Hello,
I am somewhat new here and getting some good advice here on a few things. Recently my mother died and I have had little support from my male friends. (I am not dating now and single) A ladyfriend I have known for years has been helping me through some of the rough spots. Over the years I have noticed how attention/support to health issues or a problem in society is lacking when it comes to men's involvement in it or if it "is his problem" so to speak. This relates to why I came here today. One of my fishing buddies talked to me about a discussion he had with his doctor about prostate health. (cancer??) I went to the mens health site and it did not have a very responsive message board so I came here. There are probably more informative sites but I am still wondering about lack of exposure. In my family, we have not seen more than some prostate enlargement in some male family members. Thank God for no cancer (yet). Diabetes and breast cancer has taken some members and I am involved with fundraising efforts. (Rides, walks etc.) Overall though, my family is quite healthy. I did some research and found some scary numbers. About 200,000 cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in a year and 180,000 for breast cancer. I did not know it was that prevalent. At the store there are all these pink packaged products to show support for breast cancer. It shows up in the media and lots of places. I like corporate and community support for it but why not prostate cancer. I lost an old friend to it, maybe a fishing buddy and maybe someday myself. If I should marry, I hope my wife would be supportive. Some numbers show divorce rates go way up with couple dealing with prostate cancer. I can see many scenarios where I would commit suicide. The effects are so terrible I hardly can think about it. Why does it seem like there is not much attention to prostate cancer? Are men not organizing or is it something else?. The more I look at the world I see other situations where men have been cast aside. Why is that?
I am not religious but for those on this board I pray every day for all of your well being. Losing my grandmother to breast cancer forever changed my family. I fear the day when prostate cancer strikes one of us. If it has any of your families, I hope you all got through it ok. Thank you so much for any help you can give me.