Breaking the Silence on Prostate Cancer
- SurvivorNet’s Men Beating the Odds is an uplifting 12-part documentary series highlighting real-life journeys of men thriving with advanced prostate cancer, created with the intention of encouraging men to open up about health concerns, especially with more sensitive topics: their prostate and sexual health.
- This new film features three survivors from diverse backgrounds, Max Wade, John Douglas and Euvon Jones, who meet in New York City to share an open, honest discussion with beloved NBC personality Al Roker, who just marked a five-year milestone since his own prostate cancer diagnosis.
- The experiences shared by these remarkable men reassure prostate cancer survivors that you are never alone, and inspire you to break the cycle from choosing to be.
- For more on other inspiring survivors, check out “Men Beating The Odds” — a series that shares the powerful stories of men overcoming prostate cancer and redefining what it means to survive. Watch here.
This new film— directed and produced by John Palacio — features three survivors from diverse backgrounds, Max Wade, John Douglas and Euvon Jones, who meet in New York City to share an open, honest discussion with beloved NBC personality Al Roker, who just marked a five-year milestone since his own prostate cancer diagnosis.
Max Wade’s Story
“Cowboy Max” Wade, 50, is a goat farmer from a suburb of Albuquerque, New Mexico called Rio Rancho where he lives with his wife, Michelle, and their kids.“We do goat grazing all year long and have a pumpkin patch in the fall,” he said of his Galloping Goat Pumpkin Patch, raving of the “great people” in his community. And of course, his animals.
“What’s up goats,” the rancher says on camera, addressing his adorable-looking pals.
Wade first learned of his health news in 2021 at age 46, thanks to earlier detection. He was being proactive in honor of his late father who had faced a few types of cancer, including prostate cancer, and had always warned him to get checked.
Chronicling his journey on social media, Wade has since received viral recognition and encouragement on TikTok as millions of people have viewed his story and endearing life on the farm. Now Wade has found a new calling to keep him busy when he’s not tending to his animals — educating newly-diagnosed patients and helping men overcome embarrassment from the challenging symptoms that can arise with prostate cancer.
“This December, it’ll be four years since I had my surgery,” Wade shares, addressing that “the things that you think are part of your manhood are really challenged” with this type of cancer.
RELATED: TikTok Famous Goat Farmer Stays Strong Through Prostate Cancer, Heart Problems and Anxiety
“Whether it be erectile dysfunction or incontinence, all the things that are embarrassing topics for men to talk about for sure. And they were for me as well,” Wade said.
Erectile dysfunction means not being able to get and keep an erection firm enough for sexual activity, while incontinence is a loss of bladder control.
Wade expresses how fortunate he feels to have his social media following, which is roughly 900,000 followers on TikTok, with over 22 million likes on his posts, nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram, and over 22,000 subscribers on YouTube.
@cowboymax No matter what my day is like, these goof balls make me smile. #happygoats #cowboymax
“I felt like if I could document my journey that other men would be able to see that there’s somebody going through it and, ‘I know this guy or my wife knows this guy, or my sister knows this guy.’ It could be helpful to them.”
John Douglas’ Story
When New Yorker John Douglas was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he used what he learned in his sobriety journey to cope with the new challenge.
“I got sober for 35 years and I learned in the groups it was important to share. That’s what I did,” said the licensed physical therapist from Lake Grove, Long Island.
“But I was kind of disappointed because when I went to the hospitals and asked them if they had any support groups and stuff, which I was amazed that — I’m still by amazed to this day — they didn’t have one, not one,” he shared.
Thankfully, Douglas has a tight-knit group of buddies from high school who he’s able to “lean on.”
“We play golf every week together for the last 15 years,” he shared. “So we really lean on each other a lot and talked about [my prostate cancer] and stuff. So in that aspect it’s pretty cool. I don’t feel as lonely as I did.”
“I wasn’t going to let it be embarrassing for me. I’ve been through too much to let that hold me down,” added Douglas, whose high energy personality prompted warm laughter from Jones, Roker and Wade during filming.
“I don’t keep my mouth shut. I tell everybody I have cancer,” he said. “Not for the fact just to tell them so they know. But you know what? I don’t want to keep it inside me. So I share it with everybody.”
Douglas says he thinks men are “too hung up on the machosim.”
“They have too much pride, they don’t want to talk about some of the symptoms of prostate cancer, like erectile dysfunction. And I think that scares them. Who wants to not be in charge?” he questions.
RELATED: Erectile Function After Surgery: What Surgeons Are Doing Differently
Douglas has metastatic prostate cancer, which means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
The proud grandpa, who lost his own grandparents at a very young age, is thankful to be as active as he is. Douglas has not let his diagnosis stop him from living life with his family, friends, and is still thriving with a rewarding career helping others.
Euvon Jones’ Story
Euvon Jones, 73, a former HVAC entrepreneur and avid musician from Maryland, said that having to talk about his stage 4 metastatic diagnosis in 2011 was one of the most “fragile” elements of the experience for him.
“It metastasized to my blood, my bones, my heart, my back, my liver, my lungs, all through my body.”
“It was hard to talk about it originally,” Jones admitted. “The only person I could talk to about it was my wife,” he said of his “wonderful, beautiful” partner Janet M. Jones, who he married 46 years ago after meeting in his funk band heyday in the mid-70s.
Janet, navigating her own journey with the disease wrote a book from a caregiver’s perspective in 2023, The Trial of Stage V1 Prostate Cancer: A Wife’s Case For Faith, Hope, and Help.
“I didn’t even talk to other guys because a lot of guys weren’t even familiar with prostate cancer,” Jones continued.
“And then also, honestly, being African-American, that’s not something we talk about in the community,” he added of the cultural element, especially about topics that challenge someone’s “manhood.”
Systemic racism in the health-care system has led many African-Americans to be less proactive about their health.
“It was a total problem not talking about it,” Jones continued. “Because what it does, it keeps you in the dark and as long as you’re in the dark, you can’t find your way out of the paper bag. You can punch it all day long.”
Jones is now a proud spokesperson, raising awareness for the disease while giving other men hope that you can live a full life with metastatic prostate cancer.
The father of four and grandfather of seven says he doesn’t have a “bucket” list.
“I’m not kickin’ nothin’, I have a life list.”
Al Roker’s Story
TODAY co-anchor and weatherman Al Roker, 71, led the intimate conversation in this latest installment of Men Beating the Odds, explaining how prostate cancer affects one in eight American men over the course of their lifetime, and even more startling — one in six African-American men.
RELATED: Staggeringly Higher Prostate Cancer Rates for Black and Latino Men
Last week, Roker posted about the fifth anniversary of his prostate cancer surgery. After thanking his care team and noting he was still “all good,” he used the moment to encourage other men to get their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels checked with their doctors, with an added shout-out to men of color who, as noted above, tend to be at higher risk of getting prostate cancer.
Roker, who is married to fellow news anchor Deborah Roberts, 65, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in 2020. He underwent a radical prostatectomy, which removes the entire prostate, along with some tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles that release fluid into the semen. Side effects may follow this procedure, which may include erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.
RELATED: ‘Today Show’ Icon Al Roker Reaches 5-Year Cancer Milestone, Sends a Reminder to Men: ‘Get Checked’
Roker is currently in remission. According to the National Cancer Institute, remission means cancer signs and symptoms are reduced or gone; complete remission lasting 5+ years may be considered a cure, but lingering cells can cause recurrence, so doctors say there’s no evidence of disease rather than a guaranteed cure.
“There really was no pain,” Roker previously told SurvivorNet about how he felt post-operation. “The biggest issue, obviously, is sexual function, and there’s treatment for that. I’m happy to say everything’s working fine.”
RELATED: Sexual Function Recovery After Prostate Cancer Surgery
“To be honest, the hardest part really, there’s a little incontinence (loss of bladder control) to begin with that eventually goes away to me,” he said. “The hardest part was that initial week after surgery, where you’re wearing a catheter (a soft tube that drains urine from the bladder). But even that was not onerous; it’s just a little inconvenient, but you know that it’s temporary.”
Men Beating The Odds, which represents a tribute to bravery and a call to action in raising awareness for prostate cancer is available on SurvivorNet.com and SNTV (the first streaming network dedicated to those affected by cancer and chronic illnesses).
Content independently created by SurvivorNet with support from Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.
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