Last Thursday millions of men around the world stood in front of the bathroom mirror, dabbed shaving foam on their face and shaved off their facial hair for the last time this month.
The clean shaven look will give way to the November ‘moustache look’ from handle bars, to pencil moustache, to Village People-ish style. But it’s not about fashion: men from Moscow to Rio de Janeiro – including Malta – will grow moustaches in a month-long campaign known as Movember, to raise funds for cancer.
Among the Maltese who have registered for this year’s Movember is Andrew Grech, 38. A year or so after the surgery that removed his testicular cancer, Mr Grech will be cultivating a moustache and to honour the pledge he made to raise funds and awareness if he survived.
“Every guy who sprouts a moustache will be a walking billboard for awareness of men’s health for these 30 days,” he said. “Often issues of men’s health are ignored, but by suddenly sporting a 1980s moustache, you’re bound to prompt conversations wherever you go.”
Talking about testicular cancer carries a stigma
He said that while other cancers have now been accepted in society and people talk openly about it, male health can still be a taboo. “Talking about testicular cancer carries a stigma – also because we men tend to be macho about our health,” he said.
Mr Grech was diagnosed with testicular cancer in July of last year. In December, after three cycles of five-day chemotherapy each – “the worst period of my life” – he set himself a goal: to raise awareness in the hope that some people would detect cancer early and would not have to experience what he went through.
He has since set up the Facebook page ‘Malta Male Cancer Awareness’ where he shares information from recognised medical sources about cancer in men.
He constantly cracks jokes about his own nearly fatal illness, but cannot be more serious when he’s plugging his plight:
“Had I been aware of the symptoms I would most probably have noticed them earlier, and I could have done away with the traumatic chemotherapy,” he said.
Two days after he told his story to Times of Malta in January, 16 men went to the Da Vinci private clinic for a check up. “Out of those 16, four were diagnosed with testicular cancer – so, please do not wait: just check.”
Another Movember ambassador, Joseph Curmi, 72, said that thanks to regular testing, he nipped his prostate cancer in the bud.
Every year ever since his 50th birthday, his family doctor always performed routine tests. Three years ago the Prostate Specific Antigen blood test results came back with flashing alarm lights. “But from day one I said I was going to be a fighter,” he said. A biopsy proved that the cancer was in fact malignant, but because it was caught at its early stages, he did not even need surgical intervention: a set of hormonal injections over 18 months shrivelled up the tumour. This month he was given the 99.9 per cent all clear.
“Half the battle with cancer is psychological – it is of course shocking when you’re told you have cancer but don’t waste time on self pity, don’t say ‘Why me?’ say ‘Try me!’ and fight it,” said Mr Grech.
Movember is a big challenge for him – “I haven’t shaved off my goatee in 30 years,” he quipped. But he is willing to go in for it, if it means drumming it out there, on how important it is that every man aged 45 years on carries out a simple routine blood test every year.
Movember is not just for men. The women of Movember are known as Mo Sistas. They play a vital role in the success of Movember by supporting and encouraging the men in their life to get involved and by raising funds and awareness themselves.
Together with the gentlemen who cannot bring themselves to sport a ‘tache’ they can this year put on specially made sticker moustaches. Cisk is supporting the Movember campaign and will be distributing moustache stickers all over Malta throughout the whole month.
“The idea is that you take a photo of yourself and then uploaded it on social media – that way we can get everyone talking about it. Young people on Facebook can then encourage their fathers to take a simple test next time they’re at the family doctor’s,” said Mr Grech.
For more information on Movember Malta, male cancer and how to donate, log on to www.facebook.com/maltamalecancerawareness
Prostate cancer symptoms:
Prostate cancer may not cause signs or symptoms in its early stages but can be easily detected through a simple blood test. In its more advanced stage, symptoms can include:
• Trouble urinating
• Blood in the urine
• Blood in the semen
• Discomfort in the pelvic area
• Bone pain
• Erectile dysfunction
Different styles of tache:
• Hungarian – big and bushy
• Dalí – narrow, long points curved steeply upward
• English – very long narrow whiskers, pulled to the side, slightly curled
• Handlebar - bushy, with small upward pointing ends
• Pencil – narrow, straight and thin as if drawn on by a pencil
• Porn – thick and wide, usually covering the top of the upper lip
• Toothbrush – thick but only at the centre of the top upper lip
• Walrus – bushy, hanging down over the lips
Symptoms of testicular cancer:
• Discomfort or pain in testicles
• Feeling of heaviness in the scrotum
• Pain in the back
• Enlargement of a testicle or a change in the way it feels
• Lump or swelling in either of the testicles
What is Movember?
The idea was born to two friends in a bar in Melbourne, Australia 10 years ago. They raised €200. Last year €60 million was raised internationally and it is the largest global funder for prostate cancer research. It has allowed it to identify 27 types of prostate cancer and genome-map the disease. Equally importantly, it has led more men to think about their health and go to the doctor.
Men’s cancers in numbers:
In 2010, there were 965 men diagnosed with cancer, 455 resulted in death.
Prostate cancer:
• New cases: 209
• Deaths: 30
Lung:
• New cases: 157
• Deaths: 122
Colon:
• New cases: 121
• Deaths: 60
Testicular:
(very rare – so statistics are over a period of 17 years between 1995 and 2012)
176 Deaths: 9