Hey, guys, a lot of you have noticed that I haven't made a video in a while. And you've sent me messages. You've asked me, "Hey, am I okay? Is Carrie okay? What's going on? Are you guys still making videos? You know, love your stuff." Man, I can't tell you what that means to me, guys, that I really do appreciate it right from the heart. Thank you for your concern and for a good reason. Yeah, you're right. I haven't made a video in a while, and this is why, last year was arguably, not, arguably, it was the worst year of my life. And it started actually before the year even began. You see, the year before, my mother was diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma. So, by the time they...beginning of the year rolled around, my sister and I were on full swing, taking her to chemotherapy, taking her to doctor's appointments, scans, all this kind of stuff for treatment.
Plus as the disease progresses, it gets to your brain and it begins to affect your motor skills. So, things such as, just cooking or doing your laundry or taking care of your home becomes a challenge. So, my sister and I were spending a lot of time taking care of my mom. At any rate, I was still, you know, taking a lot of videos, just said, we're not gonna do that. I'm gonna focus on family.
But at the second month of the year in February, then I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. So, that's like, "Ooh boy. Now what?" So, I had to go see...I saw five different specialists and did all kinds of tests, lots of doctor's appointments, intertwined with, you know, helping my mother at the same time. Making videos is just out the door. It wasn't gonna happen.
Working through with all the doctors came to the conclusion that surgery was the best option for me. I had surgery at the beginning of summer. Now, before I even had my surgery, I asked the doctor, "Okay, how long before I can just get back to normal again?" And he said, "Well, if you have a desk job, first of all, take a leave of absence from work. If you have a desk job, you're not gonna be able to get back to that until four weeks after surgery. And if you have a job that requires, you know, physical work, it'll be even longer." I was like, "Are you kidding me? Really? That long?"
I'm like, "Eh. All right. So, most guys that have prostate cancer, they're probably older, probably not as good as health. So, yeah. He's probably, I'm gonna say two weeks for me.”
He was right. I have a desk job, and even three weeks into it, I would not have been able to make a full day at work. It's because your body's recovering, all of its energy is going to healing, and you're just exhausted. You just cannot focus all day long. That's just the way it is. So, four weeks, he was right. And then any physical activity after that, of course, takes months afterwards. So, my whole season, you know, whole summer of fishing into fall was like, kaput, this is not gonna happen.
And then in early September, my mother succumbed to cancer and she passed away. Guys, if you've lost a parent, you know how difficult that could be, not only the emotional piece of it, but also like you gotta do your services and set all that up. But now there's also going through the estate and all the stuff that has to go. That's a lot. It's a lot. It's very time-consuming. It's a lot of work to go through all of it. My sister and I are still going through it. It's gonna take a while to get all that taken care of. However, things have, you know, cleared up enough where I can now...my time is more free. That said, one week before Christmas, my mom's brother, my uncle passed away from prostate cancer. So yeah, it was a tough year last year.
Now, to be really clear, I'm cured. They carved that cancer out, threw it in the garbage, gone. It's not like I'm in remission. I'm cured. So, it's done deal. My father had prostate cancer 17 years ago. He got treated for it and he's fine and good dandy today, no cancer. I'm the same thing. Completely cured. So, don't worry about that. I'm, feel just as good as I ever have. So, physically, I'm ready to go. I have more time on my hands. So, yes, I will be making more videos.
But one quick thing I wanted to mention here about prostate cancer, one of the things that really struck me is talking to these different specialists, all of them independently, not knowing each other without any prompting on my behalf, all said, all men, if they reach the age of 100, will have prostate cancer. I was like, "Wait, what?" I'd never heard that before. Well, to explain it further, it doesn't mean you need to be treated for it. It doesn't mean every guy's gonna die of prostate cancer. What it means is you'll have detectable forms of prostate cancer and it may not be at a level that needs to be or can be treated.
That said, prostate cancer is the number one cancer killer of all men. And it shouldn't be because it is one of the slowest-growing forms of cancer. It's easily detectable and easily cured if caught early. The reason why so many men die of it is we don't like seeing doctors. It's that simple. I don't like seeing doctors. Trust me, I've seen more than my fair share in the past year. Don't want to really go through that ever again. I don't like it. But here's the deal. Prostate cancer. So there's a PSA test, it's a blood test. Now, this doesn't detect cancer per se, but it is a precursor. It's like a canary, a coal mine. It's a simple blood test. They recommend if you're age 50 or above to having that. Although every doctor I talked to says that that is gonna be lowered to 45. And each and every one of 'em told me it really should be any age, if you're a male, have a PSA test every year. Because each of 'em had stories of patients that had come to them that were under the age of 50 that were experiencing symptoms. By the time you're experiencing symptoms, it's done. You're stage four, it's throughout your whole body. It's more about getting your stuff in order before you pass away at that point.
PSA test will detect if something is going awry and then you can get further tests to see if you actually have cancer. It doesn't mean if you have an abnormal PSA test that you automatically have cancer. But guys, you should have an annual checkup every year anyway, okay? And all that is just a blood test. And you go in and you talk about the results of the blood test. Yeah, sure. They check your ears and your breathing and that's about it. It's not a big deal. It's easy to go through. Trust me, I don't like doctors. I did not do an annual test on a regular basis until my late 30s. And my mother, rest her soul, told me, "Look, dude, it's not totally up to you. You know, you got a wife now, you have responsibilities. The decision isn't just yours." You know, so if you got close relatives, you're married or if you have kids, an annual physical is easy to do and it's paid for a hundred percent by most insurance companies. So, just make sure you ask 'em to do a PSA. Even if you're under the age of 50, ask them to do that because that's the key indicator. If you can catch it early enough, you can be cured of it and live a long, healthy life. So, it's not worth your life to gamble, guys.
So anyway, I'll get off my platform. Enough of that. Like I said, I'm a hundred percent cured. I'm fine, I'm good to go. I will be making more videos now. I really appreciate it. And since you watched this video all the way through, it would mean a lot to me and Keri if you just hit that subscribe button and the alert button. That enables us to keep making videos we love doing and that is helping you catch more fish. That's what we love to do the most. Thanks a lot, guys. God bless. And we'll see you on the water.