Listen, do you want to know a secret?
Do you promise not to tell? (woh woh woh) Closer. Let me whisper in your ear.
By Howard Wolinsky
One-third of men responding to TheActiveSurveillor.com Quick Poll said they keep their prostate cancer a secret.
Societal stigmas about The Big C persist, and men fear the consequences.
The unscientific poll of about 20 men showed the main reason men (44%) keep their prostate cancer secret is fear that their bosses or clients will lose confidence in their ability to perform their job. 33% feel their diagnosis “isn’t anybody’s business.” And 22% want to stay private is to protect their spouse and children.
22% say they regret this choice while 78% stand by their decision to remain private.
Some men tell me they wish they had told their adult children about the diagnosis but have no regrets about keeping their bosses in the dark. One initially kept the news from their older siblings (in their 80s and 90s), but finally realized he needed to share info potentially to warn nephews and even nieces that they could be carrying a dangerous gene.
(Watch for TheActiveSurveillor.com for a poignant first-person account of a man who left active surveillance after finding he carried the BRCA2 cancer gene.)
71% of respondents have very-low to low-risk prostate cancer. Half are in their 70s.
A fan of TheActiveSurveillor.com—”Mr. Frank Westerman”— shared the reasons he has kept his diagnosis in the vault and how he does it. Using a bit of spycraft he found an obit for someone his age and adopted his identity.
Read more: https://howardwolinsky.substack.com/p/keeping-the-big-c-secret
You can still respond to the TheActiveSurveillor Quick Survey.