Movember month
SISA Tiko’s story today on Page 18, about prostate cancer is special. There is a tendency for people to assume that men are basically strong, and for some, almost invincible, or somewhere close to that!
There is this persona that is almost difficult to shrug aside.
Men are supposed to be everything, but weak! The reality is that men are also emotionally impacted by circumstances and events around them. They have likes, wants and needs just like everyone else.
They can be happy, sad and hurt by different episodes in their lives.
They are also impacted by sicknesses and diseases. So Mr Tiko’s story about the challenges he went through while battling prostate cancer is like a reality check for many people, especially men.
He was brave enough to share the challenges he went through while battling the sickness, which he said, wasn’t easy.
As the report inside highlights, Mr Tiko is a survivor of prostate cancer.
He talks about his journey, the symptoms, his thoughts, especially his fears and sense of insecurity.
That’s normal! It’s a thought process people go through when faced with such a massive challenge.
Gathering the courage to tell his story was “difficult”.
At one stage, he admitted he thought he was going to die!
But he had the courage to go to the hospital where he was told, and diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer.
The rest, as the saying goes, is history!
Dr Rajeev Patel, a urologist at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) told him the only way he would survive was if he had an operation.
Mr Tiko considered the repercussions of the surgery. Facing his fears, however, he took that vital step forward, got the operation, and is now a survivor!
There was something about being 99 per cent right and one per cent wrong!
“You can lose certain things and will always get it back but once you lose your life that’s the end,” he said.
This month we raise the issue of cancer awareness for men. It’s Movember!
This is when men around the world grow a moustache and women step up to support them.
As we have always done for Pinktober and for Childhood cancer awareness, we once again promote early detection as a weapon to fight cancer.
The Fiji Times has always joined campaigns that target awareness for such sicknesses, and we again focus our attention on empowering men and women on this special month.
We acknowledge all those who work behind the scenes to bring about some semblance of order in the lives of those impacted by cancer, and we say thank you to those who continue to support such campaigns annually, bringing hope and reassurance to affected families.