Yours
Man's
Disease
Jon Calcott Imerman and Jon Dwoskin want young men to be aware of testicular cancer.
Testicular cancer is easily cured if young men would only check.
JOANNA BRODER
Special to the Jewish News
T
his spring, Jon Dwoskin,
30, a real estate invest-
ment broker from West
Bloomfield, started seeing
black during his daily meditations.
He felt pain in his left testicle and
thought it might be cancer.
Remarkably, the pain that brought
him to the doctor was unrelated to
the painless, small cancer found in
his right testicle.
Dwoskin was diagnosed with stage
1 disease, meaning it was confined
to the testicle. "I feel blessed that my
diagnosis was so good," said
Dwoskin.
-
The type of cancer cells making up
Dwoskin's tumor (the most common
type) respond very well to radiation
therapy. After a month of treat-
ments, Dwoskin jumped into volun-
teer work to promote awareness for
testicular cancer. "As I started talking
to people, nobody knew how to
check themselves," Dwoskin said.
Although extremely rare in the
general population, testicular cancer
is the most common type of cancer
in young men. Forty-four percent of
the 250 cases diagnosed in Michigan
in 1999 were in young men between
ages 15-34.
"I had vaguely heard of testicular
cancer," said Dwoskin, "I didn't
know it was considered a young
man's disease."
Testicular cancer is one of the
most treatable cancers. Cure rates are
higher than 90 percent for all stages
combined, according to the
American Cancer Society. More
remarkable is that even in the most
advanced stage, where the cancer has
spread to other organs, it can still be
treated and cured.
Adam Beltzman, a lawyer from
WARREN
PRESCRIPTIONS
•Gills •Toys • Cards
•Jewelry • Comp Accessories
32910 Middlelleil • Farmington Hills • (248) 85 5-11 77
8/23
2002
110
Farmington Hills who now lives in
Chicago, was diagnosed with testicu-
lar cancer three years ago when he
was just 24. "When I was diagnosed,
all my friends were shocked because
they didn't know they were at risk,"
said Beltzman.
Because of early detection and his
type of tumor, Jon Dwoskin did not
need to get chemotherapy or further
surgeries. But even if his case had
been worse, his chances of surviving
the disease would still have been
high.
This has not always been the case.
Death rates from testicular cancer
have dropped 70 percent in the last
30 years, mostly due to the intro-
duction of a special combination of
chemotherapy drugs and more
aggressive surgical approaches.
"Most cancers, they talk about sur-
vival rates, but they don't talk about
cure rates. But for testicular cancer
they talk about cure rates," said
Dwoskin's Southfield urologist, Dr.
Michael Lutz.
Despite stunning treatment
advances, early detection for testicu-
lar cancer is still crucial. It grows
extremely quickly. The earlier it is
found, the easier the treatment, the
fewer side effects and the better odds
of cure, according to Dr. Lutz.
Said former Detroiter Beltzman, "I
wish men knew about testicular can-
cer (and the) need to examine them-
selves once a month."
Jon Calcott Imerman, a 27-year-
old business school student from
West Bloomfield, was diagnosed
with testicular cancer last fall while
out with friends. He_felt a pain in
his groin so sharp that he nearly
doubled over. He contemplated
going to the emergency room, but
like all too many people, he went
home to sleep instead.
"I remember thinking I hadn't
played any contact sports recently ...
a
•
INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE lig°
Voted #1 Market by the Detroit News Headers
C- 1
rarmin gt©n hills
52.5,o6 Midcilebeit
(2+8) 855-5570
Middlebelt & 14 Mile Road
3
gcicilester oaci
(2+8) 879-5222
17900 harper
0 86) 788-3650