My name is Chris Marino, and I discovered I had prostate cancer from a workplace health screening.
The most recent part of my story is that I had a prostatectomy and at my doctor’s appointment last week, he stated I am cancer free by all accounts. The beginning of my story goes back to October of last year when at my annual physical, my doctor said that my PSA of 3 was something we will watch.
In March 2011, the Department of Revenue had a health screening and part of the screening was having the PSA blood test. Three days later I received a phone call from the screening organization stating that my PSA had gone up to 5 and suggested that I contact my PCP. My PCP referred me to a urologist and two weeks later my wife and I were getting the results of my biopsy stating that I had Stage 1A Prostate Cancer.
On June 16, I had the radical prostatectomy with the Da Vinci surgical machine and after 3-plus weeks off, I returned to work. I am still dealing with some of the side effects but nothing like it could have been if I didn’t catch this early because I believe in using methods to help in early detection like workplace health screenings and programs like POP. I am a huge champion of getting these checks done and have had all my friends and many of my co-workers get appointments with their doctor and get checked.
Christopher Marino
HR Manager
Arizona Department of Revenue
August, 2011
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