As part of University of Colorado Health’s men’s health awareness initiative March MAN-ness, men shared stories of how early detection saved their lives in a series of short YouTube videos.

The video series features cancer survivors, community members and CHMG physicians.

Jack talks

Colorado State University Athletic Director Jack Graham, who hosted a March MAN-ness event at The Mayor of Old Town in Fort Collins, talks about his heart attack and the importance of preventive health measures.

“The idea that all you need to do is eat reasonably well, and don’t smoke and don’t drink excessively and exercise on a daily basis – those are great choices and fundamental,” said Graham, former CSU Rams quarterback. “But beyond that you absolutely need to have a connection to a physician to enable you to know are there things that can’t be seen that I need to be paying attention to.”

Roger talks

Roger Corliss could have died from multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. He didn’t and credits being alive today because he caught it early through regular blood screenings at a community health fair.

“The doctor always called me and said ‘Hey Roger, you’re in great shape.’ Well, in 2000, that didn’t happen. I took the results to him and he called me back and said there’s an irregularity and I ended up with a blood cancer, not knowing there was a thing wrong with me.”

Although he has had a challenging journey, he is in remission and competes in shot put and discus at senior athlete track and field competitions. If he had waited, Roger may have only had about 15 months to live.

Doug talks

CHMG’s Dr. Douglas Kemme , a medical oncologist in Greeley, and a colon cancer survivor, shares what it’s like to get a colonoscopy. He also discusses early warning symptoms and when and who should be screened.

Tim talks

Tim O’Hara, a local photographer who just completed radiation therapy for prostate cancer, was asked how he knew something was wrong. “There were no symptoms. And that’s the scary part. Prostate cancer doesn’t tell you when to go to the doctor because you don’t feel a thing.”

“The earlier you find the cancer the higher the survivor rate,” said O’Hara’s Radiation Oncologist Dr. Joshua Petit.

Why do men avoid going to the doctor? Common explanations are that it’s embarrassing or inconvenient. Some feel that they’re already healthy while others are afraid of the exam and possible results.

The men’s health program was developed for men to learn and talk about often ignored topics like prostate, heart and colon health.

For more information, visit marchmanness.org and:

• Watch videos of men sharing their early detection stories.
• View health screening guidelines.
• Schedule an appointment for a routine exam.
• Get information on future March MAN-ness events.

CPS-3 will enroll a up to half a million people across the United States and Puerto Rico and will help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer.

Those who wish to participate can enroll in the study at one of three University of Colorado Health locations:

• Medical Center of the Rockies – Long’s Peak room, 2500 Rocky Mountain Ave., Loveland, Colo. 80538 Tuesday, June 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Poudre Valley Hospital – Café F, 1024 S. Lemay Ave., Fort Collins, Colo. 80524
  Thursday, June 27 from 3 to 7 p.m.
• Poudre Valley Hospital Harmony Campus, Building A – Harmony Café, 2121 E. Harmony Rd., Fort Collins, Colo. 80528
  Saturday, June 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Additional enrollment locations are also available in Greeley, Loveland and Windsor. Appointments are required.

To make an appointment or for a complete list of northern Colorado enrollment locations, date and times, visit www.cps3noco.org.

“Studies like this help us understand more and more about cancer so we can help our patients,” said Erica Dickson, Oncology Research Manager at Poudre Valley Hospital. “This is a pretty significant study. It should give us lots of insight and help everyone improve treatment.”

To enroll in the stud, people will be asked to read and  sign an informed consent form, complete a brief survey, have their waist circumference measured and give a small blood sample. The in-person enrollment process takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

At home, people will fill out a survey packet that asks for information on lifestyle, behavioral and other factors related to their health.  Periodic follow-up surveys will be sent to update participant information as well as annual newsletters with study updates and results. The initial and follow-up surveys completed at home will take an hour or less of time to complete and are expected to be sent every few years.

“We’re all touched by cancer in some way – whether it’s a family member, a friend or a colleague,” said Poudre Valley Hospital’s Oncology Research Medical Director, Dr. Robert Marschke. “Nearly 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. We really hope people help with the study.”

Read the complete article.

Author Dr. Joshua Petit, board-certified in radiation oncology, is the Medical Director of Radiation Oncology at Poudre Valley Hospital.

Head and neck cancers are a group of cancers that arise in the mouth or throat area. Prevention or early detection of these cancers can literally save your life.

When found early, precancerous lesions or small cancers can simply be removed, eliminating any health risk to the patient. When diagnosed at a later stage, after the tumor has grown larger, these cancers require much more aggressive treatment and may still be fatal.

That is why April is National Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month, to promote awareness and help save lives through prevention and early detection.

Historically these cancers have been associated with smoking or oral tobacco use, and much of the public, especially non-smokers, has assumed they are not at risk.

Non-smokers at risk

University of Colorado Health’s cancer program in northern Colorado has reviewed regional statistics and confirmed that in 2012 the majority of newly diagnosed head and neck cancers were found in non-smokers.

This finding is consistent with national trends demonstrating that the fastest growing segment of head and neck cancers is associated with the human papillomavirus and unrelated to smoking or tobacco use.

So what can you do about this?

Minimize your risk. Avoid smoking or oral tobacco use. If you drink alcohol, use moderation. Maintain good oral hygiene. See your dentist and primary care provider regularly to talk about healthy strategies to reduce your risk and screenings for head and neck cancer.

Get screened

Screening is generally fast, non-invasive, and typically involves a simple look around your mouth and neck area. The American Dental Association recommends screening at all routine dental visits or more often if indicated.

Get screened before you have symptoms and report any of the following signs or symptoms to your doctor as soon as possible:

• Any new or painful lesion (typically a white or red patch, or ulceration) on the lips, tongue, gums, or throat area.
• Persistent oral pain or bleeding.
• Persistent ear pain.
• Persistent sore throat.
• Persistent voice changes or difficulty speaking clearly.
• Unexplained weight loss or fatigue.
• Trouble swallowing foods or liquids.
• Enlarged lymph nodes or lumps in your neck area.
• Swelling in mouth or throat, which may cause dentures to fit poorly.

As a doctor who treats head and neck cancers every day, I can tell you that the best strategy is to prevent them or find them early when treatment is relatively minimal. UCHealth has many new treatments available for those with more advanced cancers. However, my sincere hope is that through healthy living and proactive medical care you will never need them.

Dr. Joshua Petit, board-certified in radiation oncology, is the Medical Director of Radiation Oncology at Poudre Valley Hospital.

I remember recently going home after my first day of work as the new sustainability coordinator for Poudre Valley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies and other University of Colorado Health services in northern Colorado.

Walking–and riding–the talk: John Drigot’s commitment to sustainability even extends to his transportation. He rides a bamboo bike to work. The bike is manufactured by a small Fort Collins firm, Panda Bicycles, that use durable and renewable bamboo in most of its frame design for bikes.

My overarching goal in this position is to lead the employees and organization in becoming better environmental stewards.

I felt a little like a hummingbird featured in a story told by Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist:

“We’re constantly being bombarded by problems that we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed. [But] we should always feel like a hummingbird. I may feel insignificant, but I don’t want to be like the other animals watching the planet go down the drain. I’ll be a hummingbird, I’ll do the best I can.”

After my first work day, the magnitude of the task-at-hand felt daunting. UCHealth has 5,500 employees and major medical facilities spread throughout Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland and Windsor.

Instead of saying “we are too small” or “there is too much to change,” I decided to see employees throughout the organization as “doing the best they can.”

When Garrison Keillor says, “Be well, do good work and stay in touch,” why is it so important to “be well”? Could it be that taking care of one’s self correlates with the idea of environmental stewardship? I think so.

I stumbled upon the concept of “Green Health” when I found the article “The Greening of Health: The Convergence of Health and Sustainability” put out by the Institute for the Future. The article explains Green Health as:

“The convergence of health and sustainability plays out in many ways. Scientifically, Green Health embodies the epidemiological connections between human health and the environment.”

“Culturally, it represents the understanding of nature as a powerful binding force between people, their health and the world in which they live. Socially, Green Health occurs at a nexus of morally-laden decisions about living in the world as patients, workers, consumers and citizens.”

Yes, not only are sustainability and wellness holding hands, they are hanging onto each other for dear life.

The connection between sustainability and wellness is, simply, if you care about yourself, you are more likely to care about the environment you use in your day-to-day wellness activities.

It’s good knowledge and a commendable lesson for all of us, the hummingbirds.

John Drigot, John.Drigot@UCHealth.org, is the sustainability coordinator for University of Colorado Health in northern Colorado.

Roger Corliss could have died from multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. He didn’t and credits being alive today because he caught it early through regular early detection screenings.

Although he has had a challenging journey, he is in remission and competes in shotput and discus at senior athlete track and field competitions. On average, people whose multiple myeloma is detected at a later stage than Corliss’ only have about 15 months to live.

Corliss presented his story at University of Colorado Health’s March MAN-ness, a men’s health happy hour, at The Mayor of Old Town in Fort Collins, on March 7.

The purpose of March MAN-ness is to help men live healthier lives by emphasizing that many diseases can be minimized or even prevented with routine screening.

• Watch more videos of men sharing their stories of early detection.
• View health screening guidelines.
• Get information on next year’s March MAN-ness events.
• Schedule an appointment for a routine exam.

When Colorado State University Athletic Director Jack Graham emceed University of Colorado Health’s March MAN-ness event earlier this month, he talked to the Fort Collins crowd about his heart attack and the importance of preventive health measures.

In this video, Graham shares that story and the importance of early detection screenings and seeing a doctor on a regular basis.

The purpose of March MAN-ness is to help men live healthier lives by emphasizing that many diseases can be minimized or even prevented with routine screening.

• Listen to podcasts of the men’s health panel discussions.
• View health screening guidelines.
• Get information on next year’s March MAN-ness events.

His goal was to show how easy the procedure is, and remind people that fear shouldn’t keep them from getting this potentially life-saving screening.

[Colorectal cancer information and screening guidelines from the CDC]

Today kicks off National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. It’s a perfect opportunity to show how smooth Rulon’s experience was and remind everyone out there over 50 to get in and get that colonoscopy.

–Kevin Darst, director of marketing and communication

One of the newest social media toys to hit the scene is the Vine app, an iPhone app that lets users create 6-second videos to share. Vine is to video what Twitter is to text in the social media realm.

We’ve been playing with Vine over the last couple weeks and took it onto the operating room today, where marketing specialists Kory Swanson and Nikki Caputo used it to document a partial knee replacement surgery. Swanson and Caputo created seven Vine videos during the procedure, which was performed at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins.

Six seconds may not seem like much, but in most cases it was enough to capture the scene at various points of the surgery. Here’s one of those points:

Partial knee replacement begins. Poudre Valley Hospital vine.co/v/bXOliZTm1vK

— UCHealth N. Colo. (@UCHealthNoCo) February 28, 2013

Here’s another Vine of the surgery that’s slightly more graphic.

Other Vines we’ve created give health tips, like this one about making healthy food and drink choices…

Choose oranges over donuts, and other healthy eating tips in this #Vine video uchealth.me/i93eH #vineapp

— UCHealth N. Colo. (@UCHealthNoCo) February 28, 2013

…and this one, about heart health.

How’s your heart? #Valentine #HeartHealth vine.co/v/bnY9A6PmX7j

— Randi Freeman (@RandiFreeman) February 8, 2013

For more Vine videos and other great health content, follow us on Twitter @UCHealthNoCo and on Vine at UCHealth.

–Kevin Darst, director of marketing and communication

Reblogged from University of Colorado Health:

With a nod to NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament, University of Colorado Health in northern Colorado has created its own men’s health awareness month — March MAN-ness — to emphasize the importance of disease prevention and early detection for men, who typically tend to avoid health checkups.

March MAN-ness is free and will feature complementary happy hour, sports trivia and three panel discussions:

• March 5, Crabtree Brewing Company, 2961 29th St., Greeley.
• March 6, Budweiser Events Center, 5290 Arena Circle, Loveland.
• March 7, The Mayor of Old Town, 632 S. Mason St., Fort Collins.

All events are 6-8 p.m.

[Space is limited. Register now.]

Colorado State University Athletic Director Jack Graham will emcee the Fort Collins event.

Those who attend the Loveland event will have an opportunity to tour the Colorado Eagles’ locker room.

Along with complimentary food and drink, attendees will have opportunities to win Colorado Eagles season tickets and jerseys signed by the hockey team. Attendees are encouraged to wear sports garb.

The panel discussions will include Colorado Health Medical Group providers from primary care, oncology, cardiology, and urology, four medical areas where men’s lives are most impacted.

“We want to share information that can save lives but in a causal setting,” said panelist Dr. Benjamin Girdler, a urologist. “The events are about providing men a space to talk about often ignored topics like prostate, heart and colon health.”

Attendees will:

• Hear stories about community members saved by early detection;
• Gain an understanding of how nutrition and exercise can prevent cancer and heart disease;
• Receive information on the importance of early detection screenings; and
• Learn to identify early warning signs.

[Space is limited. Register now.]

The panel discussions will be streamed live through Google+ Hangouts and on-demand through UCHealth’s YouTube channel.

Many men wait until they are sick or in pain to see the doctor. Avoidance often occurs for a number of reasons. Common explanations are that it’s embarrassing or inconvenient. Some feel that they’re already healthy, while others are afraid of the exam and possible results.

Fort Collins resident Roger Corliss is a prime example. For years, he regularly had blood screenings at a community health fair. In 2000, his primary care doctor found abnormalities in his test results.

Corliss was eventually diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, and underwent treatment.

“I’m alive today because I caught it early through regular screenings,” said Corliss, who will share his story at the Fort Collins event. Although he has had a challenging journey, he is in remission and competes in shot put and discus at senior athlete track and field competitions. On average, people whose multiple myeloma is detected at a later stage than Corliss’ only have about 15 months to live.

For more information and to register visit: marchmanness.org.

–Dave Rizzotto, marketing and communications