�While Olympic athletes testament begin vying for champion status this weekend in Beijing, Skip Ciccarelli, a 60-year-old survivor of prostate gland cancer, will complete his own Olympian effort. When he paddles up to New York's Pier 66 at noonday on Saturday, he will be complemental a 1,700 air mile, 54-day kayak trek to raise consciousness for prostate gland cancer--one of the about prevalent forms of cancer, second only to melanomas. The day also marks the seventh anniversary of his prostatectomy.
In workaday life Ciccarelli is a high schooltime carpentry instructor at Shawsheen Technical High School in the Boston suburb of Billerica. This past Fathers' Day weekend, he became the supporter of deuce million American men battling prostate crab when he set sour from the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago and headed for New York City.
Ciccarelli was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in 2002. He was told by his doctors that he had two months time before the malignant neoplastic disease spread to other parts of his body. After consultation with a team of doctors in Boston, he distinct on surgical operation. He is now cancer-free.
"At the time I realized, that like about men, I was clueless about prostate cancer and was flummoxed at how little men know about their own bodies," says Ciccarelli, a husband and father of three adult children. "I later realised that I could use my have abilities to help rear awareness. By drawing attending to prostate gland cancer, I'm hoping more than men will get prostate gland checkups and PSA screenings, and that more enquiry will focus on this disease. When was the last time you heard someone talk about prostate cancer?"
Ciccarelli's journey took him through Lakes Michigan, Huron, St. Claire and Erie, the Detroit River and the Erie Canal before he started down the Hudson River. He covered up to 40 miles a day with days reinforced into the schedule for rest and weather delays. The route presented some extremely intriguing waters for a kayak. While on Lake Erie, an unexpected storm closely capsized Ciccarelli's craft. He was assisted to Buffalo by some boaters world Health Organization were besides challenged by the weather. They concluded up hosting him at their house for the night.
"It has been a gratifying experience. I was one man, only the accompaniment, generosity and personal stories of so many terrific people world Health Organization traveled with me in my heart lifted my kayak," aforesaid Ciccarelli spell reporting in earlier this week from Albany. "Along the way I met hundreds of men of all ages and their families, many of world Health Organization have been touched at once by prostate gland cancer. For others it was the first time they actually thought around this disease. If I reached just a twelve men world Health Organization are today committed to annual prostate gland screening and early sleuthing, it has been worth the exertion."
"Skip's expansive effort is an inspiration for prostate gland cancer patients and their families," commented Dan Zenka, vice chief Executive of communications for the Prostate Cancer Foundation that based in Santa Monica, California. "Discoveries in prostate gland cancer research have made important advances possible. Many men afflicted by this cancer canful now live longer, productive lives through early catching and better treatments. Skip is a terrific model of how much onward motion we've made. While in that respect is sure enough more advancement to be made, we believe an end to death and suffering from prostate genus Cancer is in site."
According to the National Cancer Institute, virtually 28,000 men volition die from prostate cancer and 186,000 new cases will be diagnosed in 2008. With the aging of the baby boomer generation, the number of new cases diagnosed annually is relieved to hit 300,000 by 2015-an increase of more than 60 percent-with an ensuant annual death rate of approximately 45,000. Early detection and treatment rear end result in a five-year survival rate of more than 90 percent.
Ciccarelli will nail his trek on Saturday, August 9, when he arrives at the Manhattan Kayak Company, located on the West Side's Pier 66, at 12 high noon. More information on Skip and his journey can buoy be institute at hTTP://www.paddle4prostate.org.
About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
Prostate cancer strikes one out of every captain Hicks American work force. The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's largest beneficent source of support for prostate cancer research to discover better treatments and a cure for perennial prostate genus Cancer. PCF pursues its mission by stretch out to individuals, corporations and others to harness society's resources--financial and human--to fight this deadly disease. Founded in 1993, the PCF has raised $350 million and provided backing for more than than 1,500 research projects at nearly two hundred institutions planetary. The PCF has been a pioneer in the grant devising process, simplifying paperwork for grantees, going away more time for scientific investigators to conduct needful research. The PCF also advocates for greater cognisance of prostate gland cancer and more authorities resources, resulting in a twenty-fold increment in governance funding for prostate crab.
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