By Stephen Smoot
Exactly a year ago a private health condition of Lloyd Austin, who was until last week United States Secretary of Defense, emerged in the media and caused a minor scandal.
Austin, as it turns out, suffered from prostate cancer. As “USA Today” explained, the revelation “launched a firestorm of criticism and put the White House on the defensive.”
The article went on to quote urologist and prostate cancer expert Dr. Samuel Haywood as explaining that “I find that it’s something that a lot of men don’t talk about. Men can be very stoic and they don’t like to talk about their health issues.”
To address the issue, Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, explained that “prostate cancer and the associated procedures are obviously deeply personal.”
Treatments and procedures affect the heart of what many men consider to be an essential part of their identity, but the reluctance to communicate and keep track of health issues can bring dangerous results for men affected.
For this very reason, Mike Weaver, a local resident, has worked to launch a support group for men afflicted with prostate cancer.
Echoing Ryder, Weaver explains that “men don’t talk about that stuff when it comes to something that personal.” Having undergone treatment for the condition himself four years ago, Weaver admits, “I wish I had someone to talk to about the side effects, the surgery, chemo, radiation and other impacts, both physical and emotional.”
The initial meeting will take place on at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Pendleton County Library in Franklin.
“I just want to see what kind of response we get,” explained Weaver.
So far, as he explains, people and organizations that “I’ve reached out to have been supportive.” That includes Augusta Health Center, which runs its own prostate cancer support group. Weaver attended last month. Those involved may be tapped to attend the Franklin meetings, along with other doctors and experts who can assist with discussions and information sessions.
Awareness cannot spread too quickly about the dangers of this cancer. The United States Centers for Disease Control reports that, next to “non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States. It is also one of the leading causes of death among men.”
The CDC additionally reports that West Virginia men experience prostate cancer at a rate of 102.2 per 100,000 with lung and bronchial cancers in second place at a rate of 80.4 per 100,000.
As for surrounding states, the incidence in Virginia is even higher, at 105.9. In Maryland it appears at a rate of 136.7 per 100,000.
West Virginia’s numbers had dipped lower in 2019, then rose again in 2020, likely due to COVID lockdowns and fears preventing people from getting proper medical care in many instances.
As Weaver explains, once a man receives treatment for prostate cancer, the medical community says that the patient has five years to wait to see if it will return. Once he reaches the fifth year, he says “you’re good to go.”
Of course the wait to get to that point brings emotional stresses and fears that can themselves cause poor health outcomes if men do not have a safe and secure venue in which to share their problems.
Weaver encourages those with questions to call him at 304-668-2526.
