Climbing the Cancer Mountain

We'll get to the cancer mountain in a moment but first let's examine ignorance. Ignorance among men about prostate cancer is widespread. A UK cancer charity, Prostate Cancer UK, recently set about unearthing the problem. They discovered many men assumed if they had prostate cancer they would present with symptoms. Most had no idea where the prostate is located or what function it performs.

Answers to common prostate cancer questions

In short order here are some answers to common questions.^1,2

• You can contract prostate cancer and have no symptoms.
• Your prostate is located just below your bladder. It is described as being the size of a walnut.
• The prostate generates fluid that is part of semen.
• The average age at the time of diagnosis is 66 years. It is rare in individuals under 40, though can happen.
• Black men are at higher risk for developing and dying from prostate cancer.
• A family history of prostate cancer can also put an individual at greater risk.

I was ignorant before my diagnosis

Other prostate cancer stats are less depressing. In the US the 5-year relative survival rate stands at 97 percent. Around 83 percent of prostate cancers are found when confined to the prostate or nearby organs. When that’s the case the 5-year relative survival rate is close to 100 percent. The downside is that when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, the 5-year relative survival rate is only 32 percent.²

All of which makes me sound like a know-it-all smartarse - but trust me, prior to my diagnosis I was just as ignorant as the next man. I found blood in my urine which prompted me to go see a medic. I blithely told him I couldn’t possibly have prostate cancer as I was only 63. Wrong! Fortunately, the cancer was still contained within my prostate, but only just. Hormone therapy and radiotherapy followed. That all kicked off almost 6 years ago.

A trip to the Himalayas

My day job is crisis management and crisis communications. I advise companies on how to manage incidents and help them prepare for the worst day of their business life. A commonly used word in the crisis management lexicon is "resilience." Combine resilience with the benefits exercise can bring to cancer patients, and I came up with a plan. I decided that what I needed was a ramble to Annapurna base camp in the Himalayas.³

I’ll keep the details short, but the hike was divided into 3 sections. The first being gentle slopes through rain forest jungle. When I say gentle, I’m obviously referring to Himalayan gentle, which might not be what you normally have in mind. We then entered a moonscape valley with 1,000-foot mountain walls on either side. Freefall waterfalls gushed to the valley floor.

Thereafter we progressed above the snow line as we made our way towards base camp. As we approached our destination, snow was falling and continued to do so overnight. That night I shared a room with several other people one of whom was suffering badly with altitude sickness. She had to be helicoptered off the mountain the following morning.

Exercise is good for the body and mind

If you’re fit and under 50, I would imagine this 10-day hike might not present too many problems, though I defy anyone to say it’s easy. For someone approaching 70, there were a couple of occasions when I felt I was running on empty. Our excellent guide prescribed garlic noodle soup which applied rocket boosters to my failing legs! When we made basecamp, tears welled into my eyes. It was an emotional moment.

When the going got tough the word "resilience" sometimes sprang into my head spurring me to carry on. I’m not suggesting for a moment that a Himalaya hike is for everyone, but I do believe exercise is good for the body and the mind. It is particularly good for those like me who have contracted prostate cancer. The hike was also a great way to say, below my breath, screw you cancer, I’m not done yet!