Take cancer tests seriously
Last week, I had the opportunity to talk to one of the area's leading experts on cancer, Dr. Thomas Reid at the Big Horn Basin Cancer Center in Cody.
The discussion: prostate cancer, in relation to the recent announcement that former President Joe Biden has stage four prostate cancer.
That news hit me too — my dad just went through surgery to remove his prostate after he was found to have an earlier stage of the cancer, which remains one of the leading causes of death in men in this country, even though early stage cancer is very treatable.
That then, is the point Dr. Reid — and my dad's experience — provide clearly: Early detection is the key to cancer being something you can beat and, in Biden's case, a grave threat.
Dr. Reid felt so strongly after seeing Biden's diagnosis that he wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal talking about the importance of testing men for prostate cancer even after age 70, which some of the country’s leading cancer organizations actually advise against.
Testing is important and, if you're like me and you have a family history of cancer — my grandfather also had it — you should test early.
Dr. Reid advises many of his cancer patients to undergo genetic testing that shows whether or not their cancer was the cause of family genes. This gives descendants, such as me, the opportunity to know if a certain cancer is genetic and thus if they're at a high risk of the cancer gene carrying down to the next generation.
And yes, I'm aware prostate cancer tests are not fun, but isn't it worth it to hopefully catch cancer early? While the type of cancer Biden has takes five to 10 years to develop, even missing a year or two could result in the cancer being more developed, and having less options for treatment, than if it was caught within a year of developing.
Dr. Reid says men should start testing at 50, or if they have a family member who had the cancer, to test at least 10 years prior to the age the family member got the diagnosis.
He also advises men to keep testing after age 70. As he said, the average 70-year-old American male still has 14 years to live. Why not do what you can to ensure you get all of those years, if not more?