If you're a man, read this. Or a woman, for that matter.
When Eric Huffey was first told he had prostate cancer in 1999, he imagined the worst. Now, 12 years later, he's helping other men and their significant others to make it through the ordeal as best they can - just like he has.
Huffey is a member of the Coquitlam Prostate Cancer Support Group, which meets the first Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m., at Pinetree community centre.
"When I was first diagnosed, I said I'd rather be dead than impotent," said the 67-year-old Huffey. "I was 55 at the time and I just got into a new relationship... and from that respect, it was just devastating to think about."
Huffey's mindset soon changed, however. He began to study the disease, which starts in the walnut-sized prostate gland, part of a man's reproductive system.
"It was a shock, don't get me wrong," Huffey said. "It starts to sink in. I was a typical male. I'd heard of a prostate but I didn't know where it was or what it did. You learn very quickly."
In Huffey's case, he elected to have surgery to remove the gland - with radiation and brachytherapy (insertion of radioactive seeds into the prostate to combat cancer cells) the other two main treatment options - and has since been urging all men to get routine check-ups to help with early detection, a key to successful treatment and rehabilitation.
"It seems very common that the males don't want to talk about it," said Huffey, whose group offers a separate support meeting for women in conjunction with the men. "Men typically don't go to a doctor and are terrified of a digital rectal exam. That's why we always recommend wives always go with their husbands to their visits to the doctor.
"The stats show that about only 5% of men will go to a support group. It's that low. We're trying to increase that."
Huffey was jolted personally by prostate cancer yet again in 2004 when he learned that it had returned, which only made him more militant about creating awareness and raising funds to defend against it.
"Once it comes back, you don't have a lot of options," Huffey said. "It's more a case of slowing it down so that you die with it rather than from it.
"The cure is out there but it's not too practical to be thinking in those terms. It's more a case of being able to manage the disease."
Prostate cancer is sometimes referred to as "the silent killer" as it offers no symptoms and can affect men of any age, although those over 60 are generally considered at greater risk of contracting it.
"You don't feel symptoms, this the problem," Huffey said. "Once you feel symptoms, it's too late. That's why it's so important to get checked regularly."
Huffey added his group's meetings include covering everything from nutrition to incontinence (involuntary urine leakage) to erectile dysfunction, and are open to all adults. He's insistent they helped him through his own struggles with the disease to the point where he felt inspired to help others stricken with it.
"I wanted to get involved and find out, so the first thing I did, I went to the support group and I've been going ever since. It's been 12 years now," Huffey said. "To me it's been a great source. Also, you don't always need support but others do. I wanted to give back."
For more, visit www.ourvoiceinprostatehealth.com and link to support groups.
