Movember 2nd

Accident Prevention

The picture is a bit fuzzy, but then so is the mo' at this stage.

Remember, Remember the Month of Movember

If you haven't noticed yet, this is the month of Movember. Once again the gallant Mo Stashed Hairiers are covering their upper lips for the cause of raising funds for men's health, notably prostate and testicular cancer research and men's mental health. Please go on over to the Mo Stashed Hairiers blog which also has some information on prostate and testicular cancer and some common sense, health precautions that men can take.

Here is a video we made three years ago.

2012 Year in Review by Luisa

Mo Stashed Hairiers Starting to Look Good

Please click on the link to go over and see the latest growth on the upper lips and surrounds of those fine gentlemen, the Mo Stashed Hairiers.

Among the pictures be sure to spot the one showing three generations of father and son Mo Bro's. I'm very proud of that one.

At time of posting they have raised $1,635. It would be wonderful if you could help them reach $3,000 for the great Movember cause.

Movember - Why?

Please head over to my other blog - the Movember Mo Stashed Hairiers - where I say a bit about why I am taking part in Movember for the sixth time. There is also a bit of reminiscing on the first time, replete with pictures of my first shave since age twenty-one.

Movember - Tally-ho, let's grow the mo. Let that 'stash bring in some cash.

Remember, remember the month of Movember

Fun with Mo reason

For this is the season

For lips to grow stubble

So efforts can double

That cancer gets whipped

By those hairy lipped

And their sponsors who give

To the scientists who live

For the day

When they find out the way

After all we've endured

That cancer gets cured.

MOVEMBER - Mo Stashed Hairiers

Getting Ready for Movember 2012

It's that time again. I'm starting to get ready for the month of Movember, 2012.



Since Movember last year my prostate cancer fortunes have changed as many of you may recall. Last year this time I had been living for five years with a small, slow growing cancer of the prostate that was being monitored every six months with a PSA test and with a needle biopsy every eighteen months. At the beginning of this year the biopsy showed that the cancer had gone up a notch in aggressiveness and had also spread somewhat within the prostate. It was time to stop watching and to take some action. After a couple of weeks of reading and consultation I decided, with my urologist, that the wisest course of action was to have a radical prostatectomy.

That was in April. The procedure was successful and there was no evidence of metastasis.  The first of the six-monthly PSA tests that I need to have for the rest of my life showed a count of 0 (zero!), meaning no trace or evidence of cancer. However, I do remain at higher risk which is why the testing needs to continue.

All the above leads me to continue having an interest in Movember and the cause of promoting men's health - physical and mental - through clinical research and public education. To help fund this worthy cause we will be running the Mo Stashed Hairiers again this year and I sincerely hope that friends, family and strangers will be generous with this great cause in spite of hard times.

You can find my Mo Space Home Page here. It has a "Donate" button. Donations by Canadians are tax deductible.

Note. For a blow by blow diary of my prostate cancer journey click on the "Prostate Cancer" label here or in the panel to the right of this blog.

Goodbye Prostate. Goodbye Old Friend.

Many of you who have previously read my Movember blogs or my post on Global Warming and My Prostate will know that my urologist and I have been actively, vigilantly and diligently watching a tiny, slow-growing cancer in my prostate for the last 5 years, and suspecting the existence of one for 2 years before that.

The time for mere vigilance is over.

I am scheduled to have a radical prostatectomy early  next month.

In theory this should remove all the cancer but we will only know that with reasonable certainty after the urologist gets the follow up pathology report which should confirm the grade of cancerous cells in the prostate and whether any cancer has spread to the surrounding lymph nodes - very unlikely but worth checking.

I expect to be in hospital for 2 days after surgery. Initial recovery time is 4 to 6 weeks. I am not supposed to do heavy lifting or vigorous exercise for 3 months. (I believe that includes mowing the lawn and washing the dishes.) For both medical and insurance reasons I should not attempt to drive a car for a full month after surgery.

The most significant side effects for me, which are supposed to be temporary, are incontinence and erectile dysfunction. In my case I'm not going to worry too much about infertility...

I'll have a catheter for about 2 weeks. The benefit of that is that I won't have to get up at night, even if I drink a couple of beers before going to bed, as the bag takes 2 litres. After the catheter comes out I'll be peeing my pants for a few months whenever I cough, sneeze, flatulate or otherwise exert myself. I've already started my Kegel exercises to speed up recovery but I guess I'll be relying on ultimate masculine hygiene pads for men for a while.

The ED is another story. The bad news is that this takes a lot longer to restore than the pee-control. The good news is that I am eligible for nerve-sparing surgery which gives me a better chance of recovering the ability for spontaneous erections or, more likely, erections with help from little pills like Viagra. Getting up in the morning will never be the same again, I'm afraid.

Why now, so quickly?

By doing it now I can have the nerve-sparing surgery. If the cancer is allowed to spread or become more aggressive then that window of opportunity will close.

If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly. - Macbeth

How do I feel about it?

...not very thrilled, as you can imagine, and somewhat disappointed that I could not continue the active vigilance stage a while longer. As Pooh Bear said of Eeyore and his tail, I'm very fond of it and definitely attached to it. (E.E. Milne. Winnie the Pooh, Chapter 4.) I know I will miss it. But it helps to keep things in perspective and remember that this is happening not because of the surgery but because of the cancer. All these side effects, and worse, will happen to me anyway, permanently, if I leave the cancer untreated.

Many thousands of men have been through this before me. I need to be grateful: my prognosis is excellent because we have been watching it so closely all this time. To the men among you let me say that if you are over 40 and have not had a baseline PSA test yet, please ask your doctor to order this test for you. In Canada 1 in 7 men gets prostate cancer and it is the most common cause of cancer death among men in Canada. Yet it is highly treatable if caught early enough.

To the women among you: if your man is over forty and has not had his baseline PSA test, get him to read this post. This is one area where a woman is allowed to nag. It is a known fact that a large number of men finally get their prostates checked just to stop their wives and partners from nagging. It's all good!

Movember comes to an end

Movember has come to an end. I am very pleased and proud at how our team, the Mo Stashed Hairiers, came through at the end. Of course this was impossible without the support and generosity of all our sponsors. Please go on over and have a look at the moustaches, the men (Mo Bros) behind the mo's and the supporters behind the team (Look for the Sponsors On A Roll.)

Also note how other teams with past associations with us helped us raise combined donations of over $10,000. Click on the link to see how Movember closes with a BANG.

Movember Has Begun. Time for the Mo Grow

With the start of Movember most of my blogging efforts this month will go into my Movember blog site,The Mo Stashed Hairiers. Please head on over there and follow our fortunes. I have also added two pages of information on prostate cancer and on men's health issues which I urge you to read. Women, if you have a significant man in your life I recommend you read it as well. Quite a large proportion of men finally get to see their doctor because their wives are persistent about the need for them to do so.

To the men I say, with Nike, Just do it! You can do it! Get your checkup!

Remember, Remember the Month of Movember

Please go on over and regularly visit the Mo Stashed Hairiers by clicking the link. Over the next few weeks we will be assembling once more for our assault on prostate cancer and the promotion of men's health. We will be counting on your support once again.

Please watch and listen to our YouTube video Movember song and see all our heroes from last year.

Thank You to the Mo Stashed Hairiers

Here is my thank-you tribute to all the Mo Stashed Hairiers and to our sponsors. I have also included a few people who were not involved this year but who were loyal stalwarts in years past.

You can view the movie here or watch it on YouTube. Enjoy and... THANK YOU!

The End of Movember

The Mo Stashed Hairiers will continue to accept donations from sponsors for the first few days of December.
I am pleased to be able to tell you that, as at the end of Movember we have raised $5,373.00 for Prostate Cancer Canada.

See http://mostashedhairiers.blogspot.com/

Mo Stashed Hairiers on the brink of $4,000

Terry McCann, Patrick Ford

Read all about - and a thank you to the ladies.

Mo Stashed Hairiers

Movember Canada: Over 12 Million Dollars - So Far

Over twelve million dollars will be going to Prostate Cancer Canada for funding cancer research and promoting men's health education and awareness.

...and the Mo Stashed Hairiers have raised over $3,000.


See Mo Stashed Hairiers blog

Movember: Half Way Mark

We are half way through Movember. I am very pleased to tell you one of our Mo Stashed Hairiers is now a Platinum Class Movember Citizen.

Movember coming up

I have created a new blog especially to track the goings-on of our 2009 Movember team, the Mo Stashed Hairiers. Click on the link and go on over and take a look.

Movember '08 - Final Wrap-up

Greg Landry

Great work, Greg. Thank you.

Taylor Landry

Thanks for being on the team and giving us your mo shots - but Taylor, what's with the beard?

See you next year.

Zachery King

Zach - you are one elusive reclusive. Thanks for being on the team.

Greg Forbes

Sir Gregory - now that wasn't so bad was it?

Peter Righton

My ME Mo Bro. Thanks for joining the fun, Peter. Now Samuel knows what whiskers are.

Bob Arpin

Thanks for all the regular mo show pics, Bob.

Final wrap-up

Thank you everybody for a very successful drive that achieved all my personal objectives: raise funds and awareness for something serious while not taking ourselves too seriously. Final tally is CAD $3,366 raised by the Mostashed Hairiers. Add that to the $2,254 raised by my sons' team, The Great Canadian Moosestaches, and we all made $5,620 in total. Looking at the donors I made a rough tally of about 100 donors across both teams - an excellent achievement. Next year will be even better :-)

Mo Bro Terry

End of Movember '08

Wayne Hudson

Putting on the winter woolies before shaving the 'stache.

Justin Manuel

Justin tells me his mo is growing on him... Now that is profound mo wisdom - I'm just not sure what to do with such insight...

James Demarco - Platinum

Congratulations James Demarco (right) on raising more than $1000.00 and achieving Platinum club status. And thank you Taylor and Greg for bringing in this great asset to the Mostashed Hairiers.

End of Movember (nominally anyway)

As I write this it is 9:30pm in Toronto and the month of Movember is nominally over. I say nominally because I know from last year that some more donations do continue to come in and I certainly hope that will be the case again this year. We are less than $40.00 short of passing $3000.00 as a team.

The big winner of course is the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation in Canada and similar foundations worldwide.  Their stated mission on their website is "to raise funds for research into the prevention, treatment and cure of prostate cancer by engaging Canadians through awareness, education, and advocacy."

The fact that our team received sponsorship from over 70 different individuals tells me that this Movember has been a huge success not only in terms of fund raising but also for getting the message out about men's health.

Here are some of the amounts raised - all figures CAD$:

Canada $1,906,214

England $2,548,851

Australia $9,856,586

To all who sponsored the Mostashed Hairiers, THANK YOU!

...and to all you intrepid team members who grew your mo's and gave me your pictures for friends and strangers to laugh at, a great big THANK YOU!

Mo-sincerely yours,

Terry

Movember - My good news with 3 days left

My personal good news

Today I went to the urologist. [self-censored...]  My latest 6-monthly PSA was exactly the same as the last time so no indication of any further cancer growth. The economy can fall to pieces - if you have your health you have everything!

Raj and Terry

A study in contrasts. They say camera's don't lie - but this picture of me is living proof that they do. Anway - just focus on the 'stache and if you want to laugh, go ahead but please pull out your credit card for the privilege...

Inspector Clouseau - Take-1

Could it be, could it be..?

Inspector Clouseau Take-2

...could it possibly be that the great Inspector has joined the Mostashed Hairiers? Friends, roamers and country men, please honour the great Inspector with a sponsorship donation.

Zack King

The reclusive Zachery King was tracked down to his blog site where this amazing picture was found. Behold the mo! Do I hear thirty dollars? No? Forty did you say?

Justin? - yes, I'm afraid so

And all the time you thought this upstanding pillar of the community would never break any rules. Alas and alack! Here you see it. A goatee! AAarrgh!!!! In Movember!

How suave can you get?

In a matter of days our Justin has transformed himself into the model of Movember. Banished is the goatee. In with the Trucker 'Stache. Ladies and gentlemen, surely this gallant effort is worthy of sponsorship for the Movember cause?

Yours mo-sincerely

Terry