The Two Faces of Cancer

Improbably, we received both calls on the same late-January day, at nearly the same time. As I sat in the family room hearing about my brother Geoff’s throat cancer diagnosis, Barbara was in the dining room speaking with her brother Alan. He’d just been informed he had non-small cell lung cancer, very likely terminal. When … Continue reading The Two Faces of Cancer

Discovery of Bacteria Related to Aggressive Prostate Cancer

I saw this article yesterday and wanted to share with those of my followers who are interested in prostate cancer. This sounds like a promising development in the detection of high-risk, aggressive forms of the cancer. Very much worth a read. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/20/discovery-of-bacteria-linked-to-prostate-cancer-hailed-as-potential-breakthrough

Talking Prostate Cancer With Vic Lombardi at Altitude Sports

A few weeks ago, I did an interview with sports anchor and overall great guy Vic Lombardi at Denver's Altitude Sports. Vic is a 50 year-old prostate cancer survivor who is using his celebrity to raise awareness of this nasty disease. Don Sims, an ultra-marathoner from Denver, joined us—incredibly—the same morning he had his catheter … Continue reading Talking Prostate Cancer With Vic Lombardi at Altitude Sports

Suck it Up, Guys, or Post It on Facebook

Well, I’ll be goddamned. I’m a social justice warrior. I had no idea this was the case until a guy posted an SJW meme on one of my blog posts. The fact is, until I saw the meme, titled “Anatomy of an SJW,” I didn’t know what the hell it stood for. I want to … Continue reading Suck it Up, Guys, or Post It on Facebook

Each Time, A Little More Composure

The release of my book Midpoint this week resulted in some old friends reaching out to ask how I’m feeling eighteen months after undergoing surgery for stage-3 prostate cancer. The book ends with my checking results from my first postoperative PSA test in March, 2018. For people I don’t see often, that would be their … Continue reading Each Time, A Little More Composure

A Mother’s Cancer, In a Poem

A Meeting, Eventually It was a taking-away for you— eight years of Providence slow unfolding— like cloud-shadows passing over low, green fields— as the obedient soul yields to its story’s ending. Perhaps I shall yield as well at a point I cannot foretell— though you may see an altered course: a truck weaving up the … Continue reading A Mother’s Cancer, In a Poem

Living Life in the Low Beams

The final chapter of my book Midpoint: Manhood, Midlife, and Prostate Cancer, ends with my nervously checking the results of my first post-surgery PSA test. The news that day was good—none of the antigen was detectable in my blood, which indicated that, for then at least, the cancer was beat back. Since then, I've lived … Continue reading Living Life in the Low Beams

Can Men Be Trusted With PSA Screening?

My daughter is reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Natural Causes for a sociology course in college. This week she’s been home for Spring break, catching up on her sleep and getting ahead on course reading. Now, my daughter knows I have strong opinions on prostate cancer screening, so it was a significant moment when she set … Continue reading Can Men Be Trusted With PSA Screening?

“Captain Obvious” Advice for Your Prostate Health

Every now and then I see my wife, a professor of 19th-century British literature, reading a new lit-crit article with a title like "String Theory in Browning's 'Fra Lippo Lippi.'" That's when I remark that everything worth saying about literature was written before 1950. I realize, of course, that's snarky nonsense. Sometimes, though, it seems … Continue reading “Captain Obvious” Advice for Your Prostate Health