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
It’s been a while since I posted anything new on my blog. That fact is particularly ironic given that I am, like most everyone in the country, in lockdown with a ton of time on my hands. Strangely, I have found time to wipe down my door knobs and countertops like every 20 minutes. Now … Continue reading America Can Handle the Truth—As Scary As It Is
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
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
A few days ago, I received notification that there was a new post from one of the prostate cancer bloggers I follow. The man is Jim Mantock and his blog is Yet Another Prostate Cancer Blog. I hadn't been following Jim's blog as long as many folks had. He started blogging about his stage-IV prostate … Continue reading Today, One Man Poorer
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
Details about the crime were all too familiar. On April 23rd, a young man in Sunnyvale, CA, steered his car into a group of pedestrians. Eight people were injured, three of them from one “south Asian” family. A 13-year-old girl was left in a coma, fighting for her life. Before long, reports emerged that the … Continue reading Brutalized Souls and the Epidemic of PTSD
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
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?
