“I’m 52 and I’ve got prostate cancer and I’m finished.”
They might be blunt words from Adriano Bortolanza but he sure makes a point.
He and his family are passionate about detection, getting checked and not being afraid of invasive procedures.
“Don’t be scared to get an invasive procedure and then you get a chance to see your kids grow up and your grandkids. If there’s nothing wrong, you’re lucky. Unlike me, I don’t know how long I’ve got left,” Mr Bortolanza said.
The former primary school teacher first became aware of prostate cancer when his father was diagnosed in 2006, had treatment and is now aged 80.
Diagnosed in June 2014, Adriano had hip pain which he attributed to arthritis, felt weak and wasn’t eating much.
“My PSA was 16, they did some more tests, three weeks later it was 32 and they said to me I was too young to have prostate cancer.”
But he did and it had already spread throughout his body.
He has had radiation and other treatment, but now has decided further treatment would be too painful and pointless.
With a wife who hasn’t been able to work due to his health, and teenage daughters aged 15 and 19, he says coming to terms with his future has been tough.
“It’s been a slow-motion nightmare and it’s been tough for all of us,” wife Kathy said.
Youngest daughter Giulia wrote a poem for a school assessment which they are now broadcasting near and far to help spread the message about awareness and checkups.
“I wasn’t having classic prostate symptoms and I was supposedly too young to get it.
“Don’t be proud. Stop being so macho. Go and get checked.”
PHOTO: Adriano Bortolanza gets a kiss and a cuddle from daughter Giulia.
