Two Day Magazine

Because we want the men in our lives happy, healthy and cancer-free...

Listen up gentlemen - I know it is still two weeks away and I do realize that this is your day and all and it is nice to receive gifts. I truly understand that. But, giving gifts is nice also and there is one gift that you can give the women in your life on Fathers' Day. Believe me they will be forever grateful. Ready?

PICK UP A PHONE NOW, CALL THE DOCTOR, AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO BE SCREENED FOR PROSTATE CANCER!

Yes, it’s that important for me to write it in big, block letters. You will be saving your life; how’s that for a great gift to the woman you love?

Let’s have some straight talk here about men and prostate cancer. We are your girlfriends, wives, daughters, granddaughters, sisters, friends. You are the men who mean the most to us in our lives: our boyfriends, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, buddies, brothers. You owe it to us and to yourselves to make sure you are healthy.

June is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Thanks to men like the great former skipper of the Yankees and now Major League Baseball’s executive vice president of baseball operations,  Joe Torre, we are all more aware of the absolute necessity and tremendous importance to have our men get screened for prostate cancer.

Being diagnosed saved Torre’s life. He was diagnosed in 1999, had minimally invasive surgery, recuperated, and came back to manage his team into a fantastic World Series win.

Today the PSA blood test has become a routine part of the annual check-up for all men in the Yankees’ organization. This is not an "older man" disease; doctors are finding it in men as young as thirty. Your age is not your safety net here. Be practical and get checked!

The screening for prostate cancer is done in the privacy of your doctor’s office. Blood will be drawn for a PSA blood test which measures a man’s prostate specific antigen. Your doctor will then perform a DRE, or digital rectal exam.

For the men reading this and wincing over the words “digital rectal exam,” let’s be blunt. A DRE is slightly embarrassing for men but definitely no more embarrassing than is a pap test for women. Both tests are designed to check for cancer and both tests can be life-saving. Why balk at an exam that can possibly alert you to danger?

Some men are afraid that if their tests are positive and their prostate is removed via surgery they won’t be able to engage in sexual activity. This line of thinking is not necessarily true.

Fact one: After a healing process most men have little or no problem with erection, either getting one or maintaining it.

Fact two: There are little pills that can help get you started; don't you watch commercials where the really rugged guy is pushing Viagra or Cialis? There's a reason for this. You may only need to take these for a short while, anyway.

Fact three: If you’re still worried about losing your sexual prowess think about this sobering fact: YOU CAN ONLY HAVE SEX IF YOU’RE STILL ALIVE!! UNDERSTOOD?

If you need an analogy, let’s liken your body to a car. You take care of your car so that it will keep on running well. You have “diagnostic” tests performed to make sure everything is okay and if one of those tests found something wrong, you’d get it taken care of as soon as possible.

Don’t you owe it to yourself, and those who love you, to treat your body as well as you treat your car? Of course you do!

To the boyfriends, husbands, Dads, Grandfathers, brothers, and friends: if we “gently nag” you it is only because we, who love you, want you alive, healthy and enjoying life with us.

Have fun this Fathers' Day. Laugh a lot, be silly, love well and when you're opening your gifts, tell your women about your gift to them; the doctor’s appointment you made. And ladies, as an additional gift to him, make sure he keeps that appointment.

So gentlemen, there you have it. Your special gift to us is staying alive. Believe me, we will not ask for more.

Have a great Fathers' Day!!

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© 2011 Copyright Kristen Houghton

Kristen Houghton is a well-respected Lifestyle journalist who writes for many media outlets, including The Huffington Post, More Magazine and OWN.

She is also the author of the top-selling book, And Then I'll Be Happy! Stop Sabotaging Your Happiness and Put Your Own Life First