CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- This week is Cancer Screen Week, and for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul it’s personal.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul started getting screened for prostate cancer before he was 40, because of his family history. Prostate cancer killed his father, both of his grandfathers, and several uncles.
So, he started getting annual screenings early. In 2016, the then-State Senator was diagnosed with cancer.
"Because I did the screening annually, and because prior years screening didn't reflect the elevated PSA level, there's a likelihood that the early onset of cancer, the likelihood it was contained," Raoul said.
His prostate was surgically removed, and he’s fine, and telling other men to get screened, so they can live.
African-Americans are more prone to the disease, but the physical exam and blood test put some people off.
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"A moment annually of momentary discomfort, but nothing painful, when one thinks that it could save your life," Raoul said.
Raoul knows a lot of men are reluctant to get the screenings. But he tells men, if you don’t do it for yourself, do it for those you would leave behind.