Carl Engle—A Modern Miracle

Amazingly, two weeks after surgery for prostate cancer, Carl Engle hiked five miles in the Boise foothills. To his buddy, who also had prostate cancer surgery, and has a 4-inch scar across his belly to prove it, that was a miracle. To Carl, that was only part of the miracle.

It was a day in 2001, when he heard Saint Alphonsus announcing free prostate screenings. A native Idahoan, and co-owner of CJ Precision Machine in Boise, Carl is a baby boomer who, like many of his generation, spent most of his life taking his good health for granted. But on this particular day, he felt urgency from within to take up the free offer and have a prostate check-up. Being an active kind of guy, Carl expected a clean bill of health.

Carl's emotions bounced from denial to surprise and then to concern when his test results came back showing a high PSA level. Just to be sure, he pursued a second opinion—and another test. The results were the same. The next step was a biopsy—and another shocker: He was positive for prostate cancer. Carl felt devastated. "I thought I'd get heart problems," he recalls. "I didn't think I'd get cancer."

For those who haven't been personally brushed by cancer, it's hard to comprehend how hearing the "C-word" following test results simply changes your world. For Carl, his seemingly routine and normal life was suddenly anything but; and life itself was even uncertain. Questions raced through his mind—questions that were far remote from his thoughts just the day before. Would he die soon? What would happen to his business? Would he ever be able to complete all that he wanted to do?

Soon after his diagnosis, Carl unexpectedly faced critical life changing decisions about his health. Once the initial shock wore off, he was presented with the best options for his cancer treatment. Carl's choice was to move forward with surgery to remove the cancer. But unlike other prostate cancer patients facing surgery, Carl was offered an additional option for surgery. Did he want a traditional surgery like his friend had, or would he be willing to be the first in the state of Idaho to have a minimally invasive surgery assisted by the da Vinci robot?

Operating from a console about 10 feet away from Carl, the robotic arms mimicked his surgeon's hands inside the patient. Carl understood the advantages of having the robotic surgery: less blood loss and scarring, reduced pain, shorter hospital stay, and faster recovery.

Today, Carl has a wonderful peace of mind—what seems like a new lease on life. He is looking forward to hiking trips in Stanley with his cousin, and hopes to do a lot of traveling. He's also an avid participant in his spinning class.

Carl believes good things come out of negative experiences. "If I get one man's attention by telling my story, then it's all worth it." He believes a second chance at life has been given to him because his cancer was caught early and removed.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cancer death among men in the United States. Each year, approximately 40,000 men die from this disease. Carl implores, "Men need to get checked out. It's not fun watching a loved one die of cancer. With early detection through regular check-ups, it's curable."