Powering Through The Unknown Of Outer Space & Cancer
- Dr. Jeff “Indie” Jones spent many years protecting astronauts navigate outer space’s “very hostile environment” as a NASA flight surgeon—a job which helped him navigate a more personal mission, prostate cancer. Jones’ story offers
- In the case of Dr, Jones, he was diagnosed with the disease in 2019 and underwent surgery, radiation, and hormonal therapy right away. He’s still undergoing treatment but insists he’s never going to stop fighting.
- In honor of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Jones has shared his story in SurvivorNet’s new 12-film series titled “Men Beating The Odds,” hosted by NFL Legend Emmitt Smith, whose father also battled prostate cancer.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) both recommend that men at average risk between the ages of 55 and 69 years talk with their doctor about the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening. The American Cancer Society recommends screening begin at 50. Men who are at high risk of prostate cancer should begin screening at age 45. Men with a close relative diagnosed with prostate cancer should consider annual screening at 40.
- Discover more on “Men Beating The Odds”—an inspiring series that showcases the powerful stories of men who have overcome prostate cancer, redefining survival along the way—here.
Dr. Jones, nicknamed “Indie” like Indiana Jones, had the unique privilege of growing up alongside NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, so when he was hired by NASA at the Johnson Space Center, he was geared up and ready to take on the challenge of what he described as his “dream job.”
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He told SurvivorNet, “Coming back to this building brings back tremendous memories. Times where I was supporting spaceflight, and we were having difficult challenges that we had to work through real time.
“When I was a NASA flight surgeon, my role was to prepare the crew for flight, to take care of them during the flight, and then recover them afterwards.”
Offering further insight into the precarious environment of the great beyond, Dr. Jones said, “Space is a very hostile environment. Besides the lack of atmosphere, there are a lot of other environmental conditions that are dangerous to humans.
“There’s radiation, there’s the temperature extreme, very hot to very cold. It’s just as soon as you get out of the sunlight as you’re orbiting the planet.”
He continued, “While the crew is in flight, we actually have a console at the Mission Control Center with our crew to make sure they’re doing well and to deal with any medical issues they might be having.”
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It’s truly exceptional how Dr. Jones worked in both the U.S. Navy and at NASA, supporting 40 space missions, including Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) missions.
Dr. Jones, who currently works as a leading urologic oncologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, also emphasized the importance of teamwork and thoroughness when it came to making sure crew members were out of harm’s way.
He said, “When you’re a member of a NASA team, you’re part of a mission. If we ever want to go back to the moon and on to Mars and places like that, we need to know how to protect crew members, and so this is part of the science we are doing.
“The challenges I had to overcome here helped prepare me for things that were to come further in my life.”
Former astronaut and chemical engineer Leroy Chaio, 65, praised the doctors like Dr. jones as “heroes” for making sure they were safe.
Chaio told SurvivorNet, “They’re doing everything they can to keep us on flight status, anything that might be a medical question or an issue. They’re right there 24/7 around the world, around the clock. So we definitely lean on them a lot.
“The astronauts were, we’re kind of the heroes, so to speak, if you will … but these guys are definitely the heroes behind the scene.”
Michael Barratt, a physician and a NASA astronaut who was on the hiring committee that interviewed Dr. Jones at for the surgeon position, also commended Dr. Jones for his determination and eagerness to get the job.
Barratt, 66, who got together with Chaio and Dr. Jones for SurvivorNet’s “Men Beating the Odds,” recalled, “He was so passionate and so intense that we knew we were going to take him. He came on and joined us as part of the community of flight doctors here.”
He added, “We operate in a place that’s going to change the human body and challenge the human body anyway. From the medical standpoint, we need guys with that space, medical expertise. That’s very, very unique.”
Fast forward to Dr. Jones’ personal health journey, Dr. Jones was diagnosed with prostate cancer diagnosis 2019 and began treatment right away, which included surgery, radiation, and hormonal therapy.
Now, as he’s still undergoing treatment and insists his “fight isn’t over,” Dr. Jones, is spreading awareness for the disease and the importance of finding a supportive care team.
Looking back on how his diagnosis came about, he explained, “After I left the military and left NASA, I was getting annual checkups by my own personal physician, and it was surprising to me that I had a little change in my PSA. I knew that that was suspicious for potentially a prostate cancer developing in myself.
“My father, when he was 82, was having some symptoms, and he went in to get his prostate treated, and it turned out he had widely metastatic prostate cancer. So when my PSA went up, I did think about my father. So I got an MRI, and the MRI was very suspicious, and based on that, I had a biopsy. And that was positive for cancer.”
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What Are the Current Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) both recommend that men at average risk between the ages of 55 and 69 years talk with their doctor about the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening.
The American Cancer Society recommends that men at age 50 who are at average risk should begin screening. Men who are at high risk of prostate cancer should begin screening at age 45. Men with a close relative diagnosed with prostate cancer should consider annual screening at 40.
For men 70 years and older, the USPSTF and the CDC say potential benefits do not outweigh the expected harms and recommend that men 70 and older should not be routinely screened for prostate cancer.
If You’re Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer, What to Expect for Treatment?
After testing and establishing your risk, your doctor will discuss possible treatment options. These may range from active surveillance to more aggressive options, including surgery and radiation therapy.
Surgery is an option for men with any risk group of prostate cancer that hasn’t spread outside of the prostate gland. The type of surgery most often used is called a radical prostatectomy.
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During the procedure, the surgeon removes the entire prostate, along with some tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles that release fluid into the semen. Your doctor can perform this through a traditional open procedure with one large or several small incisions, called laparoscopic surgery.
Surgery side effects may include erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. Fortunately, the side effects are usually temporary, and there are ways to help you manage them.
Radiation therapy is often done when prostate cancer is caught early and confined to the prostate gland.
WATCH: When Prostate Cancer Spreads: The Scans Doctors Use To Assess Advanced Disease
Content independently created by SurvivorNet with support from Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.
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