we are sorely lagging behind in raising funds for PCa research to eliminate, control or come up with new methods of dealing with it.

Just my opinion, but one that I am finding that is shared by many.

Sonny

Well said Sonny......our
Well said Sonny......our local grocery store had out donation tags for PCa during Sept....I for one was glad to see it...the store was Vons Grocery Chain..

David R.

GBN said:

Prostate Cancer Walk
I would love to create a prostate cancer walk and to have this trend taken nationwide.
My father died of prostate cancer two years ago, and I have noticed that there is very little said about men's health in general.

If we can create awareness, then men will no longer be too afraid or ashamed to mention their prostate gland, and maybe we can get them to understand the need to be tested at an early age, for early detection, as you have done.

Prostate cancer, when caught early is 98% curable. It is unnecessary to die of this disease in this time of advanced medicine. However, men often do not look into their health because either they are too ashamed or afraid, and I feel that encouragement from other men, like a coalition on men's health, would provide the venue for them to push each other to check it out.

Men think differently from women. Most do not want cushy pink ribbons to remind them of their health, but need an army of pro-test to be pro-state and know their "state." I want this to be our mantra, "KNOW YOUR STATE - get tested - KNOW YOUR STATE"

Let's find ways we can all work together to promote this as a very necessary knowledge for men - because you're somebody's daddy, somebody's husband, somebody's brother, somebody's uncle, somebody's grandpa, somebody's priest, somebody's teacher, somebody's cousin, somebody's hero....and I am still Daddy's little girl!

Pleaase listen to me. Please comment. How can we get this thing going? Work locally, but let's think nationally - and globally. Men have prostate glands the world over, cancer is universal. However, it can be stopped.

PCa Walk

My urology group here in the Baltimore area participates in the annual ZERO Prostate Cancer Challenge walk, which is also in 37 other cities across the nation.  You can find out more at www.zerocancer.org/challenge/run.