Andre Dawson played major league baseball for 20 years and was good enough at his craft to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Even when his skills started to decline, he kept himself in great physical shape.  But a routine doctor visit in February 2012 resulted in his physician telling him his prostatic specific antigen, or PSA, came back elevated, and that Andre should see a urologist.  Andre admitted he had no idea what a urologist was, and became leery when realizing such a visit pertained to his prostate.

 

Seven months after the physical, Andre went to see the urologist, who suggested Andre undergo a biopsy.  Wishing to have the matter cleared up, he consented to the biopsy.  When the results came back, the urologist called to say he wanted Andre to come in to his office.  The doctor had a grim look on his face and said the results of the biopsy indicated Andre had prostate cancer.  He told Andre to take some time to think about how he wanted to proceed.  He was frightened by the word ‘cancer,’ and frightened at the prospect of having to share this horrific news with his wife.

 

Andre concluded the cancer out of his body as soon as possible and relayed his sentiment to his urologist.  They discussed treatment options before agreeing on the relatively-new robotic surgery.  That was in December 2012.  The next February, he took another physical, and that’s when the doctor looked him in the eye and told Andre, “You are cancer free.”

 

When considering robotic surgery, Andre Dawson says the first thing he was asked by his doctor, “How is your sex life?”  He said it was fine.  The urologist said he would try to be as minimally invasive as possible.  He admitted erectile dysfunction could occur, but if it did, it could be addressed at a later time.  Andre, who was 58 at the time, said sex wasn’t all that important, but getting rid of cancer, was, and that’s why he thought robotic surgery was the best way to go.  He also knew that prostate cancer aggressively affects Black men, so he felt he had to deal with it. 

 

In addition to sexual function, prostate cancer also affects men in terms of their ability to urinate.  Andre says he urinates more in the middle of the night than he used to, but hasn’t given it that much thought.  He just wants to get it over with and get back to bed.

 

For those diagnosed with prostate cancer, generally speaking, the threshold for reaching survivorship is five years after treatment.  Andre Dawson says he never spent much time counting the years after his robotic surgery; he can just you for quite some time, he has been feeling well, and adhering to his schedule of aftercare doctor visits.

 

By way of advice, Andre suggests one start to get screened around age 40.  He says if you are diagnosed, one should know that prostate cancer is treatable, especially if caught in the early stages.  He suggests that throughout the journey to maintain a positive attitude and trust your care team.

 

Additional Resources:

 

Support Groups:

 

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

https://www.umiamihealth.org/en/sylvester-comprehensive-cancer-center

 

Ed Randall’s Fans for the Cure

https://www.fansforthecure.org