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Show I hit the jackpot when I found Jim O'Hara," she says. "I felt so fortunate that I had someone who was so interested and so capable. Together, they organized a monthly Man to Man support group at a nearby hospital. O'Hara took responsibility for lining up speakers and staying abreast of current information. He also volunteered to give awareness talks and attend community events to spread the word about early detection and treatment. With prostate cancer, we have a really good test, he says. So many people need to know about this. Testing is especially important because many men are like OHara, who had none of the cancers symptoms, which include urinary tract details that most people are uncomfortable sharing. But O'Hara knows that someone elses survival may depend on his openness, so the man who wouldnt discuss health issues with his wife is now an articulate expert on Thats a huge difference, Linda says. He was so private. Now he shares things I never would have imagined. OHaras commitment to prostate cancer education has been so valuable that Tourville secretly nominated him for the Fayette County United Ways Volunteer of the Year award in spring 2001. When she Debby Tourville is grateful for OHara's dedication. learned he was a finalist, it took a little friendly deception, and Lindas help, to get him to the luncheon. He wanted me to give the seat to another volunteer, Tourville says. I knew in my heart he would win because he was so deserving. Glancing at the award in his home office, O'Hara downplays his role. Im not alone in this, is about the most hell say about it. Youre not alone hours a week OHara gives to the Cancer Society are only part of his advocacy efforts. He spends hours on his home computer, answering questions posted on prostate cancer websites. Two phone lines handle the incoming calls, and a closet is stacked with information he sends out across the country. Thats the part of his volunteer work that Linda OHara likes The help others fight cancer, admirers say. I look at life in phases. There's a learning phase when youre young, an earning phase, and then a pay back phase. Prostate cancer just convinced me to get into the pay back phase faster" ( ; ' V j, f" the best. As she listens to him explain a test result or a procedure to a frightened individual, she knows that her volunteer-a-holi-c is making a tremendous difference in a persons life. People call him and I hear the knowledge he has, explaining some of the terms they didnt understand or were afraid to ask the doctor, she says. Hes done such a thorough job of research. Hes very compassionate with people, and he has a lot of patience. Among those hes helped is Clyde Pike Jr., a retired airlines quality control inspector, who joined the Man to Man support group after he was diagnosed in late 2000. When youre first diagnosed, youre in the doldrums, down in the dumps and feeling sorry for yourself, Pike says. Going to the support group lets you know youre not alone. OHara and the other group members also gave him good information on treatments. Several months after Pike opted for Unlike many members of the surgery, he remained cancer-fre- e. of their diagnosis and then attend the who in days early group leave. Pike has stayed involved, to learn and help others. Its very informative," he explains. They have different speakers. Jim has done a great job of lining them up. The people you meet in the meetings are going through different problems. I basically go now to see if theres someone else who needs some advice. With that kind of results, it might seem that O'Hara has repaid his debt to the support group leaders who helped him through the early days of his diagnosis and treatment. He doesnt see it that way. I look at life in phases, he says. Theres a learning phase when youre young, an earning phase, and then a k phase. Prostate cancer just convinced me to the into pay-baphase fester. get pay-bac- ck Pat Curry an vitamins and minerals prevent prostate cancer? Thats what the Nation- al Cancer Institute wants to know. This year, the institute began enrolling men in the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), the largest prostate cancer prevention study in U.S. history. SELECT will track more than 32,000 men for seven to 12 years to determine if vitamin E or scle- nium is effective in reducing the risk of prostate cancer, the most common form r of nonskin cancer in men. , When you follow Asians from their homelands who come to the Ufr. and adopt a Western diet, their incidence of prostate cancer goes up, says Dr. Jack Mydlo, pro- fessor and chairman of the Department of Urology at Temple University School of ' Medicine in Philadelphia. Thats a very strong indicator that diet is a actor.' Vitamin E and selenium were chosen to investigate because they showed promise in previous studies. Selenium was studied as a way to prevent nonmelanoma skin cancer in 1996, and while investigators didn't find any benefit for that kind of can- "Nl i- 30-pl- us ,l . is a Georgia-base- d freelance uriter. cer, they reported a 60 percent decrease in prostate cancer. Similarly, a study on vita- min E and lung cancer found no effect, but prostate cancer dropped 32 percent. ' Selenium is a mineral found in Brazil nuts, walnuts, tuna and cod, chicken and turkey, pasta, and whole wheat bread, among other foods. Natural sources of vitamin E include nuts, vegetable oils (especially wheat germ oil), fortified cereals, and green, leafy vegetables. Men are eligible to participate in the SELECT study if they are in generally had have never good health, prostate cancer, have not had any other kind of can-- b cer except skin cancer in the last five years, and are 35 or older. African-Amer-- !: ican men are eligible to join the study at age 50 because prostate cancer appears than in other ethnic groups. at younger ages in Enrollment will continue through 2005. For more information, call the Nacion--i al Oncer Institute at 1 or visit the SELECT information Internet site at www.swog.org and click on the link titled SELECT. African-America- ns American Profile Page 7 |