PCa news ripped from the headlines: MLK Jr.'s son dies, Chicago Cubs' Hall of Famer diagnosed with metastatic disease
By Howard Wolinsky
The American Cancer Society last week announced that it estimates 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2024, with 32,250 deaths. The incidence is up 11,000 cases with 2,500 more deaths compared with 2023. Many advanced cancers are being diagnosed late.
Prostate cancer affects all groups, famous or not, rich or not. If a man lives long enough, he will be diagnosed with this disease, which appears as a Sleeping Lion or a Snarling Tiger.
t impacts Black men harder with higher incidence and higher death rates.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the news with his secretive hospitalization, surgery, and complications for prostate cancer. He is not alone.
MLK Jr.’s son dies from PCa
Now, his family announced, Martin Luther King Jr.’s youngest son, Dexter Scott King 62, has died from prostate cancer. He was only seven when his father was assassinated.
Dexter's brother, Martin Luther King III, said, "The sudden shock is devastating, It is hard to have the right words at a moment like this. Please keep the entire King family in your prayers, and in particular Dexter's wife, Leah Weber."
Dexter King was an activist and served as chairman of the King Center and the president of the King Estate.
Cub’s Ryne Sandberg swings for the fences again
And now Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg announced in Instagram that he has been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and has begun treatment.
"To my Chicago Cubs, National Baseball Hall of Fame, extended Baseball Family, the city of Chicago, and all my loyal fans, I want to share some personal news," Sandberg wrote in the post Monday. "Last week, I learned that I have been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. I have begun treatment, and I am surrounded by my loving wife Margaret, our incredibly supportive family, the best medical care team, and our dear friends.
"We will continue to be positive, strong, and fight to beat this. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time for me and my family."
Sandberg, 64, was a 10-time All-Star during his 15 seasons for the Cubs from 1982 to 1997, amassing 282 home runs and 344 stolen bases. After his playing career, he served as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies from 2013 to 2015, going 119-159.
I grew up in Chicago as a Boston Red Sox fan—I can hear my fatha’s Boston accent as I write these words—and later when I reached 18, I switched Sox and became a White Stockings fan. I also have to admit I’ve been to Fenway Park but never saw a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
I have little interest in baseball these days—I focus on “my prawstate” and yours these days.
Back in the day, as died-in-the-wool South Siders, my friends and I looked down on “quiche eaters—Cubs fans.” We Sox fans ate Mountain Man Pie and appreciated the industrial look of the old Comiskey Parkvd. the “friendly confines” of Wrigley Field.
(BTW, the Sox are talking about further north in the city—but still on the South Side, thank goodness. Me? I live in the burbs now—the South suburbs of course.)
Cub rejection aside, all along I knew Ryne Sandberg was a class act. I appreciate his openness about his diagnosis. I know we all wish him well, Cubs fan or not.
ESPN notes: “The Cubs are scheduled to unveil a statue of Sandberg outside of Wrigley Field on June 23 -- the 40th anniversary of his best game with the team, when he hit game-tying home runs in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings and had seven RBIs in Chicago's 11-inning, 12-11 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.”
Sandberg won the National League MVP in 1984, the year the Cubs won a division title. He led the league in triples and runs scored that season while hitting .314 with 19 home runs. He also won nine consecutive Gold Glove awards
Finally, a Down Under cricketeer shows how to share the diagnosis
Rick Davis, founder of AnCan, shared this clip of Aussie cricket great Tim May peaking about being diagnosed with denovo metastatic prostate cancer:
"I was a fool. An absolute fool, and I don't want anyone else to be a fool, or be scared."
https://x.com/7cricket/status/1747804336950755701?s=42&t=3N2nHf39VyK_R1jYZVrhaA
“That's the right way to tell the world!” Davis said.
Amen.
We’re all in this together
With every man diagnosed with prostate cancer or dying from it, we should feel a loss. These are our brothers and fellow patients. Too many are being diagnosed with high-risk cancer, a trend that was accelerated last year and is likely to grow in the years ahead.
Most readers of TheActiveSurveillor.com have low-risk prostate (Gleason 6) cancer , which is extremely unlikely to spread or kill. About 50% of prostate cancer patients will go on active surveillance, or monitoring, at least for a time, with Gleason 6 or favorable Gleason 3+4 or intermediate disease. Others will undergo treatment. About 3% die from advanced prostate cancer.
We need to stand together, low-risk or high-risk, to support each other and try to be diagnosed and treated early if we require treatment.
As the late folk singer Phil Ochs, writing about a prisoner, a hobo, a drunk, or the victim of a bombing in war—and I’ll add men with prostate cancer—put it: “There but for fortune may go you or I.”
More Defense Secretary secrets
Secretary Austin has caught heat for withholding information about his prostate cancer hospitalization, surgery, and complications—even from his boss, President and Commander in Chief Joe Biden. Now, the Pentagon Inspector General is investigating and Congress is on the warpath.
Now, Fox News is reporting that the secretary's aide asked EMS to be "subtle" about turning on lights.
Based on the 911 call, Fox reported: "The aide requested that the ambulance not use its sirens or lights during the trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The newly released 911 call is the latest development in Austin's secret hospital visit, which was kept even from President Biden and other top members of the administration.
"'Can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? We’re trying to remain a little subtle,'" the aide told first responders in the 911 call.
"The dispatcher replied that ambulances are legally required to use lights and sirens when driving on main roads, but added that, 'Usually when they turn into a residential neighborhood they’ll turn them off.'"
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lloyd-austin-aide-asked-ems-subtle-route-hospital-911-call-reveals
Stay tuned.
Active Surveillance Patients International is holding a webinar on genomics at 12-1:30 p.m. January 27.
Christina Nakamoto, Medical Science Liaison for Urology at Myriad Genetics, will discuss the benefits of medical-grade, genetic tests and how testing can provide personalized information about a patient's prostate cancer in facilitating an informed shared decision-making process between the patient and his medical team on Active Surveillance and/or other treatment options. Michael Glode, MD, who serves on ASPI's Medical Advisory Committee, will join the discussion and field questions during a Q &A session. Send your questions in advance to contactus@aspatients.org.
Time to stand up for AS: Register for the March AS webinar from ZERO
By Howard Wolinsky
For the past three years, colleagues and I have run a special Active Surveillance support group for ZERO. We need your support to stand up for the AS clan.
Be there, or be square.
Please sign up for the program at 11 a.m. Eastern on March 12, 2024.
Register in advance:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsfuqgrjIoG9AWf7voMhzT_UjdqbQQbQPA