By Dan Aznoff, JTNews Correspondent
Sitting in his
hospital room almost one year ago, Steve Fleischmann had all
the time in the world to envision every detail of the
first-ever benefit breakfast to celebrate the survivors of
prostate cancer.
More than 700
people were present at the Seattle Sheraton Wednesday to see
the results of Fleischmanns perseverance. The sold-out
gathering was designed to raise $1 million to fund the
search for a cure to the second deadliest form of cancer for
men in America.
Every penny of
the proceeds from the early morning event went to the
Prostate Cancer Research Institute, a collaborative effort
by the School of Medicine at the University of Washington
and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The fundraising
event was the result of a promise made by Fleischmann, 46,
when he was diagnosed with the disease in June of 2003,
during a routine physical exam.
I had always
been very healthy, said Fleischmann. My doctor did not
suddenly discover an enlarged prostate, and my PSA numbers
were low but he just had a feeling something was wrong.
By the Fourth of
July, the respected Seattle businessman was in the hospital
for the radical removal of his prostate.
My doctors
feeling saved my life, he said.
By the time
Fleischmann checked out of the hospital five days after his
surgery, his work had started on the groundbreaking event to
generate money and raise awareness about prostate cancer.
This type of cancer kills 30,000 men a year in the U.S. and
is the second most common type of cancer in men, ranking
only behind skin cancer.
Fleischmann is no
stranger to staging major benefits. He has served as
chairman for several local galas, including a tribute to the
50th anniversary of the State of Israel featuring Gerard
Schwarz and the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra.
But the breakfast
to raise money for prostate cancer research was more
personal.
The keynote
address for the breakfast was Tony LaRussa, manager of the
National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals and a Prostate
Cancer Foundation spokesman. The program included two videos
and a presentation by Sally Narodick, the wife of a
survivor, who described prostate cancer as a couples
disease.
A survivor of
prostate cancer hosted each table at the breakfast. The
ailment that is prominent among Americans who can trace
their ancestry to areas of western and northern Europe. The
survivors and attendees included some of the most familiar
names in the Seattle business community, including Stan
Barer, Howard Schultz and Dr. Paul Lange, the urologist who
performed the surgery on Fleischmann last summer.
There are
several ways to tackle this cancer, said Dr. Lange. Steve
is relatively young to have prostate cancer. He chose
surgery, but others elected less evasive procedures such as
radioactive seed brachytherapy or external beam radiation to
treat their cancers.
Dr. Lange said
the surgery is a delicate procedure due to the proximity of
nerves in the area that could effect urination and the
ability to have an erection.
Dr. Lange is
chairman of the urology department at the UW and recognized
as one of the nations foremost researchers on prostate
cancer. He specifically said that prostate cancer is not a
Jewish disease, but is prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews and
can usually be traced among families. Fleischmann knew his
father had battled the disease many years ago, but had never
considered himself a likely target for cancer.
Like most
people, I was in denial, he remembered. I could not even
say the c-word when I called my wife, Patti, and asked her
to come sit with me after the diagnosis.
Asking survivors
to serve as table captains is all part of Fleischmanns hope
that men will begin to talk openly about prostate cancer so
they can be aware of the warning signs and ways to deal with
deadly disease.
According to
studies, non-smoking men are more likely to get prostate
cancer than the next seven most common types of cancers
combined. Men are 33 percent more likely to get prostate
cancer than women are to get breast cancer.
Across America,
230,000 men will contract prostate cancer during their
lifetime. That number is expected to reach 300,000 by the
year 2015. More than 70,000 cases are diagnosed each year
and 30,000 men die each year from its effects.
Fleischmann is
hopeful that the radical procedure to remove his prostate
will keep him cancer-free for the rest of his life. But he
knows that his son, three-and-a-half-year-old Jack, also has
a high likelihood of developing prostate cancer.
The elder
Fleischmanns high-rise office in the financial district of
downtown Seattle is filled with pictures of Jack, Patti and
daughter Hannah. There are also photos of Fleischmann with
celebrities ranging from boxing promoter Don King to former
President Bill Clinton.
But a place of
honor is reserved for a photo of a crowded hospital waiting
room, where friends and family waited anxiously last summer
to wait for the results of the radical prostecomy. The sign
on the door of the waiting room ineffectively read, No more
than two persons at a time.