DESCRIPTION
Don Helgeson Description
KEYWORDS WITH SPACES: malignant melanoma, lynch syndrome, psa test, colorectal cancer, colostomy bag, prostatectomy, Cialis, kegel exercises, seminal vesicles
TITLE: Don Helgeson survived three types of cancer | malignant melanoma | colorectal cancer | prostatectomy
DESCRIPTION: Cancer just will not get the best of Don Helgeson. A retired member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he survived malignant melanoma in 1996 and colorectal cancer in 2007. Just when he thought the disease was in his past, he was diagnosed with Stage 3B prostate cancer in 2020. He opted to have his prostate removed, but thanks to successful surgery, he achieved survivorship and enjoys excellent urinary and sexual function.
Don Helgeson of Nanaimo, British Columbia, was in 27 years old in 1996 when he noticed an unusual looking mole on his shoulder. Seeking medical attention, he had the mole removed; but a few weeks later, the same doctor asked to return, at which he told Don he had malignant melanoma. Not long after that, he underwent a small surgical procedure to have an area of tissue and skin removed. The cancer was caught early, Don still goes in for annual checkups with a dermatologist and has not had a recurrence.
Members of Don’s family had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Among them was his mother, who urged him to get checked out, and in 2007, such a checkup resulted in his being diagnosed. This brought on another surgical procedure, an entire re-section. He was quite grateful to learn he did not have to wear a colostomy bag. Each year, Don goes in for a colonoscopy and has remained free of colorectal cancer.
In 2020, Don Helgeson was experiencing some urinary issues. Around that time, his uncle passed away from prostate cancer at age 65. In their last conversation, he said Don should get blood work done. It revealed a PSA of 12.2, which was about four times more than the average for someone just beginning their fifties, as Don was. That led to biopsies, CT scans, MRIs and bone scans. Within a few months, he was diagnosed with Stage 3B prostate cancer.
Having just married his second wife, Don was concerned about the effect the diagnosis would have on their marriage, but his wife, Lisa, and other family members were an outstanding source of support. In January 2021, he elected to undergo a prostatectomy.
The surgeon was able to not cut the nerves that would prevent Don from achieving an erection. Meanwhile, after wearing a catheter for 16 days, he had it removed and was happy to learn he was capable of, in large part, regulating his ability to urinate.
By way of advice, Don says if one is diagnosed with any type of cancer, he or she should know that they are not alone and to speak to those who have been similarly diagnosed.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Man Up To Cancer: https://www.manuptocancer.org
TRANSCRIPTION:
Bruce Morton: This is the Cancer Interviews podcast, and I am your host, Bruce Morton. Our guest on this episode is downright unstoppable. Don Helgeson of Nanaimo, British Columbia survived malignant melanoma, survived colorectal cancer, and has survived most recently prostate cancer. His is a story that should be of immense inspiration for anyone on a cancer journey, and now, let’s hear it. Don, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
Don Helgeson: Great to be here, Bruce.
BM: Don, it is standard procedure on our interviews, to learn a bit more about the lives of our guests before we delve into their cancer journeys. So, if you would, tell us a bit about where you are from, what you have done for work, and what you do for fun.
DH: I am a 54-year-old recently-retired Canadian Mountie, living on Vancouver Island, Canada. I am a father of four daughters. I also have two grandchildren. I am married to my wonderful wife, Lisa, and I am really doing my best to enjoy retirement.
BM: And what do you do for fun?
DH: I am a hockey player, I like to golf, I spend as much as I can with my family. I am trying to get my wife retired as soon as I can, to join me in the mix. I do also have two grandchildren, I take them to school a couple days a week. They’re basically my world right now, and as I said, being retired, it’s fairly new to me, I am learning as I go, but my family is my biggest thing.
BM: Now, let’s talk about the first two cancer journeys you were on and let’s take them one by one. First, tell us about you and malignant melanoma.
DH: I had been a Mountie for about four years at that point, with a young family. In fact, my youngest daughter at the time was just born. I had gone to see a doctor because of a mole on my shoulder that looked abnormal. I didn’t think much about it and my doctor removed it. Then about two or three weeks later, the doctor asked me to come back to his office and sat me down. He then told me I had malignant melanoma. I had no clue what that was. I was 27 years old in 1996. To be honest with you, he was more worried about it than I was. At that age, you still think you are invincible, that you can get away with just about anything. It resulted in a small surgery to have an area of tissue and skin removed. Fortunately for me it was caught early on. I have annual checkups with the dermatologist to this day, and I have not had any recurrence.
BM: As for colorectal cancer, what happened?
DH: I go back just a little bit with that because I have Lynch Syndrome. It is a genetic abnormality, in which we have trouble fighting off basic mutations of cancer cells, especially when they are becoming cancerous. That runs in my family. My mother, at the age of 42, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. That was in the early 90s. At the time she advised her siblings that she had been checked for colorectal cancer, and it was positive. Two of her three siblings who were younger than her, were checked and diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the same time. So, three of four siblings in their late 30s or early 40s had colorectal cancer. That is the most common cancer associated with Lynch Syndrome. I went in in my mid-30s to make sure that I was clear, and lo and behold, in 2007, I wasn’t. So, the fact that my mother was so open about her journey and her diagnosis basically led to her siblings and myself to get checked and tackle the cancer in the early stages.
BM: As part of that journey, did you have to wear a colostomy bag?
DH: I did not. So, I was very fortunate. It was very touch and go. I went in for the surgery. I was told when waking up from the surgery I may wake up with a colostomy, but fortunately I didn’t. The doctor was able to do an entire re-section, and to this day, I go in for annual colonoscopies since that time, and I remain cancer free
BM: We’re confident you’ll be able to learn some tips and tools to help you through your cancer journey, but first we’d like to invite you to give us a ‘like,’ leave a comment or review below and share this story with your friends. Kindly click on the “Subscribe’ button below, and click on the bell icon, so you’ll be notified when we release our next cancer interview. And if you or a loved one are facing a cancer diagnosis, please click on the link in the Description and Show Notes below to check out our free guide, “The Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I First Got Cancer.” Finally, we want to remind you we are not purveyors of medical advice. If you seek medical advice, please contact a licensed healthcare professional.
Now, Don, let’s get to your diagnosis of prostate cancer. Was there a point in which you or your doctor noticed something abnormal, something that wasn’t quite right?
DH: No, and that’s the thing. I was 50 years old, turning 51, and I had no symptoms that I knew of. Being in my 50s, I had some urinary issues. My stream was a bit slower, but I just took that to be part of the aging process. My mother’s brother, my uncle Richard, he passed away from prostate cancer when he was 65 years old. I saw him about a week before he passed, and we had a great conversation. He had also had colorectal cancer in his 30s. His last words to me were that I must get my blood work done. I didn’t know anything about prostate cancer at that point. I earned within the next year what a PSA test was, what a prostate did and where it was in the body as a result of getting that blood work done. In short, my uncle has basically allowed me to get to the point where I am right now because he gave me that invaluable advice. Because of getting my blood tested, I learned I had a PSA of 12.2, which was about four times over what the average should be for someone my age. That led to the next couple of months of many tests, poked and prodded all over the place, biopsies, CT scans, MRIs, bone scans, and within a few months, I learned I had Stage 3B prostate cancer.
BM: You were not in the same position as a lot of men diagnosed with prostate cancer, in that you had had two previous diagnoses. At that point, emotionally you could have thought you have twice battled cancer, and what, now you have to do it again? Or, you could tell yourself you have twice survived cancer and you can do it one more time. What was your reaction?
DH: I will take you back to that particular day. Getting a high PSA reading does not necessarily mean you have prostate cancer, but I was a bit embarrassed about the pertinent stuff I didn’t know. Fortunately, my medical team fast-tracked the tests I needed, which ended up confirming I did have cancer. That actually put me at ease in a strange kind of way because I knew once it was confirmed and the team was on my side, I knew I had several different treatment options and started reaching out to people to find out what they were. The main thing that upset me about this was thinking about the consequences of the treatment, especially for someone my age. I am fairly newly-married. This is my second marriage, and we soon will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary. We were newly married, and she is younger than me as well. I went down that road of how that could affect my relationship with my spouse. But at that point, nothing from cancer had successfully taken me and I knew that I had the fight in me, and with help from my wife and a few friends and acquaintances who had had experiences with prostate cancer, I elected to have my prostate removed in January 2021, which is No Evidence of Disease (NED).
BM: That said, how difficult was it thinking about moving ahead with life without a prostate?
DH: There are lots of things to consider after having prostate cancer surgery, and one of them obviously is erectile dysfunction. When I went in for my surgery, the surgeon said he couldn’t guarantee he will be able to salvage the nerves that make it possible to achieve an erection. Fortunately, he did salvage the nerves, but there was also the matter of incontinence. I thought I had just turned 51 years old. Am I going to have to wear Depends for the rest of my life? That plays on your mind an awful lot, which is why I went in to surgery as healthy and as fit as I could be. I have always tried my best to do that, to be that way, because I wanted to defy the odds that there are for this. When I woke up from the surgery, I was told the nerves had been spared. My next challenge was to deal with having a catheter for 16 days. When I ended up getting that removed, I was actually feeling pretty good and I just started getting active. Then I started speaking to people, making myself a resource for guys diagnosed with prostate cancer. My generation is more willing to reach out to talk to people than an older generation. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t easy finding guys diagnosed with prostate cancer at my age. But I ended up being surprised as to how many people were going through this. Once I had a high PSA reading, I said to myself I don’t want anyone my age going through what I went through, but I also didn’t want men not know what a PSA reading is or getting a Digital Rectal Exam (DRE).
BM: Hindsight is always 20/20, Don, but now that it is behind you, it sounds like you are glad you opted for a prostatectomy. Is that fair to say?
DH: It is. I was told by my surgeon that radiation could make things difficult if the cancer comes back. Also, having Lynch Syndrome typically means cancer can become aggressive and mine was quite aggressive. A biopsy showed that my cancer was a Gleason seven, which was revised to a Gleason nine, post-surgery. So, looking back on it, I have no regrets about choosing the surgery route, and in the two years after the procedure, I had quarterly PSA tests, and my PSA came back as undetectable.
BM: We have had a number of guests who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and while their journeys are different, doctors say the same thing, that where urinary and sexual function are concerned, they will never be what they were, pre-diagnosis. For you, would you say sexual function is close to 100 percent of what you were?
DH: Yes, and I say that even after having a prostate cancer recurrence in 2023. Post-surgery, taking the medication, kiegels, being healthy, taking all of that into consideration, I would say 90-95 percent range.
BM: That’s outstanding. You mentioned medication. What medication was that?
DH: It’s a generic brand, Cialis and it’s a 5mg daily dosage, and that’s all I took, but it is also important to be in a good head space with my spouse. I also should mention I did kiegel exercises both pre- and post-surgery. Basically, anything I was told to do by my medical team to enhance my odds, I have done.
BM: Okay. Now if you would, quantify your urinary function and how it stacks up to your urinary health before your diagnosis.
DH: I would say I am 150 percent! I surprised myself. When the catheter comes out, it is a scary time, but I just wanted that thing removed. Post-catheter, I immediately had some leakage. It took me four to six months to get that under control. The first time I had to stand up to go to the bathroom I stood over the toilet and asked myself what is this going to feel like? I was worried about there being pain, but I can go to the bathroom like I was a teenager.
BM: I want to backtrack, Don. Prior to your being told you were NED, was there a juncture in which you felt survivorship was in your grasp, that things were changing for the better?
DH: You know, right from the very beginning, my medical team had felt right from the beginning, that even though the cancer was aggressive, we had gotten to it early. My margins were clear, but we did have some spread to the seminal vescals; that said, my care team felt that odds against recurrence were on my side. So, I lived my life like I was NED, but I continued to live a healthy life because of recurrence did happen, which it did in 2023, I would be best positioned to fight it. But, in my mind, I was NED, and I was going to stay NED. So, when this recurrence happened, it was just another thing I had t tackle.
BM: You had mentioned the support you had received from your wife and friends, but sometimes the support of an organization can be a key part of the journey. You are affiliated with one such organization. It is called Men Up To Cancer. Can you tell us a bit about what it is has done for you and what it can do for others?
DH: Man Up To Cancer started out as an online community that was founded by Trevor Maxwell in the beginning of 2020. I found it as a two-time cancer survivor because of melanoma and colorectal cancer right when COVID 19 was hitting and we were all looking for fill the void. I really, really like the message they had, the message being that you are not alone, you don’t have to fight cancer alone and basically Man Up To Cancer is changing the way men face cancer by trying to assure that they have support. At the time, the support was almost 100 percent virtual. There were Zoom meetings, meetings within the Facebook group that they have. It was ideal for me at the time because I didn’t know I had prostate cancer brewing, so five or six months after joined, I was able to go int the group and that’s where I connected with several men who were close to my age and had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was invaluable to me, and so I am still a member to this day. We have more than 50 chapters that have been set up worldwide and my job is to connect men.
BM: You mentioned the word online at the very beginning. If someone wanted to go to the Man Up To Cancer website, what is that address?
DH: It’s https://www.manuptocancer.org
BM: Very simply stated, Don. We are going to conclude now and we will wrap up the way we always do with the following question, a question you have answered in part throughout the interview. If you encountered someone face to face, someone who had just been diagnosed with cancer, this person might have a lot of questions and you would likely have a lot of answers; but there is one point you would want to make, one point considered most important, what would that be?
DH: You don’t have to go through this alone, and be sure to reach out to others. Speak to people who have gone through this.
BM: Outstanding. Don, thanks so much for sharing a multi-layered story of survival, a story bound to inspire anyone who hears it. Don, thank for you for being with us on Cancer Interviews.
DH: Thank you, Bruce.
BM: And we want to remind you that if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone. There are people like Don Helgeson, organizations like Man Up To Cancer that are there to help. So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Man Up To Cancer: https://www.manuptocancer.org
SHOW NOTES:
TITLE: Don Helgeson, Prostate Cancer Survivor – Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Cancer just will not get the best of Don Helgeson. A retired member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he survived malignant melanoma in 1996 and colorectal cancer in 2007. Just when he thought the disease was in his past, he was diagnosed with Stage 3B prostate cancer in 2020. He opted to have his prostate removed, but thanks to a successful surgery, he achieved survivorship and enjoys excellent urinary and sexual function.
Additional Resources:
Man Up To Cancer: https://www.manuptocancer.org
02:32 Don describes his journey with malignant melanoma
03:40 Describes his journey with colorectal cancer.
07:42 Blood work in 2020 revealed a prostate specific antigen (PSA) of 12.2.
08:43 His reaction to his prostate cancer diagnosis.
10:14 Don discloses his biggest concerns about treatment for prostate cancer.
11:16 Describes life without a prostate.
14:28 Says he is glad he opted for a prostatectomy.
15:53 Compares his post-treatment sexual health to pre-diagnosis.
16:57 Compares his post-treatment urinary function to pre-diagnosis.
23:34 Don has this advice to others diagnosed with cancer.
KEYWORDS (tags):
malignant melanoma
lynch syndrome
psa test
colorectal cancer
colostomy bag
prostatectomy
cialis
kegel exercises
seminal vesicles

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