Economist and regular Te Ao Tapatahi contributor Associate Professor Matt Roskruge says when his father got prostate cancer, his urologist recommended his sons get tested.
"I mucked around doing it and about two years later I finally went along and got my blood test and the results were really high, much higher than my dad's were when he had his cancer.”
Roskruge (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Tama) said that news had set alarm bells in motion, with the addition of more tests and biopsies that resulted in an eventual diagnosis. Now he will be going into surgery for next week.
“It was really freaky at the start. You know you’re going into your GP and getting a health check-up and OK you cholesterol might be high but you don’t expect to hear cancer to turn up somewhere in there."
The statistics aren't good for Māori men, who are twice as likely to die from the disease than non-Māori.
Roskruge said that after the diagnosis his mind went to the worst place possible, taking him six months to get used to the idea of having the disease. he says he hasn’t gotten used to the idea of being happy about getting this type of surgery but is focusing of the recovery after the surgery instead.
He said men could wait till they are 45 or 50 before subscribing to regular prostate checkups but if there was a family history, they should get checked earlier.
“It’s just a blood test. You’re going to get one for all sorts of things, so you might as well ask for them to do the PSA screen while they do it. Worst case scenario you know what your number is and you know what different looks like.”
This year 4000 New Zealand men will find out that they have prostate cancer and there are now 42,000 living with it.
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness month and whānau across the motu are raising funds to help support tāne, services that help support whānau and help fund research to cure prostate cancer.