Message to men: 'Get your prostate checked'

Robert E. Bailey, 64, is on a mission to spread a simple message:

"Get your prostate checked."

He stopped by the Daily Inter Lake recently to share his story and encourage others to overcome both their embarrassment about getting screened and also their fear of getting treated. Bailey tells men wherever he goes to get tested.

"I had no problems, I had no signs - nothing. I hadn't even had a cold," he said.

He was leading an active life riding four-wheelers and motorcycles with his extended family, blissfully unaware that he had cancer. Fresh from surgery a week earlier, he was full of gratitude that his prostate cancer was caught at stage one because he was screened.

According to Bailey, his son, Robert S. Bailey, a local chiropractor, encouraged him to have the preventive check up that may have saved his life.

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have done anything," Bailey said.

He said he moved here from Tennessee two years ago to enjoy visiting his son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Because of a major, debilitating stroke he suffered a number of years ago, Bailey is supposed to get blood tests every six months.

His son urged him to quit procrastinating and go have a complete physical with a local doctor.

Bailey credits those blood tests and a digital exam performed by local internist Dr. David Habel of Family Health Care with giving him the first heads up of a possible problem.

Bailey said Habel felt something during the digital exam and found his PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test was slightly elevated. He recommended that Bailey see a specialist.

Habel referred him to Dr. John Andenoro of Urology Associates in Kalispell. As a person phobic about needles since childhood, Bailey wasn't exactly enthusiastic about having biopsies cut from his prostate.

It was an outpatient procedure that took just about 15 to 20 minutes.

"There was no pain at all," Bailey said.

When the lab report came back from the 12 to 13 samples taken, he went in with his daughter-in-law Stephanie for a discussion with Andenoro.

"He said, 'I don't want to scare you but you have cancer,'" Bailey said.

During his consultation, Bailey learned that he had several options for dealing with his prostate cancer. He could have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery to remove the cancer - or he could take a wait-and-see approach.

"He said, 'You might go with no problem for years. But you also might get it too late,'" Bailey recalled. "He said, 'It's your choice."

Andenoro provided him with literature to help him better understand prostate cancer. Bailey called his approach straightforward and completely honest.

"It impressed me and my son."

Because he had watched his sister and former wife die of cancer, Bailey quickly decided he wanted surgery. He had no intention of missing out on four-wheeling with his two granddaughters, ages 8 and 10.

His next move was to call back to a major medical center in Hershey, Pa., where he had received the lifesaving brain surgery and rehabilitation after his stroke.

"Afterward, I couldn't walk and I couldn't talk," he said. "I got my driver's license back after just six months."

Since Kalispell is a small town, he wondered how Kalispell Regional Medical Center and his physician measured up. The report from the big medical center was encouraging.

"This place has a good reputation," Bailey said.

His inquiries brought very good recommendations about Andenoro. Bailey learned that some patients actually fly to Kalispell for treatment with his specialist.

Bailey had the surgery a week and a half after diagnosis. He couldn't be more pleased with the results and the care he received from the nurses at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

"Those girls were so good to me," he said. "I fell in love with all of them."

It was a short-term affair because his health came roaring back so fast that Andenoro cleared him to go home in three days. He visited the Inter Lake feeling great a week later.

He wanted to make clear that no one had encouraged him to come forward. Bailey just felt so blessed to have received great medical care that saved his life twice.

Because of screening and treatment, Bailey has many more years to enjoy his family and get involved in the community.

"I'm going to umpire baseball for kids," he said.

Bailey also plans to keep spreading the gospel of getting prostate check ups. He doesn't let embarrassment keep him from saving a stranger's life.

"I'm not bashful. I tell them I had cancer of the prostate," he said. "They need to get checked."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.