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WHY DON’T MEN talk about cancer?
At a launch by the Irish Cancer Society this week, one of the more worrying problems around cancer awareness was how to reach out to men: to get them talking about symptoms they might have, and encouraging them to go to screenings to get checked.
The Irish Cancer Society says that over 75% of their interaction with the public is with women – which even includes questions around prostate cancer. This is because it’s often men’s wives who call up on their behalf to ask the questions they have.
That reluctance to talk openly about cancer and to get checked is having a serious effect: statistics show that men are 36% more likely to die of cancer compared to women, which is thought to be because of late diagnoses, leading to lower rates of survival.
A National Cancer Registry report from 2013 said this called for more gender specific and effective targeting of men in terms of tackling the disproportionate impact of cancer mortality on the male population.
One of the Irish Cancer Society’s messages as part of their ‘Get Cancer‘ campaign is to encourage men to go to screenings, and look out for symptoms they might have – and not to ignore them.
Gerard Ingoldsby says that when his friends and neighbours heard he was diagnosed with cancer they were shocked, as he doesn’t drink or smoke, he eats healthily and exercises – all recommendations to reduce your risk.
“One person I knew [said it made him think] ‘we could all be walking around with some form of cancer and we wouldn’t know’.”
And for a while, that’s what Gerard was doing. In 2003, he began to feel a general discomfort, rectal bleeding began and he knew something wasn’t right.
Although a colonoscopy didn’t find anything, he went for a second one 18 months later because of worsening symptoms.
“There was a huge silence in the room when they did the second one – you could see a [blotch] on the screen.”
He was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer, aged 42, and said that in a way it was a relief as it confirmed his belief that something wasn’t right.
Luckily, the cancer was contained and he was told with treatment he would be okay.
But he’s adamant that if he hadn’t gone for that second check-up, if he hadn’t private health insurance that allowed him to be referred within three weeks, that he wouldn’t have survived as he was “just months away” from stage 4 cancer.
“When I heard you were calling, I made a list of the things I wanted to say,” he told TheJournal.ie. It’s a simple list: ”Don’t ignore the symptoms. Go and get checked.”
There needs to be something there that pushes men to take account of what’s going on. If something’s bleeding from behind it shouldn’t be. It may not be sinister, it may not be anything, but for God’s sake go get it checked.
“Men just don’t take heed of what they should do. And the sad thing is that when they do, it’s often too late.”
He says that he saw the striking differences between men and women after he was cleared of cancer and attended counselling for his cancer treatment.
“It was a case of ‘blessed art thou amongst women’. The number of men whom I actually encountered was minimal compared to the number of women.” He says that the out of each class or session of 10-12 people, he would encounter 1-2 men.
‘A car crash saved my life’
Paul McLoone experienced first hand what can happen if you wait too long before getting checked.
The Co Donegal man says that while he was receiving treatment for colon, bowel and prostate cancer, that a lot of the men from his ward died because they had been diagnosed later and reached more advanced stages of cancer.
“Get yourself investigated, get yourself looked after. At that time I could spend €100 or €150 on a night out, so you must put things into perspective. This is life or death. Talking about €20 or €30 is a nonsense thing when you could be getting screened.
Spending money on screenings was the best investment of my life.
Interestingly, Paul owes his early diagnosis to a car crash he was injured in in 2006. While visiting a GP for a follow-up, the doctor advised he be screened for cancer, which is when he was diagnosed with colon cancer.
“If I hadn’t listened to the doctor, I wouldn’t be talking to you now,” he says. “I thought when I was 50 said I’d be happy with living until I’m 60, but now that I’m here, I’ve changed my mind!”
When asked why men are more reluctant to get checked for cancer and talking about symptom worries, Paul says that it’s really a generational problem.
“You’re talking about my generation, the macho male was a huge issue at my young age. When I was going to school, men were to be the strong people. I remember when my brother died in the late 1970s, I was crying by the graveside and other men came up to me and said ‘Shake yourself up, and cop yourself on’ type of thing.
We had the absolutely wrong attitude to the role of males. We were taught by our fathers who came from a different culture and a different background.
“When you talk about men in their 50s and 60s, remember where we come from,” he says. “We aren’t as good at it but we’re improving, very slowly.”
He says that if screening did for others what it did for him, that would make a huge difference to survival rates, and that it’s important for men to get tested once they reach a certain age – as Paul had no symptoms when he was diagnosed in his mid-50s.
“You know the way we have a conversation around drink driving that’s ‘Jesus you had a few drinks and went out in the car? How stupid can you be?’”
“We need to be saying to men, ‘[What do you mean] you’re 55 and you haven’t gone for a screening!’”
Over 10,000 Irish men are diagnosed with invasive cancers each year, with the main offenders being forms of skin, prostate, lung and bowel cancer.
Because of the advancement of research and medical treatment, cancer is no longer synonymous with a terminal disease, and can be treated with success – if caught in time.
Updated at 12pm
Proper order, It can’t be one rule for some and another for others…all the kids were entered into a lottery style selection process, you can’t get any fairer than that.
@Jimmy Farrell: Read the article carefully and you’ll note that not all the children were included in the lottery. A system of privileged access exists favouring certain categories of applicants. Under this system, while the school is publicly funded, not all children are afforded equal access. This is immoral and should be illegal. The obvious solution in cases such as this, where a school is significantly over-subscribed, is to either build a bigger school and to bus the excess numbers to the nearest suitable school with sufficient accommodation in the interim, or to bus the excess indefinitely if building a school is not a financially viable option. The admission policies of school should be standardised nationally with possible exemption only in exceptional cases. We are supposed to be a democracy after all.
@Tomasz Irlandczik Krótki: why would siblings not get a place in the same school I don’t see a problem with they’re enrolment policy leftover places are a lottery this child’s name was in the lottery but his wasn’t chosen. It’s the same with most schools. The parents wanted a special accommodation for him because a previous principal verbally told them to move him to a feeder school and they took this as a guarantee of a place which was wrong.
@Tomasz Irlandczik Krótki: I did read it all, the children which aren’t included in the lottery are those whom have siblings already enrolled in the school for obvious reasons. For example imagine being a parent of 4 children and they’re all attending different secondary schools. Would be a nightmare trying to pick them up! All different uniforms, no handmedowns, different start and end times..
@Jimmy Farrell: So, get one in – and they’re all in! Wrong – privilidged access is unfair, and unacceptable.
@Fank Pulman: Its not privildeged if the siblings rules applies for all families!…What on earth is there to be gained from splitting up and separating a child from going to school with her brothers and sisters??
@Jimmy Farrell: and what about children of past pupils? Do you agree with that in a schools funded by the state?
@Paul Fahey: yep generally keeps the riff raff out!
@Paul Fahey: Yes, why not? Everyones parents went to school somewhere..if they want to go to that school let them
@Jimmy Farrell: All families!!? Except new ones¡¡¡
@Fank Pulman: This is our school – all my family came here, so my children get priority over everbody else! Can you not see anything wrong with that ‘logic’…¿?
@Fank Pulman: No i dont see anything wrong with that logic, once the rule applies for every school! If your first child starts in a new school (ie. New family as you say) at least their brothers and sisters are guaranteed a place their too!
@Jimmy Farrell: to be fair. If your other children are going there then yes preference should be for those children. But this nonsense of my brother or father used to go here so I should be a shoe in is ridiculous. That should not be allowed.
@Jimmy Farrell: So if I am forced (for work) to move to Mayo, my children – in your view, have to wait for a place; and, say, an excellent academic record is irrelevant. As well as everything else!?
@Jimmy Farrell: so say a family, say like mine, move to an area in Dublin and live there and contribute to the local society for years. A young couple move back to the area after years in Dubai, but because they have a parental link to the school, but my parents went to school in Tipperary, their children get priority over mine. You think this is quotable and justifiable?
@Paul Fahey: Ok its not like your child wont get a place in a school! Everyone just wants a school on their door step. I had to get a 50min bus to school everyday for 5 years! And had to walk 2 miles on a main road in the middle of nowhere with lorrys and cars flying past to get the bus and the same home again, the same in the pitch black of winter i might add! But I’m not complaining i didnt get the local school, mine was in the next town!
@Paul Fahey: so most schools not have catchment areas they service first? That said the number of students taking the trains in the mornings is ridiculous
@Paul Fahey: Yes Paul. Schools are communities and past pupils contribute enormously to the identity and culture of that community.
@Fank Pulman: you don’t have kids do you ?
@Tomasz Irlandczik Krótki: These parents werent worried about a fair lottery when they wrongly assumed their child would get into the school. They’re only bothered now because they’re “we no important people” attitude didnt work
@Thomas McGilly: what identity and culture is it you talk of? Do you mean largely white and catholic only I cannot think of any other.
@Paul Fahey: There is more to a identity and culture than colour and creed. Businesses, sports clubs etc have identities and cultures while potentially having a multitude of different races and world views. It’s a way of doing things that are dear to the school as a community that past pupils know and understand. They (past pupils) also helped create that culture. Having that commitment to a school adds huge value to a school.
@Thomas McGilly: and yet you have failed to identify the “identity and culture”, odd that. Also, companies are subject to equality laws, but religious schools are not fully.
So what is this identity and culture? How is it different for people who have lived in Dublin all their lives, but their parents went to school in Tipperary?
@Jimmy Farrell: you and those supporting you are the reason that disabled children are consistently victimised and denyed entry to schools. No one wants our children because of the extra time and effort involved, and they refuse to apply their own principle of siblings getting preferred entry if the sibling is disabled.
This country is the only one not to have signed the UN Convention of the rights of people with disabilities, and it is because of people like you that they are allowed to get away with it. Mucsavages rule us, and people like you facilitate it. No one should in the 21st century be supporting school entry policies that marginalise and exclude children who don’t have the right parents/siblings or ability.
Either you have deliberately ignored the entry policy of the school above, or you can’t read. Either way it helps to understand how the Irish meekly took on EU bank debt, and hung it round the neck of your children and grandchildren. We are not the fighting Irish, we are the spineless Irish.
@Paul Fahey: Each school, including those with no religious identity, has an identity i.e. what makes them unique, and a culture, i.e. the way they do things and why they do things that way. It varies from school to school. It could be for example, one school places emphasis on academic achievement, exam results, does not have LCA. Relationships in that school could be very formal with students having to make appointments to see teachers. Another school might place emphasis on personal development with an emphasis on wellbeing, has LCA and relationships are less formal. That is their culture and identity. Equality legislation has nothing to do with this particular case. Finally, in practical terms, the Tipp parents example is not a realistic one unless the parents moved to Tipp.
@Jimmy Farrell: they do it to families who have a disabled sibling all the time. Are you ok with that?
@Thomas McGilly: nonsense, you seem to be suggesting that a school striving for academic excellence is a local phenomenon. The Tipp scenario is actually mine; I moved to London and now live in Dalkey, but my parents still reside in Tipp and went to school in Tipp. After 15 years in Dalkey, why should any other family take precedence over mine?
Excellent, the PC lot wont be happy.
@Paul: don’t know how you arrived there, the details in the article are vague and scant
The problem here is not a flawed enrolment policy. It is that the Dept. of Education will not supply enough classrooms to accommodate all the pupils who apply. The Minister then trying to railroad a school into not adhering to its stated enrolment criteria is entirely disingenuous.
@Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair:
Is there any kid in the entire country who can’t attend school because no places are available? No.
The issue is that certain schools are oversubscribed and certain schools are undersubscribed, which could be for geographical reasons, reputational reasons, convenience reasons etc. etc. etc..
I wonder is there more to this story that we are not being told ?
@David Conroy: I bet there’s a believing in the right fairies angle to it that is not being shared.
@David Conroy: probably not. Just a tale of a parent, a school and its admission policies and a court.
So 100 more pupils apply to a school than available places. Dept. provides 4 extra classrooms and normal increase in staff as necessary. Problem solved.
The legal fees in this case would have provided the resources for above simple solution.
The Dept. of education is a complete farce.
@Liam McGowan: but people are enroling to multiple schools. A proper state or council controled enrolment system should be put in place.
The real story here as any teacher knows is that the Dept of Education are terrified of Joe Duffy and always side with the parents in these situations. Fair play to the school for standing up for their enrolment policy. It may (or may not) be flawed but it’s a policy. There are (usually) other schools in the locality.
One of our local schools insists that the teaching of all subjects is done in Irish (even English!) – a total waste for those of us who chose to work abroad.
@Fank Pulman: You mean it’s a GaelCholáiste? Which obviously isn’t a waste for those who want their children educated through Irish. I will also presume there is a demand for it, otherwise it wouldn’t be there.
@Fank Pulman: One of your local schools? So there’s a choice there? What is the relevance to this article except to release some of your constant, pent up hatred for a language. Go away there and have a good ould self-flagellation for yourself!
@Fank Pulman: equally to teach them in English is futile if you are going to work abroad in a non-English speaking country.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Aww calm down chaps¡ In my opinion – it is very important to travel in life, and to live in different cultures, countries and environments. I have worked in NYC, Sydney, London and several EU countries; NOWHERE was my gaeilge any help – but if parents want their childten to learn it, fine. But mine won’t – except if they want yo, when they get older.
@Fank Pulman: look at you, claiming to know about schools… Almost fooling us that you went to one!
@Brown Boots: I did BB…to a school where I was forced to speak Irish, play hurling and be a catholic. Now I have nothing to do with the three…
@Fank Pulman: Well done. And I too have worked in a range of countries on 2 different continents. But I found Irish invaluable with some of my colleagues as a language we could converse freely in knowing NOBODY else knew what we were talking about. Apart from one unfortunate incident in a restuarant in Lisbon!!!
@Fank Pulman: frank are you a special needs person
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Just a bit of a laugh then – no good for work! Yet we insist that EU documentation is translated into Irish – and then shredded, unread by anyone…
@Paul O Faolain: are you O¿
@Fank Pulman: did you learn any other language in school you went on to use for work?
@Fank Pulman: So English is taught through Irish!!? Ha ha! You are an idiot.
@Fank Pulman: That’s no reason why your children wouldn’t be capable of learning another language. You might as well say that you had a bully of a teacher for maths so your children are obliged to skip geometry. It’s just eccentric, sorry.
The grammar alone will stand to them. English just doesn’t have the tenses to compare with other languages, so any new language they learn as adults will be easier for them. Hundreds of thousands of Americans speak it fluently, by the way. It’s taught differently now.
@Fank Pulman: also Frank, studies have shown that children who are bilingual from an early age pick up additional languages far more readily later on..
Though I agree that boots family didn’t have a car, how much did all this legal action cost and what budget did it come from?
Good
Nuts
Our Constitution states that all children are treated equally
Did the judges not read the constitution before the made the Judgment
@pat seery:
Tell that to the parent who has to be in four different places at once to collect four children from four schools.
For heaven sake if his friends are there he should be allowed .its so important to have your friends from primary school with you and that’s only one reason .
have your say