Pace is strong with message of cancer awareness
By Nick Petaros, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Pace has recently demonstrated similar strength off the court, raising awareness for a cause grown men -- not to mention teenagers -- can find uncomfortable to discuss.
It all started on a basketball game day in early December. The Cedar Falls teenager attending
"When you hear cancer, you think of people dying and it's scary,"
"We thought we were going to be back at school by 10," his mom,
"First thing the doctor said to us is I want you to look at this as your lucky day because we caught this very early and it's very curable."
According to the
April is testicular cancer awareness month, and the family did Thursday interviews with The Courier and KCRG to bring the issue to the forefront. There were 7,920 new cases and 370 documented deaths from testicular cancer in the U.S. last year. It is the most common form of cancer in males age 15 to 35.
On the afternoon of his cancer diagnosis, Adison received a phone call from a basketball teammate and laid the groundwork for the comfortable manner in which his family was going to spread its message on the importance of early detection.
"I told everyone I'll be back way in time for the game,"
Pace ended up playing in that game, his team won, and the sport served as a much-needed diversion.
"It wasn't easy, but we're all guys,"
His son's uninhibited willingness to talk about his medical condition became a source of pride for
"We hadn't talked about as a family what we were going to tell or not tell people,"
"It wouldn't have mattered to me if he told people there's something wrong with his ankle or knee or whatever. But we were really proud of him that there was a reason in his mind to be upfront with it and hopefully it will help somebody else."
He's alarmed by the cursory nature of what's required in a pre-participation physical exam for Iowa's athletes. The exam can be performed by a host of individuals with varying medical knowledge, and may not be extensive enough to discover testicular cancer.
"We were fortunate that when we went to (Adison's) doctor, he doesn't just do the kind of drive-through, it's a full exam,"
"If you don't have the full exam, if the kid isn't hearing about it from a coach, the activities director, a health class, somewhere, you could be asking for a really unnecessary, unfortunate situation."
Pace will undergo blood tests and chest x-rays every six weeks, along with CT scans every three months. The teenager received a clean bill of health during his most recent CT scan two weekends ago, and is playing with his traveling basketball team in a tournament this weekend in
While Adison considers himself fortunate that he went in for a physical that early December day, he's also alarmed by the frequency in which testicular cancer goes undetected.
"It's so unknown and under the radar,"
Similar to his son,
"I think with any health issue you feel helpless and your mind jumps to the worst case scenarios,"
"There isn't any reason to be uncomfortable talking about IT because IT happens to be testicular cancer. We don't have trouble talking about lung cancer or breast cancer or any other form of cancer and this should be no different."
Through Adison's courage and his parents' perseverance the message is out. Complete annual physicals along with monthly self-examinations are important steps to early detection of a fast-spreading and highly curable form of cancer.
"Nothing's embarrassing,"
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