(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Prostate cancer is personal to an Illinois state lawmaker who urges men to get screened for the disease.
“Because we detected it early, it’s a different life expectancy for me,” state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said Thursday at a cancer-awareness event at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Ford is 48 years old. His primary care doctor did not recommend he get a simple “PSA” blood test that would identify prostate cancer. He pushed to have the test done a few months later and learned he had an aggressive form.
“I experienced no signs and that’s because it had not spread outside of the prostate,” the lawmaker said.
Ford’s diagnosis came in October. His prostate was removed in late January. One month later, he said he was able to run a 5k.
Dr. Edward Schaeffer declared Ford “cancer-free.”
Screening is especially important for African-American men, he said, because it disproportionately affects them.
Rep. Ford used the news conference to encourage men who do not have insurance to sign-up for the Affordable Care Act. Deadline to apply is Aug. 21.