Thousands of Kiwis have gone blue, for many reasons, these are some of their stories...
Dylan Kay
I’m a private man, so I post this with hesitation, but here goes… How did you spend Valentine’s Day 2023? - I had a biopsy confirming that I had prostate cancer. On 18th May, I had the surgery to cure it.
In July, I was given the "all clear" by my specialist, 2 months after my prostate surgery. There's still more recovery to go, but it feels like a new chapter has begun. The whole experience has been, of course, life-changing on so many levels, and now I'm looking forwards, not back. I'm acutely aware of those we have lost to this hateful curse that is cancer, and my heart goes out to those going through similar journeys.
I've been lucky - I had a skilled surgeon and caught it early. Men - please talk to your GP and get tested if appropriate. It could save your life. It was so special to be able to say to my kids that (in the words of the specialist), I now have no prostate cancer "from the top of my head to the soles of my feet”.
Danny Bedingfield
Danny Bedingfield, President of the Prostate Cancer Foundation NZ was born and raised in Wellington. His father was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 65 and passed away at 71. His doctor had given him that terrible line of, you'll die of something else before you die of prostate cancer, which is one of his least favorite lines of all time. He had no idea how serious it was when he was diagnosed with a high PSA level.
"After my father passed, Mum had heard from somewhere that prostate cancer can be hereditary. She told me you could have more of a chance of having it If it's in your family and to get a check. I thought for a couple of weeks I just wasn't going to do it, I was to young being 37. For some reason, alarm bells went off in my head so I went. and I had to convince the doctor, they decided to do it because of my family history.They wanted to test again in 6 months, now knowing what I know, that's a big alarm bell for me straight away, it should have been two years not six months. It had gone from 4.3 to 4.7 over that six months. They did a DRE test and didnt detect anything but due to my family history refereed me to a urologist where I was diagnosed.
After my diagnosis, I took it upon myself to get out there on social media. Mainly Facebook at that time. I went hard out promoting and telling everyone to get tested. I did a news articles as well. I had a robotic prostatectomy and even 10 years onwards, I still have my 6 monthly PSA tests. It has gone a little bit higher than it should, but it's not an issue, it hasn't come back, but that's my biggest fear. So my life now revolves a lot around my mental well-being and my health.
I now work as the President of PCFNZ promoting awareness for prostate cancer. My main message is Knowledge is power, knowing about your health and your family history and things like that is massive power. You know that saying ‘All you've got is your health’ is completely true."
