An Important Message
- English actress and singer Kym Marsh just announced some difficult news about her father Dave: He has been diagnosed with advanced stage prostate cancer.
- The former reality star, 45, is sharing the message to urge men to get in to their screenings, as her dad skipped his check-up during COVID.
- Prostate cancer is typically a slow-growing cancer that is easily treated if caught early, so the best thing you can do is get in for early screening, which experts recommend doing around 40 or 45 years old, depending on your family history.
Sadly, Dave’s cancer has spread to his pelvis, spine, ribs and left leg. He is in pain, but Marsh said that he is luckily responding well to treatment.
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The 76-year-old has been doing his own research and is preparing to fight. His biggest goal? Being around to walk his daughter down the aisle. Marsh just announced her engagement to Army Major Scott Radcliffe last week. Radcliffe proposed on her birthday.
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"My biggest hope is the treatment keeps working and gives me more time with my family,” Dave said. "I've been very lucky because I have a wonderful family who support me, and that's a huge help."
It was his wife Pauline, Marsh’s mother, who finally got him in to get checked after months of putting it off. Dave, who is admittedly stubborn, also didn’t want to overload the healthcare system during the time of COVID and put his own health on the back-burner.
Related: Delayed Cancer Screenings Due to COVID: What Patients and Caregivers Should Do Now
"I'd had issues for a while and ignored them, to be honest,” he said. “For quite a long time I'd had pains in my lower back, in my pelvis, and then, in the end, the longer I left it even driving was painful it felt a bit like being sat on a golf ball all the time and I'd get out the car in pain.”
Dave said he is starting a new treatment next week that will hopefully work well for him, and in the meantime, he will be continuing to use his daughter’s platform to reach as many people as possible to get this important message out.
Related: Could A Urine Test Be The Future of Prostate Cancer Screening? Leading Experts Weigh In
"It's vital people start to get their wider health checked out and looked after once again,” Kym said. "We'll never know if things would be different now for Dad if he had gone to get checked earlier. But we do know that the earlier these things are diagnosed, the chances of successful treatment increase enormously.”
Getting Checked for Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is typically a slow-growing cancer that is easily treated if caught early, so the best thing you can do is get in for early screening, which experts recommend doing around 40 or 45 years old, depending on your family history.
Dr. James Brooks, a urologic oncologist at Stanford Medicine, explains the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, which is used to screen for prostate cancer.
Related: Ben Stiller Says a PSA Test Saved His Life- Beating Prostate Cancer
"If a man has an elevated PSA, he has somewhere around a 20% to 40% chance of having prostate cancer," Dr. Brooks tells SurvivorNet. "I would recommend that they get a PSA at age 45."
It is important to discuss your complete medical and family history with your doctor to determine what age is best for you to start screening.
10 Things Every Man Should Do to Prevent Cancer
There is no one clear-cut sign that suggests prostate cancer. "Prostate cancer is a very odd disease in that it doesn't have a particular symptom," explains Dr. Edwin Posadas, director of translational oncology and the medical director of the Urologic Oncology Program at Cedars-Sinai.
Yet there can be changes surrounding urinary function that might be a clue. Are you urinating too much or too little or are waking up at night to go more than usual? These signs could potentially be cancer, but they also could be a urinary tract infection or even an enlargement of the prostate gland (which is not cancer).
During your regular annual exam, ask about your risk for developing the disease, report any unusual urinary or sexual issues and find out whether you should be tested.
There's No One Definitive Symptom for Prostate Cancer, But There Are Clues
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