Dan
Newman lives in Matthews, North Carolina, USA. He was 46 when he was diagnosed
in July 2005. His initial PSA was 3.9 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 6 and he was
staged T1c. His choice of treatment was Radical Prostatectomy. Here is his story
- regrettably Dan did not respond to reminders to UpDate his story, so it ends
in February 2008.
Hi, my name is Dan Newman and I am a prostate cancer
survivor. In 2006, I created PCA Racing, a dirt bike race team that promotes prostate
cancer awareness.
Our goal is two-fold. First and foremost, our goal is
to promote prostate cancer awareness on a local, regional, and national level.
Secondly, by racing dirt bikes, I hope to show that having prostate cancer does
not have to mean the end of enjoying a normal life. If I can get back on a race
bike three months after having prostate cancer surgery, then that is a testimony
to other men that they can get past this terrible disease and move on with their
lives.
To
promote awareness, I created a couple of posters. Currently, my posters are displayed
in doctor's offices, and on prostate cancer awareness websites all over the world.
I wanted something a little more edgy, something that would grab everyone's attention.
(those
are actually my children in the picture....they worked for free....well, actually
I think there were a couple of toys in the contract!!)
CLICK
ON PICTURES TO DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE A4 VERSIONS IN PDF FORMAT
We
have a lot of plans for the future. We are currently working on eight more posters,
three of which will be an inter-racial effort to target the African-American communities.
Our posters will also target the women in the men's lives, as they can help convince
the men to go to the doctor for a check-up. We are hoping to eventually get our
posters displayed in national magazines and produce a public service commercial
so we can reach a larger audience.
As a "grassroots" effort, PCA Racing
has really taken off. In September, I was invited to Washington D.C. to speak
to a number of senators and congressmen's staffs. In between meetings, I walked
the halls and any door that was opened, I stopped in and dropped off posters and
flyers promoting prostate cancer awareness.
PCA Racing also tries to
attend as many local, regional and national health fairs and awareness events
as possible. By combining dirt bikes with prostate cancer awareness, we are grabbing
a lot of attention and impacting lives. The dirt bike itself really attracts attention,
but when the people find out that "I" had prostate cancer and got back on the
race bike three months later, they really open up and start asking questions.
It is so cool.
We are really gaining momentum in our prostate cancer
awareness program. Our efforts are now touching lives as far out as Canada, the
U.K. and Australia. We have a simple mission, to try to reach families before
it is too late. Prostate cancer is the one cancer that nobody should ever die
from because it is almost 100% treatable if caught in the early stages. So why
is it the #1 cancer of men, and the #2 cancer killer of men, because nobody talks
about it. We are trying to change that.
