Prostate Cancer check, as simple as a PSA blood test
Listen up fellas! “You don’t have to get a bupbup up the bazooka” to check your prostate anymore. A simple blood test could save your life.
For Balaklava’s Darren Scholz, an early prostate cancer diagnosis, after noticing a “change in the waterworks” could be the key to ensuring he doesn’t succumb to the deadly cancer, like his father and his father before him.
At 53, Scholzy, as he’s known, wasn’t really thinking about the likelihood of Prostate Cancer, even though there was a family history. But a precautionary trip to the Doctor in July, set the avid-adventurer on an adventure of a whole new kind.
Project Manager at AGT Foods, he and wife Carolyn, who spend every spare moment exploring SA and beyond, began arming themselves with knowledge on prostate cancer and the untravelled path that lay ahead.
“Then we rounded up a few friends and did some walks and tried to raise some cash and prostate awareness,” he said.
“It went well, but we discovered all of our likes on social media were from the ladies, which posed the conundrum- how do we get this info to the guys?
“One Australian male is diagnosed with prostate cancer every 20 minutes, and the longer it’s left, the worse the outcome.”
For Scholzy, that science is backed by watching his dad go through the same cancer just one decade ago.
“Dad was diagnosed in the later stages of his cancer, and the treatment, outcome and options were a lot different then.”
Hence why raising money for research and spreading the word about early detection is important to Scholzy, who has two adult sons who will also fall into the high risk category.
“That’s just another driving force for me. My angle is to try and make it light hearted and start conversations around it. And if I can bumble along for the next 10 years and see the research and progress continue, who knows what the outcome will be.”
After “doing a few walks” and rallying the community, Scholzy managed to raise an astounding $29,500 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia (PCFA), and even got a surprise call from the foundation’s CEO, praising him for his efforts.
But the bloke known around town for his energy and wit, requested the foundation convey its thanks to the people who donated and contributed to his call for help.
“It takes a village to bring up a child, and it’s no different with an old child,” he laughed. “When you’re in a bit of a jam, they (the people) come from everywhere. I’m very lucky to have that support,” he said.
PCFA Head Researcher, Professor Geoff Dunn sent a video message praising Team Scholzy’s inspiring commitment and said their magnificent fundraising efforts would go a long way towards prostate cancer research, support and awareness.
Steering away from the cliche “journey”, the Scholz family refer to this bump in the road as another “adventure”.
Radiotherapy has just begun for Scholzy, with trips to Adelaide scheduled every week-day for the next month. “It’s a bit like “target shooting,” he said “I’ve had target seeds implanted in my prostate and that’s what they’ll aim for.”
But before he started the treatment journey, he had one last thing to do. He and his fellow-adventurer Carolyn, traded their usual weekend adventures to deliver an important message to blokes in the Wakefield Regional Council district.
With permission from Council, he stuck posters up in public toilets and pubs (all the popular blokey hangout spots), spreading the message to males over 40 to ask their GP about a PSA blood test, which “might just save your life”.
Scholzy’s favourite SA travel destinations
On a side note, when asked to give some hot tips on his favourite SA travel destinations, Scholzy had quite the list, including some of the little hidden gems he likes to seek out. A trip up the hill to Auburn in the Clare Valley was right up there on the list. And recently he and Carolyn visited Auburn’s Ulster Park Wines and enjoyed a woodfire pizza. He said there was “heaps of fun stuff to do around Quorn” and raved about the “groovy little spot” just out of Stansbury on the Yorke Peninsula, called the Klein Pod.
“There’s so much shit to do, get out there and do it”.
Here’s the link to check out his road trip – scholzy’s dunny dash
And for everything you need to know about Prostate Cancer click here
