Handing over this book to a man

It is a common observation that men are not always receptive when health advice is being dispensed. The information may be coming from a public health campaign (no smoking, don’t text and drive) or from his doctor (lose weight, reduce alcohol consumption) but this makes little difference.

Be careful how you hand it over

If you have purchased The Prostate Playbook for a man in your life (spouse, partner, brother, son, father, postman) it is really important how you present the book to him if you want him to actually read it then take some of the actions to reduce his prostate cancer risk.

Before the recommended method, let me review what not to do –
– Never give him this book in front of his mates (unless you have a copy for each of them).
– Never gushingly gift him any book exclaiming this will solve his problem (he has no problem and, if he did, solving problems is his job).
– Never infer that the book will restore his manliness. It never left.
– Never suggest that he doesn’t already know everything that is in the book.
– Try very hard not to keep asking him if he has read it yet, or if there is anything he didn’t understand.

Now for the Professor Allingham system of getting a man to read The Prostate Playbook you have purchased for him –

  • Leave it lying somewhere in the house where he will find it on his own (self-discovery).
  • When he finds it, wait for him to mention the book in conversation. Don’t press him.
  • If the book never seems to move, don’t panic. This doesn’t mean he isn’t reading it. He won’t reveal his interest until he is well into it. And it may be the only item he ever put back where he found it in his effort to mask his pursuit of information that he didn’t realise he needed.
  • Be patient. This will be your challenge as he won’t acknowledge the book until he has found value with it.
  • If he believes the book was his idea and he just found it, don’t argue. You have won.

These guidelines are most applicable for cross-gender referral where a female is presenting the book to a man. A man will just tell his mate to read the book and better still, buy the book. This is because he has the advantage of extra-knowledge and men just love to share that.

Women & Prostate Cancer

The effect of prostate cancer is usually indirect where a male partner, father, brother, son or friend is diagnosed with the disease. Depending on the closeness and nature of the link with the man, a woman may be caught up in the anxiety, fear, decision making confusion, treatment recovery and long-term side effects.

However some women can have a direct link to prostate cancer following gender re-assignment surgery. Men who transition to female undergo a complex surgical procedure to reconstruct their pelvic appearance and function. Generally the prostate gland is left in place as removing it adds further complexity and risk of complications. Hormone manipulation to increase feminization may reduce prostate gland size and activity but it still has the potential to develop a tumor.

If this occurs, the woman has the same challenges of deciding on what treatment (if any) and how to cope with any subsequent side-effects.

The Prostate Playbook is written for men, however if a women with a prostate gland can overlook the constant male pronoun and male references she will find valuable information to reduce her chances of developing a prostate cancer or of an existing low-risk cancer progressing to the point of needing treatment.

For those women who have outsourced prostate care to their male partner, The Prostate Playbook is a valuable tool to understand and support the life changes necessary to help prolong his life. Given that most health books are purchased by women, she may even be the catalyst for his action by presenting him with The Prostate Playbook at the one time in his life that he might actually accept some advice. Check out the blog post on how to introduce the book to a man in a way that he is most likely to read it.

Putting the ‘Active’ in Active Surveillance

Many men are receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer that is rated as low-risk or low-volume in terms of it’s likely progression or threat. Almost 50% of the new diagnoses this year in Australia will fall into this category, that’s around 8,000 men who may be offered the choice of deferring treatment by their Urologist.

Surveillance is only half the story….

During the period of deferring treatment the Urologist will recommend regular testing of key prostate disease markers such as Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), Gleason Score (aggression rating) or imaging of the prostate to detect changes in cancer volume. This is the surveillance component of a management program called Active Surveillance.

These men are initially very relieved to discover that their cancer does not demand immediate surgery, radiation or hormone treatment due to its advanced state or aggressive nature. They leave the Urology office and resume life, work and relationships without the prospect of facing the side-effects of treatment, namely incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

However they often become uneasy when they realise they are now living with an active cancer in their prostate and nobody is recommending treatment (except perhaps for his spouse or children). He may become anxious about the cancer and fret about his future and constantly worry that not treating may not be the best option, despite the evidence from the pathology reports and recommendations from his Urologist. He may feel dis-empowered.

He needs to invest in the Active part of the treatment plan. He needs to educate himself about his prostate gland, cancer and what he can do for himself to slow the progression of any cancer and undermine its development so he never needs treatment. But the Urologist didn’t provide any resources for ‘non-treatment’, just reams of information on incontinence and erectile dysfunction and depression associated with interventional procedures such as surgery, radiation or androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

Yet there is a huge amount of research and experience demonstrating that men can reduce the progression and development of a low-grade prostate cancer through lifestyle decisions, reducing their stress, physical training and smarter eating habits. The Prostate Playbook is a strategic guide for men and their support team to take some control of their outcome and take action to sabotage their prostate cancer. For these men, the goal is to frustrate the surveillance through smart plays everyday to stay well.

The Prostate Playbook is to be published in May 2019. It will be available in Australia and New Zealand bookstores from June or you can purchase it online after May 15 at this website.