Our Goal:
To raise $1,000,000 for
research and public education
about prostate cancer.
research and public education
about prostate cancer.
| Our Goal: To raise $1,000,000 for research and public education about prostate cancer. | |
| ||
|
You are Visitor # John Loesing, Project Director Dr. Terry Weyman, Founder | PROSTATE CANCER CLIMB My Prostate Cancer Story
In 1991 I was Chief Financial Officer for Motown Records. I had large staff and traveled all over the world. I spent about 80% of my waking hours working and the other 20% on everything else. I was blessed in that my kids were grown and in college or on their own. The person that suffered the most was my wife. God bless her, She hung in there with me through the work times and then through the prostate cancer times. Prior to being recruited to Motown, I was a Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Controller for Capitol Records. I worked for Capitol for almost 20 years and Motown 5 Years. I know the entertainment business. I was not aware that there was a simple test called a PSA that could detect prostate cancer until 1991. No Doctor ever told me about it! In 1991 I had the test and it showed an elevated count. The local doctor said that he didn't think it was cancer and did what they call a TURP. ( Roto-Rooter from the penis to the bladder). He thought it was just a blockage. I asked why if this were so I had a high elevated PSA level ( around 10 or 11). He said it could be a false reading. He did not do any other test and went ahead with the TURP. It was a Friday night and my youngest daughter and I were sitting on our family room couch and the doctor called at 7:00 pm and said - quote " Ken, we got your biopsy and you have cancer of the prostate. Come in on Monday and we will talk about it, goodby". My daughter said I turned white! I didn't know what happened. To say the least, I went into shock. I was scheduled to leave for Europe for an extended trip on Monday, but canceled. On Monday morning I went in to see the doctor and he told me that he couldn't tell how far the cancer had spread and wouldn't be able to determine this until they opened me up. But, they couldn't operate until the TURP operation healed, which would take 2 months. With the unknown it is easy to think the worst. On Tuesday I went into work and told Motown that I had Prostate Cancer and the rest of the story. On Wednesday, Motown told me that they decided to reorganize and that my position as CFO was being done away with! They agreed to pay me 2 months severance. Now, I had no job and no idea if I was even going to live! My world came tumbling down. I went into a huge depression. I elected to have the prostate removed. I Immediately went to UCLA to have another consultation and they confirmed the bad news. My depression got worse. How was I going to support my family? Was I going to live? Would I have major problems after surgery? Even with my deep Christian faith I had got angry with God! That didn't help anything. He didn't cause it but I had to blame someone. My loss of job and inability to get another one because of the prostate problem didn't help my situation. 2 months passed and I had the surgery at UCLA. I can report that 10 years later I have had no reoccurrence of cancer in the prostate and the Lymph Nodes were and are clear. The depression lasted a long time and I was under some heavy duty medication for a long time. I feel I'm back to normal now, but when I got prostate cancer doctors were not routinely doing the PSA test. I had physicals every year and never a PSA! If they could have detected this in an earlier stage I know I would not have had to go through the hell that I did. Every man should have a PSA at lease annually or every 6 months. Prostate cancer can kill and you never know it is growing. So many men find out about it after it has spread and then it's to late. Well, that's my story. I want to get the word out for every man who has not had a PSA test to run, not walk, to his doctor and get one today! Ken Northrup Proceeds of the Prostate Cancer Climb will go exclusively to funding education and research. No portion of the proceeds will be designated for operating or administrative expenses. Distribution of the Hap Weyman Memorial Prostate Cancer Project Fund will be determined by the Independent Educational Research Funding Committee (IERFC). |
 | Search Engine Optimization Donated by: Page Last Updated: |
Here is the Readers Digest version of my prostate cancer story.
