Triathlete Ken Deman Triumphs Over Prostate Cancer

Learns a Man Is Never Too Healthy to See a Doctor

By Julie Cerney

For 15 years, retiree Ken Deman insisted that he was too healthy to see a doctor.

Ken, 67, stays fit and toned thanks to a trio of passions he discovered in his mid-40s: competitive swimming, cycling and running. An All-American triathlete in his age group, Ken typically completes the triathlon, a 1.5K swim + 40K bike ride + 10K run, in well under three hours.

Over the years, Ken ran 50 marathons before switching to half-marathons, which supplement his many triathlons, duathlons, canoe races and other competitive events.

Actively Avoiding the Doctor

“I stay active,” Ken explains, understating the obvious. “I just felt too good to bother with a checkup.”

But after bowing to a bit of wifely pressure, Ken participated in a Methodist Hospital prostate cancer screening in September 2004 during National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. The annual screening is sponsored by Methodist Hospital Foundation.

Ken’s results indicated a need for further testing and that long-postponed medical exam.

Lacking a doctor of his own, Ken turned to his wife’s primary care provider, who followed up with additional testing. Ken was referred to urologist Steven Koukol, MD, a member of the Methodist Hospital medical staff.

The diagnosis? Advanced but treatable prostate cancer.

“Cancer Really Can Happen to Anyone”

“I learned that feeling fine isn’t enough,” Ken admits. “Cancer really can happen to anyone.”

According to the American Cancer Society, each year more than 230,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 30,000 die from the disease. Only lung cancer causes more cancer deaths in men.

A first step to finding prostate cancer is a two-part prostate examination. A physician performs a digital rectal exam, or DRE, and orders a PSA blood test to check the bloodstream for prostate-specific antigen, a substance produced by the prostate. A high PSA level may point to prostate cancer. It may also be caused by non-cancerous conditions, like the enlargement of the prostate that is a normal part of aging.

Together, the DRE and PSA can help determine whether further testing is needed to see if cancer is present.

Screening Guidelines

Both the American Cancer Society and the American Urological Association recommend that health care providers offer annual DRE and PSA screening tests for men, starting at age 50, who have an anticipated life expectancy of at least 10 more years.

Testing should be offered to men at higher risk of prostate cancer due to their family history or ethnicity beginning at age 40. African-American men, for example, have an increased risk of developing prostate cancer and are twice as likely to die from it.

But these age recommendations are only a part of current guidelines. Men are also urged to carefully consider the potential benefits and side effects related to early prostate cancer detection and treatment.

See Your Doctor

“To make fully informed decisions about screening and treatment, every man should discuss prostate cancer with his physician,” says Dr. Koukol.

Medical advances have given men a wide selection of prostate cancer treatment options, especially when cancer is found in its earliest, most treatable stages. Each treatment has its own benefits and risks, including a potential impact on sexual health and bladder control.

Medical advances have also increased the likelihood that prostate cancer will be detected or suspected – regardless of whether it is a danger. This makes prostate cancer screening and treatment decisions more complicated.

 “Some prostate cancers grow quickly, and unless treated, they spread to other parts of the body,” Dr. Koukol explains. “But prostate cancer is not uniformly aggressive or lethal.”

Older men with slow-growing, non-aggressive prostate cancers may be able to live out their lives quite comfortably without cancer treatment.

“Prostate cancer becomes much more common, but not necessarily more dangerous, with advanced age,” says Dr. Koukol. “One of our biggest challenges is predicting which cancers will become aggressive as time goes by. We consider every case on an individual basis.”

Treatment and Recovery

Ken weighed his options with Dr. Koukol and Methodist Hospital radiation oncologist Randall Duckert, MD. Given the nature of his cancer, age, overall health and active lifestyle, Ken opted to have radioactive seed implantation at Methodist Hospital. This outpatient procedure, performed under anesthesia, involved carefully targeted placement of tiny radioactive seeds in Ken’s prostate to kill the cancer cells.

Ken was pleased with the relative ease of the procedure and minimal downtime. He was swimming three days afterward, running two weeks later and cycling within the month.

Partners in Life and Fitness

Ken is not one to slow his pace, and his wife, Carol, 65, keeps going right along with him. These native Omahans completed their 23rd Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska in June. Both will compete in their sixth Triathlon World Championships in Honolulu in October 2005, less than a year after Ken’s cancer treatment.

Ken and Carol intend to stay fit, toned and healthy. Ken, now cancer-free and contrite about his years of doctor avoidance, encourages others to get the information and regular, preventive medical care needed to make the most of their golden years.

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