Rooting for a Relative

(Star Advertiser photo)

The Star Advertiser profiles a relative :

[Richard] Fassler was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 2013 and had surgery to remove his prostate. Four months later the prostate-specific antigen in his blood tests began to climb, signaling a recurrence, and he was put on hormone therapy to lower it.

Hormone therapy, though, could have nasty side effects, including hot flashes and muscle weakening, Fassler said. A lifelong tennis player who met his wife on a tennis blind date, he preferred to combat the cancer with intensive exercise and a change in his diet.

“There are some risk factors you can’t do anything about, namely, age and genetics,” Fassler said. Although prostate cancer can strike men of any age, the risk rises after age 50 or if one’s father or brother has had the disease.

“Then there’s lifestyle, which you can do something about.” To try to keep his prostate cancer from growing, Fassler follows the Mayo Clinic’s recommendations: Eat a diet low in red meat and dairy fats and high in fruits, vegetables and fish; and avoid being overweight.

“It’s basically a heart-healthy diet and weight-control regimen,” said Fassler, who stands 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. Lean all his life, he exercised to gain back the weight he lost after surgery — “I’ve got much more muscle,” he said — and now focuses on staying at this healthy weight and not gaining body fat.

Richard was always been ahead of the rest of the family with his notions of mind-body-spirit health, but the times have caught up with him.

Note - the article includes a troubling comment (for me) from his oncologist:

“If you’re sedentary and have excess fat tissue, cancers thrive and can even become more aggressive,” said Fassler’s doctor, Charles Rosser, a urologist and oncologist at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.