The C Word “When the doctor told me I had cancer, I just glazed over,” Jack recalled. “He was telling about my options for treatment, but I didn’t hear much after he said the ‘C’ word. That word just kept going over and over in my mind.”
Jack Floegel was 62 when an elevated PSA score was discovered during an annual exam. Six months later his score was checked again, and it was higher. Jack’s physician referred him to an urologist who performed a needle biopsy on his prostate. That’s when it was confirmed he had cancer.
Jack was now among the 200,000 American men every year diagnosed with prostate cancer. And like the others, he needed to make a tough decision on a course of action. He didn’t want to join the other group, the 32,000 fatalities annually from that disease.
Ugly Options
An engineer by profession, Jack attacked the situation with research. He wanted to learn all he could about his disease and his options for treatment, or even if treatment was needed. “I went to the internet first, which is the worst place to get information, unless you want to read horror stories,” Jack said. “The library provided much better information.”
An engineer by profession, Jack attacked the situation with research. He wanted to learn all he could about his disease and his options for treatment, or even if treatment was needed. “I went to the internet first, which is the worst place to get information, unless you want to read horror stories,” Jack said. “The library provided much better information.”
His research showed that some men choose to do nothing, hoping the cancer doesn’t spread beyond the prostate. “The the course my father-in-law took, and he died at 60,” Jack said. “I’m not going there.” Then there is the option for radiation treatment or radioactive seed implants. “I want the cancer out,” Jack stated firmly. “And that that meant surgery.” The best change to get rid of all the cancer would be to have the entire prostate removed - a prostatectomy.
