A Touching Tribute
- Legendary rock star and singer-songwriter Rod Stewart has battled both prostate cancer and thyroid cancer.
- In a recent video, the singer dedicates his 1977 song You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim) to a super-fan named Gary battling brain cancer.
- The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends that men aged 55 to 69 should discuss the potential benefits and harms of prostate cancer screening with their doctor.
In the video, titled "Sir Rod Stewart fulfills one man's last wish sings him his favorite song," Stewart delivers a few lines of his 1977 hit You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim). Stewart dedicates the song to his fan, saying, "Gary, this is Rod Stewart here, mate, all the way from London, England, where it's freezing cold. I hear you're in not-good health at the moment, and I also hear you're also a great fan of mine, so I'd like to do this little song for you."
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Stewart's touching tribute was arranged by Good News Movement, and in a Tweet, the media company wrote, "People from all around the world are sending Gary their love." Gary's niece "did everything to get through to the British star, all for her uncle with brain cancer." When Good News Movement reached Stewart's family, they immediately responded, "Consider it done."
Stewart’s Battle with Thyroid Cancer
When Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer over 20 years ago, he briefly feared that the disease would rob him of his voice.
Appearing on the British talk show Loose Women, Stewart talked about the alarm he experienced one morning when he woke up and "couldn't sing a note."
The singer played down his thyroid cancer battle, however, saying: "I had a touch of thyroid cancer; it was over and out within 10 minutes."
Stewart then explained to the hosts that he did not "want to pretend I fought cancer for months and months" because, in his case, "it was really easy to get rid of."
Going Public with Prostate Cancer
After keeping his 2016 prostate cancer diagnosis private, Stewart revealed in 2019 that he had battled the disease and urged other men to keep up on their recommended screenings for prostate cancer. The Maggie May singer made the announcement at a fundraising event for the Prostate Project and the European Tour Foundation in Surrey, England.
Stewart explained that he was first diagnosed with the disease during a routine screening checkup and got the all-clear from his doctors in July 2019.
He joked that he'd told his wife that he needed to "come out" then quickly added, "No, it's not what you think. [Three] years ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer."
"I'm in the clear, now, simply because I caught it early. I have so many tests," the singer said of his diagnosis and treatment.
"Guys you've really got to go to the doctor … Finger up the bum, no harm done," he quipped.
Dr. Edwin Posadas explains that there is not one definitive symptom for prostate cancer. But there are clues.
Stewart's Cancer: "Quite Aggressive"
"We kept it quiet for two and a half years now," Stewart's wife, Penny Lancaster, said in an emotional 2019 interview about her husband's cancer on a British tv talk show. "But the positive news is we caught it early enough."
"It was quite aggressive and it came on really quickly," Lancaster noted. "Instead of remaining in the [prostate] gland, it had left the gland and traveled to the outside tissues."
According to Lancaster, Stewart couldn't be treated with surgery alone. "Knowing it had traveled outside, we couldn't have the gland removed, so he had to have a three-month intensive course of radiation, traveling into London the same time every single day, going to the clinic."
Dr. Edwin Posadas discusses when you should get tested for prostate cancer and at what age you need screening, a PSA test, or a digital rectal exam.
Screening For Prostate Cancer
The PSA (or protein-specific antigen) test is a blood test that can screen for prostate cancer, and can also track a patient's response to treatment. Typically when a man goes in for prostate cancer screening, doctors will do a PSA test and a digital rectal exam where the doctor touches the prostate gland through the rectum. A lot of men are wary of going in for these tests, but experts assure that the PSA and digital rectal exams are quick, and mostly non-invasive.
In a previous conversation with SurvivorNet, Dr. Edwin Posadas of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explained the simple tests. "No man is really excited about having a rectal examination … honestly, it takes less than 30 seconds to get it done, it's relatively painless. I'm not saying it's comfortable, but at the same time the amount of information that is gained from that can be tremendous," Dr. Posadas said.
Contributing: SurvivorNet staff
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