Robert Hess is no stranger to taking on a challenge. He is a retired Army officer, business owner, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Digital Future, Annenberg School, USC, USA Cycling coach, amateur competitive cyclist, Harley Davidson enthusiast, and writer.

He is also a prostate cancer survivor and this summer has taken on a cross country motorcycle ride (arguably the longest charity motorcycle ride ever!) to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. With over 32,000 men expected to die from prostate cancer this year alone, Robert is doing all he can to make sure men know about early detection and take control of their prostate health.

Robert’s journey began in California on July 30th and, so far, has included stops at the California State House in Sacramento, Sturgis, the South Dakota Govenor’s office and Harley Davidson’s across the country. Along the way he has been greeted by supporters, legislators, media and fellow prostate cancer survivors.

On August 23rd his trip will bring him Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to meet with Women Against Prostate Cancer supporters before he begins his trip back West.

You can follow his journey, check out pictures, and learn more about his mission at http://tourdeusa2010.wordpress.com/

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1. The Need for Support After Prostate Cancer
2. A New Option for Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients and Families

And we know that every wife, partner, daughter, mother, friend, or family member of someone who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer has a unique perspective and story to share. With a disease like prostate cancer the treatment options are numerous and the outcomes, side effects, and learnings are diverse. A prostate cancer diagnosis can create a lasting impact on a family and on our relationships.

With that in mind we are launching a new online portal allowing the women impacted by prostate cancer to share their story, struggles, and messages of hope with others.

Stories are powerful and one woman’s words can inspire another to get her father into the doctor to discuss early detection or encourage another to work with her husband to make an informed treatment decision.

Many women have already taken the step to share their stories. And if you’re ready to share your story, you can submit it here.

Download our latest public service announcement here.

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1. Top 10 Things Women Should Know About Prostate Cancer
2. Women Against Prostate Cancer Support Group Launches Updated Website

Join us as we make our voices heard on the Hill!

This first annual event will consist of a half day training seminar on Monday, July 19 and a full day of pre-arranged meetings with your Congressional Representatives on July 20. WAPC will bring together volunteers and advocates from across the country to learn about the latest legislative issues affecting prostate cancer patients and their families. You will then have an opportunity to share your story with your Congressional Representatives and let them know how they can join us in our efforts to make prostate cancer history.

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1. Register today for the Women Against Prostate Cancer Advocacy Day 2010
2. Women Against Prostate Cancer Support Group Launches Updated Website

Join Women Against Prostate Cancer in a new effort to raise awareness of the disease. It’s inexpensive, doesn’t take much time and will provide a new platform for you to talk about the impact of prostate cancer on the men we love.

Learn more here and Download a RibbonTone for your cell phone today!

What is a RibbonTone you ask? RibbonTones are cell phone ring tones designed to raise funds for awareness ribbon causes such as prostate cancer. Each cause has its own awareness ribbon, and now a distinct RibbonTone for each. 80% of the net proceeds go directly to Women Against Prostate Cancer. When you download a RibbonTone, you are helping to create awareness and to raise funds for the work of our organization.

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2. Prostate Cancer Survivor Inspires Others With Cross Country Ride

Women Against Prostate Cancer is excited to see a new treatment option being made available for patients. There is a great need for more options for advanced prostate cancer treatments, and this gives patients and physicians an innovative tool to potentially extend and improve their quality of life. Prostate cancer advocates, like you, are also owed a great thank you for all of the work that you did to help this process along. Patients should work with their healthcare providers to determine if they are an appropriate candidate for Provenge at this time.

Click here to read more about the approval and whether you might qualify to get the treatment.

Read the news from the FDA here.

Related posts:

1. The Need for Support After Prostate Cancer
2. Register today for the Women Against Prostate Cancer Advocacy Day 2010
3. Much Needed Hearing in House Oversight Committee to Address Prostate Cancer Screening, Treatment, and Impact of Disease

This first annual event will consist of a half day training seminar on Monday, July 19 and a full day of pre-arranged meetings with your Congressional Representatives. WAPC will bring together volunteers and advocates from across the country to learn about the latest legislative issues affecting prostate cancer patients and their families and meting with federal legislators to make prostate cancer a number one priority.

Related posts:

1. Register for our First Annual WAPC Advocacy Day
2. Women Against Prostate Cancer Support Group Launches Updated Website
3. A New Option for Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients and Families

Dr. Pailler stresses the importance of establishing a support network after diagnosis for both prostate cancer patients and their partners.

WAPC also offers answers to some of the most frequently asked intimacy questions in our Intimacy Fact Sheet available for download here.

Related posts:

1. Women Against Prostate Cancer Support Group Launches Updated Website
2. A Joint Statement from America’s Prostate Cancer Advocacy, Education, and Support Organizations
3. Much Needed Hearing in House Oversight Committee to Address Prostate Cancer Screening, Treatment, and Impact of Disease

With the health reform vote coming up on Sunday, people around the country are eager to find out what the new legislation may have in store for them.

Listen in live on Saturday, March 20th as Women Against Prostate Cancer’s co-founders Theresa Morrow and Betty Gallo speak with Lorna Owens, host of And the Women Gather, on what the legislation will mean for men, prostate cancer and all who are impacted by the disease. The show will air at 6:00 pm EST and you can listen live online here.

To learn more visit www.andthewomengather.com.

Interested in what the legislation says? You can check out all 2,000+ pages here.

Or to find out where your Representative stands on the issue, check out this handy tally from The Washington Post.

Related posts:

1. Women Against Prostate Cancer Support Group Launches Updated Website

Mrs. Betty Gallo

By: Theresa Morrow

Yesterday, March 4^th, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hosted the first hearing on prostate cancer to take place in 11 years.

With two exceptional panels of experts, patients, spouses and advocates there was much discussion about the need for better early detection tests, more education and outreach to men, particularly in the African American community, and stressing the important role that women can play in the early detection of the disease.

The committee heard testimony about how men are reluctant to go to the doctor, get tested for prostate cancer, talk to the doctor about their health and/or their prostate, and the reluctance of their doctor to talk to them.  The committee also heard testimony about how women encourage men to go to the doctor and get tested, make sure they ask the right questions, and are involved in the decision making process if a potential problems is found, and provide comfort and support to their loved one.

WAPC’s own Betty Gallo gave a moving testimony on how prostate cancer can have a devastating effect on entire families and her own experience with her husband, former Congressman Dean Gallo. The power of women’s voices and the need for women to be engaged in prostate cancer advocacy was a theme throughout the hearing.

Experts from advocacy organizations, the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program, and hospitals like Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Johns Hopkins stressed the need for more research and tools that can separate the “lion” or aggressive prostate cancers from the “kittens” or non-lethal forms of prostate cancer. Dr. James Mohler of Roswell Park Cancer Institute even recommended the need to develop a blood or urine test that could be combined with the PSA to indicate who may not need a prostate biopsy, so that men with a non-lethal, or autopsy-type prostate cancer can be spared from biopsy and the related anxiety.

CBS News recapped the hearing in this video:

Complete video from the hearing can be found here:  Panel 1 and Panel 2

A complete list of witnesses along with their testimony is available on the committee website.

Related posts:

1. Much Needed Hearing in House Oversight Committee to Address Prostate Cancer Screening, Treatment, and Impact of Disease

By: Theresa Morrow, Co-Founder, Women Against Prostate Cancer

Over the past year or so there have been a number of prostate cancer studies released which have prompted a great deal of debate on important issues, including screening, diagnostic testing, diagnosis, treatment, comparative effectiveness of treatments and others.

The controversy around these issues has created a lot of confusion for the public. Men are often unsure if and when they should be screened for prostate cancer, some doctors aren’t sure if they should be performing prostate screenings and in the mean time prostate cancers are being detected at later stages in men across the country impacting not only them, but their entire families.

In order to help bring clarity to all of the discussion that is taking place, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has announced that they will host a hearing titled, Prostate Cancer: New Questions About Screening and Treatment on Thursday, March 4^th at 10:00 a.m.

Betty Gallo, co-founder of Women Against Prostate Cancer, has been chosen to testify at the hearing and will be sharing her own battle with her husband’s prostate cancer, former Congressman Dean Gallo. She will represent the millions of wives, partners, sisters, mothers and daughters impacted by this disease each year.

In addition to Ms. Gallo’s testimony, WAPC will also be submitting written testimony. Outlined below are just a few of the major issues on prostate cancer that we will submit to the committee to consider:

• Prostate cancer is a complex and problematic disease that affects not only the male patient but can also be devastating to his wife or partner and other family members over many years.With Approximately 2 million men currently living with prostate cancer, there are countless partners, spouses and loved ones who are also suffering from the effects of this disease.  In addition, we are concerned about the reported increase in the percentage of younger men (35 – 60 years old) being diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer which has lead to increased strain and stress placed on families with young children who in many cases will grow up without a father.

• More support and education is needed for partners, caregivers and the entire family when a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer.

• The early detection and appropriate treatment of clinically significant and potentially lethal prostate cancer remains a critical priority, especially among men at high risk because of family history, ethnicity, or other factors that define such risk.

• African-American men have one of the very highest rates of incidence and death from prostate cancer anywhere in the world. The increased rates in this community have a significant impact on the spouses and families of those with the disease.

• Physicians and their adult male patients should be encouraged to discuss the patients’ personal risks for prostate cancer and the individual need for prostate cancer testing at each patient’s annual physical exam.

• Men at higher levels of risk for prostate cancer (because of ethnicity, family history, and other factors) should be encouraged to undergo appropriate tests at a relatively early age.

• Until more accurate tests are available, all health care insurance plans should include coverage for annual tests for prostate cancer (including the prostate-specific antigen or PSA test and the digital rectal examination or DRE) – and follow-up diagnostic testing when appropriate. The PSA is not a perfect test, but it is all we have right now.

• Additional funding is urgently needed to support research into better ways to identify and discriminate between very low risk (“indolent”) and higher risk (clinically significant and potentially lethal) forms of prostate cancer at the time of diagnosis and into better forms of management for patients with or at risk for potentially lethal disease

Click here to read WAPC’s full testimony.

If you want to make your voice heard, visit WAPC’s Take Action Page.

If you are interested in learning more about the hearing or would like to tune in for a live webcast of the hearing visit: http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=2&extmode=view&extid=126

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1. Historic Hearing in House Sheds Light on Need for Additional Research
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3. A Joint Statement from America’s Prostate Cancer Advocacy, Education, and Support Organizations