Irvine physician Howard Fishbein is a renowned family practice doctor by
day and plays keyboards by night in a rock band along with his Bass Player
patient and friend of over 25 years, Bill Black. But that's not all
they have done together. Black, a long time patient of Dr. Fishbein, went
in for a routine checkup 2 years ago and his PSA levels were not only
high, they were astronomical. According to Dr. Fishbein, "it's
unusual to see someone's levels go from normal range to six times
normal range in 3 years but that's what happened with Bill and it
just goes to show that every man should focus on watching their PSA levels
regularly." In Black's case, at age 52 he was diagnosed with
Stage 3 Prostate Cancer and underwent radical prostatectomy using the
"robotic" procedure at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach in July,
2012. He has now been cancer-free for 2 years.
"Howard and I have been playing music together for 25 years and it's
great to know that we can continue on for several more years", Black
says. They play in a band called http://www.TheShenanigansBand.com which
features local star vocalist Christy Coffey, guitarist Ken Dills and drummer
Allan Brown. They will take to the stage at the Coach House in San Juan
Capistrano on Saturday, November 29th at 8 pm to play music and raise
awareness about Prostate Cancer. The band will hand out 5 warning tips
for all men in attendance. "There are far too many men who have died
unnecessarily because they did not realize what a silent killer this disease
is, Black, who is the Founder and Host of http://www.ExitCoachRadio.com,
a local radio show for business owners that is featuring stories about
Prostate Cancer this month, says. "I had absolutely no symptoms at
the time, I felt fine, and Dr. Fishbein recommended that I have a PSA
test and I'm sure glad that he did because it allowed me to catch
it just before it spread to the rest of my body."
The Band will collect donations from the audience and donate them to the
Prostate Cancer Foundation (http://www.PCF.org) through The Safeway Foundation's
$1 Million Matching Grant Challenge, which has agreed to double all donations
received before 12/31/2014.
November is Prostate Cancer Awareness month. Prostate Cancer is the most
common non-skin cancer in America, affecting 1 in 7 men. Nearly 3 million
American men are currently living with prostate cancer, according to estimates.
One new case of prostate cancer occurs every 2.3 minutes; one death occurs
every 18 minutes. A non-smoking man is more likely to develop prostate
cancer than he is to develop colon, bladder, melanoma, lymphoma, and kidney
cancers combined. A man is 35% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate
cancer than a woman is to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
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