On this season of And just like that …Harry Goldenblatt could not help it, but wondered if his health had made a turn. During the 26 June episode of the show, Charlotte’s husband of Charlotte’s husband will start to wet his pants in a nightclub to a club that he would rather not be a part of – even, as he indicates, it also includes Robert de Niro, Warren Buffett and Nelson Mandela.
During an evening walk along the Guggenheim Museum, Harry tells Charlotte that there is a reason that he asked her to take a walk. “To get away from the children? I too,” she says. Not exactly: because of a few strange symptoms he had experienced, Harry decided to go to the doctor for a check. “What do you know? I have prostate cancer,” he says his wife, who immediately dissolves in a panic fear. “Everything will be fine,” he reassures her. “We caught it early.”
Charlotte may not be happy with Harry’s news, but some experts are satisfied with the development. “I am ecstatic about this storyline, because the consciousness and the discussion about prostate cancer is often hidden,” says Dr. Phillip Koo, Chief Medical Officer at the Prostate Cancer Foundation. “Men don’t like to talk about it – I think we have often set up that tough scale on the outside, especially when it comes to the kind of organs on which men define their masculinity based on. I think it’s great that we increase consciousness.”
However, that does not necessarily mean that the image of the show is accurate. We asked experts how realistic Harry’s experience is – and what they want men to know about prostate cancer.
Creative freedoms
Harry went to the doctor after he experienced two symptoms (played for Cringey Laughs of viewers). Earlier in the season he touches the clubs with Charlotte, who tries to finance an art sales for the gallery she manages. While the group is spreading their move to an after-party, Harry makes a pit stop in the bathroom, where, to his horror, he does not undo his beautiful jeans. “Oh boy, oh boy,” he mumbles. “These buttons! Why so much?” And just like that, Harry pees in his pants. “It’s a good thing that these babies are so dark,” he tells Charlotte when he meets her again. “You can’t say they are soaked.”
Then, in the next episode, Harry has trouble performing in the bedroom with Charlotte. While he wonders in annoyance what is – or, he clarifies, not-“There is going on there,” he acts how this is for him from the character. “Is this it? The beginning of the end?” He spirits. “Bell, who’s there? Old age!”
Read more: Why some men keep their prostate cancer secret
Cut to the last episode and Harry is diagnosed with prostate cancer based on those symptoms. “There are definitely some creative freedoms that the show has taken,” says Dr. Julia Willingham, a urologist who treats prostate cancer patients at the Texas Oncology. “It makes sense to help the plot to bring out, but most prostate cancer at an early stage has no symptoms at all.” That’s why some people call the disease – what that will do influence more than 313,000 men In the US in 2025 – a silent murderer. It is almost always detected via a Routine prostate -specific antigen (PSA) testA screening blood test that most men undergo every few years or so Starting around the age of 50 For people with an average risk. (Exact screening frequency depends on the age and risk factors of a person.)
When the PSA level of a man is high, doctors usually do a biopsy and, possibly, tests such as a CT scan or bone scan to confirm the diagnosis. “Sometimes men say:” Oh my God, I feel great, “says Willingham.” “There is no way I can have prostate cancer. I have no symptoms.” And then they do that. “
A more likely road to diagnosis
Before the PSA test was approved as a diagnostic tool In 1994, men were more likely to find out that something was wrong because they experienced urinary retention, instead of Harry’s incontinence. That can be difficult to start urinating, a weak flow, problems to completely empty the bladder, or sometimes, an inability to pee. “The prostate is in a very busy neighborhood,” says Dr. Mark Pomerantz, clinical director of the Lank Center for Gentourary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “It is right under the bladder and the urethra – and if there is a large prostate tumor, it can theoretically press that tube and cause urinary retention.”
Men were diagnosed other times because their prostate cancer spread, which led to symptoms that influenced other parts of the body. “Prostate cancer likes to go to the bone,” says Pomerantz. “It was not uncommon, prior to PSA tests, for people to appear in the first aid with terrible back pain.” There they would get an X -ray that eventually led to a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer that had spread to the bones in their backs. “We don’t see that anymore as much now that we have a test that can catch the cancer early,” says Pomerantz. “If it causes symptoms, the disease is usually quite far away.”
That means that if Harry was a real patient, there would be reason to assume that his illness had been advanced. “It could still be locally” – which means that it has not yet spread past the prostate – “but there would be a tumor that is quite far to get about where it would cause those symptoms.”
Read more: The race to explain why more young adults get cancer
In general, Harry’s path to diagnosis is possible, but certainly not typical, “says Pomerantz. That said, he understands why the makers of the show probably chose to emphasize urine incontinence and erectile dysfunction. “These side effects are famous common consequences of the treatment of prostate cancer, but are rarely the symptoms that lead to diagnosis.”
Sometimes, Doctors recommend active supervisionOr waiting vigilant. But if the cancer of a man is aggressive, doctors usually take the prostate out, and that is when side effects come into the picture. “The way the operation works is that the entire prostate must come, and when you remove the prostate, you must remove the part of the urethra that runs right through the center of the prostate,” says Pomerantz. “The surgeon takes the remaining urethra who is still in the body and drags it up and sews in the bottom of the bladder to make a new connection. That connection can be a bit fragile.” For example, urine can have an easier time to get through, which can lead to leakage. Moreover, there are critical nerves that run next to the prostate and are in charge of the sphincter, which closes the bladder and holds the urine. “If those nerves are damaged during surgery, you can have the side effects that are depicted in the show,” he says.
A natural reaction
During the episode, Charlotte – who promised Harry that she would not tell their children about his diagnosis – poured out to contain her emotions. During a pre-planned glamping trip, she repeatedly understands her children about the importance of enjoying every moment together and appears about an emotional demolition. That is a natural response, experts say.
“Everyone always talks about the C word,” says Koo. “I think your mind automatically jumps to the worst scenario, and the impact it will have on your life expectancy.” Many men are worried about how they will continue to work – and the impact that their illness will have on the finances of their families. “Someone like Harry, who has young children, may be wondering,” How are I going to support them? ” “He says.” It is devastating, “no matter how optimistic the prognosis is.
A welcome spotlight
Experts hope that Harry’s diagnosis encourages more men to be screened. “Men should not be afraid of screening for prostate cancer,” says Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, a urologist at Orlando Health. “It is a simple blood test, just as you have cholesterol checked.”
Prostate cancer is one of the most common diagnoses in men, he adds, and it is also very treatable, especially when it is caught early. More men die with the disease Then of it. “It’s not like some of those other rare cancers,” he says. “The more we are screened, the healthier we can get people.”
Read more: Why do so many young people get cancer? It is complicated
Willingham has seen an increasing number of men proactively come for screening, and she believes that knowledge is power. That is why she welcomes Harry’s new storyline. “If there is something, we must consider this to be encouraged to get those annual checks, to take care of ourselves and know what is going on,” she says. “Apart from cancer, if you have urinary or sexual symptoms, go and talk to your doctor, because these are things we can handle and take care of – you don’t have to suffer from these symptoms.”
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