Prostate cancer survivor recalls shock diagnosis

After watching his father battle prostate cancer, 56-year-old Quinton Yearde knew that getting the illness was a possibility, but he hoped it was a road he would never have to travel.

However, while taking out an insurance policy, Yearde received the news he had dreaded.

“I was trying to sort out my health insurance at the time and the agent pointed out that, ‘Bwoy, dem naa give you, enuh, because them say you have prostate cancer’, and mi say ‘What? How you fi seh something like that?’”

Yearde, who was 48 at the time, told THE STAR that he had always taken his health seriously and made a point of doing regular medical checks. That commitment, he said, was further driven by the fear created by his father’s diagnosis, although his father had successfully defeated the disease.

“Because my dad had prostate cancer, I knew I had to beware and watch what was happening. But I was one who did my yearly check-ups, and that is inclusive of the PSA test,” he explained. While the insurance agent’s feedback was probable, he was left in denial, and sought a second opinion.

“I went and told my doctor what they said, and he said, ‘Alright, let’s get it checked’. And we realised that my PSA was fluctuating. He said, ‘Let’s do a PSA test’. He did one and it went down, and that was good, but he did another one and then it went up. He said, ‘OK, let’s do an ultrasound’. We did. He said, ‘OK, let’s do an MRI’. We did that, and then he said, ‘Boy, we have to do a biopsy’.”

The biopsy showed that he did have prostate cancer.

“My wife wasn’t there, so I just called her and told her she needed to come to the doctor’s office,” he recalled.

Yearde said that his doctor explained that he could either undergo surgery or radiation, and having watched his father go through the disease, he sought his input.

“I [also] tried to find other men who went through the experience. And I am now a member of Brothers United Against Prostate Cancer because the support part of the treatment is important,” he said.

Still, Yearde said he knew he should not delay treatment.

“By the time I went back to the doctor, I had the surgery scheduled for in about two months. I wasn’t going to wait because delay is dangerous with cancer,” he said. But Yearde, who cracked several jokes during the interview, admitted that despite the seriousness of his diagnosis, his biggest fear was simple.

“The biggest fear is I guess I don’t want to die, but I had a brain tumour [when I was] young, so it is not my [first] rodeo,” he said, laughing. He explained that surgery proved to be the best route for him.

“When they take out the prostate, they test it. They realised I had what is called a spread, but the reality is that I wasn’t stage two, it was three,” he said.

He told THE STAR that he was told to prepare for the next step of his treatment – radiation for six months. It worked. “I am cancer free, cancer free,” he declared.

Looking back, Yearde said he has often wondered whether there were warning signs he missed or simply did not pay enough attention to.

“But after diagnosis, the urinary issues that you would have as a man, you are like, ‘Wow, maybe it was trying to tell you something’. But urinary issues are so common. I didn’t have any symptoms per se,” he said.

Still, having battled a disease that he had hoped would stop with his father, Yearde said his own diagnosis took on an even deeper meaning because his son was only five years old at the time.

“I remember telling him, ‘Daddy has to go to the hospital to take something out’, and after the surgery I remember he came. But I let him see how I handled it because he is a male, and if he ever has to handle it, he will know,” he said.

With September observed as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Yearde hopes Jamaican men understand that it is treatable.

“Beware of the consequences of prostate cancer because many men are aware and don’t do anything. Too often Jamaican men sit and do nothing, and that is a death wish.”