Helping My Father Through Prostate Cancer (and Myths)

We hear a lot of things around the world these days, especially on social media. Whatever we hear, it is not always necessary for it to be true all the time. People do have myths related to prostate cancer, and some people believe them to be true.

What my father believed

My father was born in 1935 and his mom in 1915. They have told me some myths that today I go what!! They had me believing a lot of things. When my father got diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 72, I actually thought he thought he could cure prostate cancer on his own, by some of the things that he lived by.

He told me that chicken noodle soup was a healer and that it would help heal his body. We know that chicken soup does have nutrients because of the veggies and that it can help you recover from some illnesses, but I'm not aware of any scientific testing that it heals the body outright.

When he first came home from the hospital, his throat was a little sore. His go-to has always been to gargle with salt water. He has been doing this for over 80 years, but truth be told you can do this with plain water and get the same results. He believes this helped his healing.

Looking at weight and exercise

My father was always a very physical person. He was a landscaper. Some of his friends told him that he needed to stay active. He was already working 10-hour days. He thought that adding in more exercise would help in treating prostate cancer; we both believe that staying active was a good thing.

One thing that I have learned over the past ten years is that so many people lived by certain things. One thing that we have heard forever is that if you're a big person, you are unhealthy. I don't know who started this, but as we all know now, skinny people can be unhealthy, too. As a caregiver to a prostate cancer patient, I had to get him to stop focusing on weight. If he gained a few pounds, he would worry himself about it and say things like, "I need to ask my doctor if I need to take more medication."

I had his doctor talk to him about how to have more positive health behavior and not think about his weight. He liked frying everything, so we discussed better cooking habits.

Going to the doctor

We grow up believing so many things that we take as gospel. In closing, I just want to say: even when your treatment is done, go to all your doctor appointments, make a list of questions, and let your doctor know if you are having any side effects or issues. Since day one, I have been with my father at every doctor's appointment. We need to promote a world free from prostate cancer with more accurate prevention and treatment.

By the way, don’t sit too close to the television, you will ruin your eyes. Just saying!!!