This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Eric Morrow, a prostate cancer survivor, US Air Force veteran, and volunteer advocate for Zero Prostate Cancer, a nonprofit focused on supporting patients and eliminating prostate cancer. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer on June 8, 2021, at 49. It was shortly before my 50th birthday.
I’ll admit I did not know a lot about prostate cancer then. I knew it was fairly common and, to the best of my knowledge at the time, I thought it primarily affected older men in their 70s and 80s.
Five years prior, in 2016, I’d learned that my father had previously had prostate cancer and that he was in remission after being successfully treated.
So, the next time I saw my primary care physician, who was assigned to me through the Air Force, I told her about my family history and asked if I should get checked for prostate cancer.
She said that I was too young and didn’t need to worry about getting screened until my 50s.
The phone call that probably saved my life
In 2020, my PCP said I was old enough to have a colonoscopy to check for colon cancer. That’s when it all started.
After my colonoscopy, the gastroenterologist said my colon looked great, but my prostate looked a little enlarged, and I should schedule an appointment with a urologist.
I had no other symptoms to suggest I had prostate cancer. Also, this was during the height of the pandemic. I got distracted by work and didn’t make the appointment immediately.
I was really lucky that the doctor called me back a month later to see if I’d seen the urologist. It was a really simple follow-up, but that phone call prompted me to make the appointment and probably saved my life.
My PSA level was in the hundreds
The urologist scheduled me for a digital rectal exam and an MRI, and then drew my blood for a PSA test, which measures specific proteins in the blood to identify possible prostate cancer.
I got a call a few hours later about my PSA level. I was told that anything over four would be a concern for a man of my age. My PSA level was 225.
The urologist said there could be many reasons for my extremely high PSA levels, but a later biopsy revealed that I had prostate cancer with a Gleason score, which measures how aggressive the cancer is, of nine. The highest the scale goes is 10.
I got the trifecta of treatment: surgery, radiation, and pills
I was lucky enough that the Department of Defense’s Center for Prostate Disease Research at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, was nearby, and my case was aggressive enough to qualify for their treatment.
There, I had a cancer team including a urologic oncologist and radiation oncologist who recommended a multi-step treatment involving surgery, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy to turn off testosterone production in my body.
I started surgery in July 2021, after which I had issues with incontinence. Despite physical therapy to improve it, I never regained full control of my bladder. This made the radiation therapy, which came about five-and-a-half months later, very challenging.
Each time, I had to come in with an empty rectum and a full bladder. The full bladder basically pushes the rectum, so it’s not as much in the field where they’re going to shoot with radiation.
Each of the 39 radiation sessions I completed only lasts about 15 minutes, but I had a hard time getting my bladder full enough and then holding it long enough for the therapy.
To get through it, I’d play a game with myself: They had music going, and I would just listen to the music and try to memorize it. Then, I went on Facebook afterward and posted a list of all the songs — it became my “Playlist of the day” for friends and family.
The androgen deprivation therapy, aka hormone therapy, was a shot that I got every three months, along with pills that I was taking every day. I did this therapy for about 24 months.
The side effects were pretty harsh. I experienced hot flashes, mood swings, additional abdominal fat, loss of muscle mass and bone density, and it killed my libido. I got back into lifting weights that I hadn’t been doing for probably more than a decade, and that helped minimize some of the weight gain and muscle loss.
Since coming off hormone therapy, my testosterone has luckily gone back to pre-treatment levels, and my PSA level has remained undetectable.
I quit my job after getting cancer
I wouldn’t wish cancer on anybody, but the one thing it does give you is perspective. I realized I wanted to do something more.
So in December of 2022, I left my job with a medical device company I’d been with for over nine years. I was ready to give back to the prostate cancer community.
I’m now doing a lot of work on a year-round basis with Zero Prostate Cancer. I also volunteer at Walter Reed, where I received my cancer treatment.
I also speak with new prostate cancer patients and try to give them hope. I tell them, “Four years ago, I was sitting right where you are and I thought I was going to die. But I’m still here, and I’m doing OK.”
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