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"Dr. Drew Pinsky has spent much of his career helping other people deal with their health problems. But as he reveals in a new article on his website, he was the one who needed help this summer. In July, the 55-year-old radio and television personality underwent a radical robotic prostatectomy to treat the prostate cancer he had been diagnosed with two years earlier.\r\n&amp;quot;I&amp;apos;d been sick here and there. But overall, I&amp;apos;d felt great,&amp;quot; he writes on his site of how the problem was first detected. &amp;quot;In 2011 my wife, Susan, begged me to go to the doctor for a check-up. I was dismissive. I&amp;apos;m a doctor! I didn&amp;apos;t see the point in going to another internist for a physical. But I went.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nIt&amp;apos;s a good thing, too. Tests revealed that Pinsky had an inflamed prostate and slightly elevated PSA levels. (PSA tests, which detect something called prostate specific antigen, are used as a tool in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.) The cause turned out to be a low-grade tumor.\r\nMany forms of prostate cancer are slow-growing, so Pinsky&amp;apos;s doctor recommended active surveillance. That meant monitoring the tumor over the course of more than a year. Follow-up biopsies, however, showed that the mass was spreading, so Pinsky and his physician decided to pursue surgical removal of his prostate.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I didn&amp;apos;t need any convincing to have surgery,&amp;quot; he writes. &amp;quot;My doctor had reached a point where he wasn&amp;apos;t comfortable with active surveillance anymore. His discomfort was good enough for me. My prostate had to come out.&amp;quot;\r\n&amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m relatively young,&amp;quot; he explains. &amp;quot;I have a wife. I have three children in college. I didn&amp;apos;t want cancer coming back.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\nA prostatectomy turned out to be the right decision. &amp;quot;It was ready to spread, and would have, had it not been removed,&amp;quot; Pinsky writes of his prostate.\r\n\r\nThat said, the recovery was not easy. Pinsky says he &amp;quot;felt as if someone had been messing around with [his] insides&amp;quot; when he came out of the anesthesia. He&amp;apos;s better now, but he&amp;apos;s still not doing everything he did before the procedure.\r\n&amp;quot;I am working out again, eating well, and feeling very good. I&amp;apos;ll begin running again soon,&amp;quot; he writes. &amp;quot;The only remnant of cancer surgery is six small scars on my torso. They are fading fast. I&amp;apos;m hopeful I am cured.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/dr-drew-reveals-prostate-cancer-battle-im-hopeful-i-am-cured-2013249>