‘Good Morning America’ Weatherman Tony Perkins, 65, Praises God After Successful Prostate Cancer Surgery — Faith’s Role in the Cancer Journey

“Update: My prostate cancer surgery was successful. Thank you, God! Now it’s about recovery,” Perkins captioned his post.

“THANK YOU SO MUCH for the thoughts, prayers and well wishes. I appreciate it so much. Now, go Commanders!

His post was greeted with immense praise from his fans and loved ones, with one writing, “We are all rooting for you,” and another saying, “Sending you positive vibes and Prayers for healing! #YouGotThis.”

A third fan commented, “Appreciate your transparency! I will have to have this procedure soon and glad you are sharing.”

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We’re happy Perkins is doing well and feeling the support while he’s on the road to recovery, and it’s also wonderful to see that shortly after he shared his uplifting cancer news, his football team the Washington Commanders won their playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—a feat he celebrated with another Instagram post.

He captioned the post, “Washington wins! We are literally in tears in my house right now. Finally the misery and heartbreak are over. THANK YOU, Josh Harris, Adam Peters, Dan Quinn, Kliff Kingsbury, Joe Witt Jr, JAYDEN DANIELS, and this ENTIRE NEVER-QUIT @Commanders team.

“We hope and think you know how much this means to this fan base. THANK YOU.”

RELATED: Black Americans Have the Highest Cancer Death Rates in the U.S.; Let’s Close the Gap in Cancer Care For Black History Month and Beyond 

Perkins’ Push For Early Detection

Just last month, the TV personality shared a health update on air, informing his fans that a scheduled, pre-planned biopsy had revealed his prostate cancer had advanced, two years after his initial diagnosis.

RELATED: Prostate Cancer: Overview

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Perkins explained on the broadcast, “Now, earlier this month, I had a scheduled, pre-planned follow-up biopsy. Unfortunately, my doctor has told me that my cancer has progressed, so now my treatment plan has changed.

“Down the road I’ll be having either surgery or radiation treatment. In the months ahead, my plan is to share my journey with you in the hopes of raising awareness and helping others.”

He continued, “The important thing with prostate cancer, as with so many types of cancer and diseases, is early detection. It is as simple as a blood test, a PSA test, that’s the first thing so that you know what your numbers are.

“And fortunately, I get my physicals. So, we’ve caught this early and prognosis is good.”

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Surgery Isn’t Always the First Option; Some Choose ‘Active Surveillance’

It’s common for prostate cancer to grow very slowly. Some men, especially those who are older and those who have a low risk of the cancer spreading, may not need aggressive treatment, making active surveillance a viable option.

WATCH: People With Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Can Rely on Monitoring the Disease

Active surveillance means the doctor watches the cancer carefully for changes, with a PSA blood test every six months and a digital rectal exam about once a year. Prostate biopsies and imaging tests may also be recommended every one to three years.

SurvivorNet experts stress active surveillance is not “watchful waiting.” Active surveillance is a treatment, and as the name implies, it is active. This path requires coordination between the patient and their healthcare team to make sure disease progression is carefully monitored.

“[It’s] not just kind of check in once a year—hey, how are you doing—but actively have a physician check a PSA and do a rectal examination,” Dr. Edwin Posadas, director of the Translational Oncology Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told SurvivorNet.

“We can actually see some of the metabolic information within the cells through our next-generation imaging and find high-risk areas that are or are not changing in a patient to let us know, yeah, that cancer’s still sleeping. Let’s not bother– let’s not put that young man through the risk of losing his sexual quality of life or his urinary quality of life,” Dr. Posadas added.

Half of men who choose this approach will avoid unnecessary treatment and potential side effects.

But the other half of men do end up having treatment, whether as a personal decision to remove the cancer or to treat the disease as it progresses. Your doctor will determine if this is necessary based on the results of your ongoing tests.

Surgery Options for Prostate Cancer

The approach to prostate cancer treatment depends on the results of a prostate exam, the patient’s PSA numbers, and Gleason Score, which helps determine how aggressive the cancer is.

The doctor will assess the patient’s risk level. Men with low risk and very low risk may bypass surgery. Meanwhile, men at higher risk may receive more intense treatment.

WATCH: Dr. David Wise, NYU Langone medical oncologist, explains how Gleason’s score affects treatment and prognosis.

Surgery is an option for men with any risk group of prostate cancer that hasn’t spread outside of the prostate gland. The surgery procedure is called a radical prostatectomy. During this procedure, the surgeon removes the entire prostate, along with some tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles that release fluid into the semen. Your doctor can perform this through a traditional open procedure called laparoscopic surgery with one large or several small incisions.

“It’s typically done through a robotic technique today, at least in the United States,  but a lot of patients are still getting open surgery,” Dr. Stephen Freedland, a urologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.

“Depending on the surgeon, it may be two, three, four, five hours — somewhere in that range, usually spend one night in the hospital. You wake up from the surgery with a catheter in your bladder. Once you’re home, it’s really just recovering, gaining your strength back,” Dr. Freedland continued.

WATCH: How do you choose the right surgeon, particularly for robotic surgery? 

Other common treatment options for men with prostate cancer include:

Radiation therapy

This treatment is usually given five days a week for several weeks. Newer techniques include stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), which aims for more focused radiation beams at the tumor to spare surrounding healthy tissues and may allow treatment in a shorter time.

Brachytherapy implants small seeds containing radiation directly into your prostate. This type of radiation works best in men with smaller prostates.

If the prostate is too large, the doctor may give hormone therapy first to shrink it.

Combination radiation therapy with hormonal therapy

Androgens are male hormones that fuel the growth of prostate cancer. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), also known as hormone therapy, reduces levels of these hormones to slow the cancer’s growth.

“Usually, for men with tumors that spread, hormonal therapy is usually the first line that we do, and more importantly, it’s the backbone upon which we build,” Dr. Freedland explained to SurvivorNet.

Surgery followed by radiation

Radiation therapy can be used after surgery to get rid of any cancer cells that were left behind. Getting radiation along with surgery is called adjuvant therapy.

Sometimes, men who have surgery will need radiation therapy after surgery if the surgeon cannot remove all of the prostate, the PSA does not become undetectable, or the patient has a high-risk genetic profile if the tissue is sent for testing.

Men with high-risk and very high-risk prostate cancer are more likely to require radiation after surgery than men with lower-risk disease.

The Power of Faith

For some people like Perkins, turning to faith is a wonderful way to keep spirits high when cancer starts taking an emotional and/or physical toll, or leading up to an importance procedure. New York City Presbyterian Pastor Tom Evans previously spoke with SurvivorNet about the importance of find ways to cope with the complex web of feelings you may be experiencing after a cancer diagnosis.

“It’s important to reach out in a simple prayer to God, even if you’ve never prayed before, you don’t know what to say, a heartfelt plea, ‘God, help me, be with me,’” Pastor Evans told SurvivorNet. “You can reach out to God and you can reach out to people, your friends and family and say, ‘I can’t do this on my own. I need you.’ It’s in that willingness to be open and to receive that we can actually find something deeper that we never would’ve encountered without this hardship.”

WATCH: Opening Yourself Up to Others After a Cancer Diagnosis

Meanwhile, a study published in Cancer, found that 69% of cancer patients say that they relied on faith throughout cancer treatment, and use prayer as a way to call for good health.

Researchers who studied the relationship between praying and life expectancy in cancer patients found the power of prayer can actually help patients withstand pain and suffering.

“The patients can overcome their illnesses with the help of praying and of other religious actions, thus helping them gain more power and being able to control their illnesses, as they know a lot about their sickness therefore, they can stand the pain and suffering and become hopeful to future,” researchers N. Hekmati Pour and H. Hojjati said in the Journal of Medicine and Life.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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