Friday, September 10, 1999
Prostate cancer checks offered
Survivor urges men be screened
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A prostate cancer survivor and American Cancer Society volunteer urges men to sign up for a $10 screening at several Northern Kentucky locations during Prostate Cancer Awareness Week in late September.
Herschel Chalk, 53, of Roselawn, acknowledged that men generally are uncomfortable about the screenings but he said moments of discomfort can add years and decades to many lives.
“Death (from cancer) can be defeated if we just get check-ups and detect it early,” he said. “A lot of men feel it is just an unmanly thing to be probed. It is a hurdle we have to get over.”
Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among American men. About one in 10 develop the disease. African-American men, a group that includes Mr. Chalk, have a one in nine incidence rate — the highest in the world.
The statistics have prompted St. Luke Hospitals, St. Elizabeth Medical Center, the Northern Kentucky Health Center, the American Cancer Society and Northern Kentucky urologists and radiation oncologists to work together in offering $10 screenings from Sept. 20 through 23.
Mr. Chalk already has volunteered his time to the collaborative effort, manning phones to make reservations for those interested in a screening.
“Men ... don't like the the ex am,” he said. “That makes them uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it is an exam that has to be done. You have to put your health above some uncomfortable fears.”
Mr. Chalk was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1996 after seeing a doctor for a routine physical. His prostate was removed in January 1997 and, earlier this year, he endured seven weeks of radiation because he had traces of cancer.
“I've now gotten a clear record,” he said. “I'm a survivor.”
Organizers of this month's screenings urge 50- to 70-year-old men to get screened and say that African-Americans and men with a family history of prostate cancer should begin screenings at age 40.
Mr. Chalk, who wants to start a support group for those dealing with the disease, urges men to tell their brothers, children, grandchildren and other male relatives about the importance of screenings.
“Cancer is such an unspoken disease,” he said. “The two best secrets are a women's weight and cancer. The only way to get the word out is by talking. Men have to get over this phobia to not get check-ups.”
Those wishing to sign up for the Sept. 20-23 screenings can make a reservation at the following places:
• Northern Kentucky Family Health Centers, 655-8040.
• St. Elizabeth Medical Center-South unit, 344-5550.
• St. Elizabeth Medical Center-Grant County, 824-2404.
• St. Luke Hospitals-East or West, 572-3791.
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