TACKLING CANCER HEAD ON
Narcisse goes public with diagnosis
Saskatchewan Roughriders great Don Narcisse is battling Stage 1 prostate cancer and he’s not doing it quietly.
Narcisse revealed the diagnosis in a Facebook post on Wednesday. The Canadian Football Hall of Famer said he was diagnosed on Friday and that doctors caught the disease early. A member of the Riders from 1987 through 1999, he is scheduled to start radiation treatment in the next few weeks.
Narcisse, 52, lives in Regina but was visiting his family in Houston when he received the diagnosis. He decided to share the information after talking with his sister, Pamela Forsander, who 17 years ago was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“She pulled a motivational speech on me and the one thing she said was, ‘Don’t keep this a secret and the things you do on and off the field ... you inspire people. You need to let people know what you’re going through and you’re going to be able to help people out,’” Narcisse said.
Narcisse said he had a blood test done while visiting Houston about six months ago as part of his regular checkup. He was told the prostatespecific antigen (PSA) level in his blood was a little high, so his doctor suggested a followup blood test when he was home for Christmas.
After receiving the results of a biopsy, Narcisse was told he had Stage 1 prostate cancer.
“I started to cry, but I cried when I had the biopsy,” Narcisse said.
He elected to treat the cancer with radiation — not chemotherapy or surgery — after discussing the options with his doctor. He also decided to have the treatment in Houston rather than returning to Regina after his family staged what he called an “intervention.”
“I picked one (option, an active surveillance monitoring process) where I would watch over it for six months,” Narcisse said. “I told my family that and that I was leaving on Monday and I would be back in six months to take care of it. On Sunday, my whole family showed up and they said I wasn’t going anywhere and ‘You’re going to take care of this right now.’”
Narcisse has been overwhelmed by the response to his Facebook post.
“I’ve had a chance to talk to a lot of men and I will definitely be able to talk to people about cancer,” said Narcisse, who caught at least one pass in each of his 216 regular-season games with the Riders.