This Movember, don't just grow a 'stache; fund a book and website for prostate health
Yes, you could cultivate some unsightly facial hair ... but wouldn't it be a lot cooler to fund something substantial? The Prostate Repair Guide is well on its way to completion. I'm currently writing Chapter 10 of 12 chapters in the first draft. By December I hope to be writing the second draft, and by January I'll have it off to the editor. At the same time, I'll be designing a proper website aimed at helping men with up to date information on prostate health.
And like most men with a cause, I'm growing some hideous facial hair, having opted for a 'Zappa' stache. I'm not sure if that's going to help me: Here's what one girl thinks about the mustache:
About the Book
The Prostate Repair Guide is a book designed to help men take control of their diagnosis and treatment, and avoid the nightmarish suffering men go through when they don't get the right care. The inspiration for this book came from my own bitter experience. You can see some drafts of the introduction and Chapter One here.
My father, John Symons, was diagnosed with the aggressive form of prostate cancer in 2008. I took a prolonged absence from work to move to Vancouver and help my mother take care of him in his final months. It could have been a terrible experience ... and in some ways it was ... but my dad was a pretty special guy, and taught us a lot about courage and what it means to face death with dignity.
Soon after, I began having my own first serious symptoms of prostate disease, but like many men, I didn't want to deal with it ... or even think about it. It took two more years for me to go see my doctor, and when I did, I ended up getting no help at all. My journey through the medical establishment was frustrated by a surprising lack of knowledge by doctors about prostate disease; by my own reluctance to deal with the disease; and by the bewildering nature of prostate disease itself.
To be clear, I don't blame any of the doctors for what happened to me. If nothing else, I've learned just how difficult it is to deal with prostate diseases, and it's hard to imagine a hard-pressed General Practitioner staying completely up to speed on every disease out there. However, I now know that if I had been given a simple test by a qualified urologist, I could have avoided years of pain, humiliation, and frustration. If I had pushed harder to see a specialist, and known what tests I should have taken, it would have made a huge difference. Instead, prostate disease truly wrecked my life for three years, and in the end could have killed me.
About the Author
The Prostate Repair Guide is my way of helping other men avoid the trials my family and I went through. The Guide is NOT a book by an 'expert'. Rather, it is a book by someone who has been there, and experienced what it's like. I'm not a doctor, I don't work for the health industry, and so I have no loyalties or biases to protect.
What I do have is a quarter century of experience as an investigative reporter with newspapers, and more recently, with CBC News. It's something I'm very good at. I worked with CBC's acclaimed Investigative Unit, and over the years won just about every journalism award out there. My specialty is in doing deep research into any topic, and over the years I've covered everything from fatal drug interactions; political scandals; fraud; drug gangs; terrorism; and major disasters such as plane crashes or train wrecks. Often, when we investigate disasters, we find that accidents could have been prevented, or resulted in fewer deaths, if some simple precautions had been taken.
The inspiration for this book came when I decided to investigate the 'train wreck' of my own prostate disease. Again, I don't blame doctors for what happened to me. I believe they did the best they could with the knowledge they had ... but the knowledge a busy General Practitioner has of prostate disease is not that deep. If you're going to get proper treatment, you must become your own 'expert' and be able to make intelligent decisions about your own care.
This what the Prostate Repair Guide will do. It goes through what tests need to be done and when; what men can do without drugs or surgery to treat prostatitis and BPH; the options for surgical intervention, and what the risks are for each. What I discovered in my 'investigation' is that there are very good treatments today for prostate disease, but that many men suffer needlessly, and often for decades, because they don't get the right diagnosis or the right treatment.
Publishing the Book
I plan to publish this book even if I don’t raise a dime in this campaign, because it’s just that important to me. Unfortunately, books and websites do cost real money to produce.
Funds raised in this campaign will be used for:
- Producing an e-book, a paperback book and a hardcover book;
- Producing a website that will be updated weekly with new research and information;
- Graphic design;
- Proofreading and editing;
- Marketing the book to make sure it gets out to the people who need it.
My hope is that, with your help, the book and website will be done by January or February at the latest, with copies shipping out the first week of February.
Creating a Better Website
Since starting this campaign, I've been working hard to put some content on a basic site I created. Long-term, I hope to make this site a really good clearing house for the best information on treatment and diagnosis options, and also start a forum for men with prostate disease. You can see my site now at: www.prostaterepairguide.com
I've only really been posting since this campaign began, but already getting some decent results. Six people have used my self diagnosis tool, and about 60 people per day are visiting the site. Not a bad start!