peter
“My dad was a proper man’s man. He never complained. He was never sick. His doctor didn’t know him. He was 49 when he had his first heart attack. That obviously made him go to the doctor and then he had a double bypass, followed by a triple bypass. He was also diagnosed with diabetes, Hemochromatosis and a laundry list of other illnesses. One doctor’s visit made him realise that he might not be around forever and waiting to retire for the sweet years may be too late. My parents finally decided to sell the house and move to their dream home in Greece. They ended up living there amazing, and when I say amazing I mean, amazing eight years. Until one day, my dad couldn’t pee, it turned into two days and then three days. Because they lived on a rural island, the doctor only visited once a week. He went to the clinic and got his blood tested. It turned out he had PSA levels through the roof. The doctor, with his broken English, tried to explain that he needed to go to the hospital. When he came back to Ireland, he was soon diagnosed with prostate cancer; which was at that stage was inoperable… He didn’t get chemo, he didn’t get radio… There was no point. But they were able to turn it all around again and we had another three and a half years of wonderful time together before he passed away. Prostate cancer is horrible. You see this joint of a man, your father, who you looked up to all your life, shrink away… Needless to say, all of his illnesses would have been easily curable or treated if they were diagnosed in time… Because my father got diagnosed, his brother went to get checked and he caught in time. You could say he pushed it too far but if you take out the bad and focus on the good – someone else was saved by him and his story made me and all my friends join the Movember campaign. We will be thinking about him and using this month to remind all men over 45 to go and see their doc.”
This year whatever you grow will save a bro. Sign up at movember.com