Monday, March 3, 2008
With cancer, it's hard to tell for whom the bell tolls
The scariest days of any cancer treatment are the first and the last. Fear of the unknown tightens its grip when you walk into radiation or chemotherapy without knowing what's ahead. You hear the stories. You see the patients.

Monday, Feb. 25, 2008
Life in the world of 'What if?'
Two years ago, I skipped a doctor's appointment. It wasn't a big deal. I was supposed to get another PSA check. I blew it off. I was busy.

Monday, Feb. 18, 2008
The one who has to worry
The world of cancer is a parallel universe. It exists all around us. Rides with us on elevators. Parks next to us at the mall.

Monday, Feb. 11, 2008
More or less: The personal side of cancer
I have a confession to make. I'm not the same person I was a year ago.

Monday, Feb. 4, 2008
Welcome to radiation therapy
Every weekday morning, I walk into Roper Hospital, drop my pants, lie down on a table and listen as a big whirring, purring machine zaps my body with radiation.

Monday, June 11, 2007
Reflections 6 weeks out of surgery
Six weeks out of surgery, it's all a blur. That realization hit me last week when I went almost an entire day without thinking or talking about prostate cancer.

Monday, April 30, 2007
Life will never be the same again
Once you cross over into the world of cancer, it changes you forever. It's hard to understand how such a nasty disease can make you a better person. But if you live through it, you come out the other end with a new awareness.

Monday, April 23, 2007
Surgery was humbling, but successfulRadical prostate surgery can be very humbling. One minute you're wisecracking with the nurses, the next thing you know you're pushing on a drug-dispensing button like a junkie.

Monday, April 16, 2007
Hospitals, where people go to live
I haven't spent much time in hospitals. Wasn't even born in one. Somebody removed my tonsils when I was little, but all I remember is the ice cream. Other than that, I've been disgustingly healthy, breezing through the medical world as an occasional, reluctant visitor.

Monday, April 9, 2007
Waiting has become the hardest part
People come up to me with kindness and concern in their voices, asking how I'm doing, hoping not to say the wrong thing. When you get cancer, any kind of cancer, it instantly assigns you to the other side of that invisible line that divides those who have it and those who don't.

Monday, April 2, 2007
Why men get nervous about nerves
Men get nervous when you start talking about nerves. Especially the ones connected to our manhood. It's a very delicate subject for men because a large part of our self-worth is directly connected to sexual performance. It doesn't matter if a man has a doctorate in physics or digs ditches for a living. We're all the same.

Monday, March 26, 2007
Incontinence Sisters wise beyond years
They were young and beautiful and smart, just the kind of lunch companions older men like to be seen with at a downtown restaurant. Good for the image.

Monday, March 19, 2007
The wait: CT scans, cell phones
Caller ID said it was the doctor's office. By now, I recognized the phone number. And I knew what it was about.

Monday, March 12, 2007
Everybody has prostate story to tell
Mention the words "prostate cancer" on the driving range at any golf course and you instantly have a dozen new friends. So prevalent is this disease in our aging male population that everybody seems to have a story. Either an uncle, brother, cousin, father, grandfather or they themselves have come face to face with prostate cancer and lived to tell about it.

Monday, March 5, 2007
Flying out to consult Potentate of Prostates
It was snowing in Baltimore. As we waited in the small room at Johns Hopkins Hospital, my whole life suddenly was centered on the small cardboard box that sat on my lap.

Monday, Feb. 26, 2007
Anesthesia eliminates excuses
Men take better care of their lawn mowers than they do their bodies. It's sad, but true.

Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007
Eight words that changed my life, and might save it
Three weeks ago my doctor stepped into the examination room, closed the door and said, "Have a seat, Ken, we've got a problem."