http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/Prostate_Cancer_not_just_an_older_mans_disease_130326418.html

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/Prostate_Cancer_not_just_an_older_mans_disease_130326418.html

August 18, 2009 Who Do You Race For?

MY NAME IS BRETT TROIA and I AM A PROSTATE CANCER SURVIVOR!

Help me raise funds and awareness for The Prostate Cancer Foundation while competing in the IRONMAN FLORIDA on November 7, 2009.

Please follow the link below to donate to my cause; <http://athletes.kintera.org/2009triathlon/bretttroia?faf=1&e=2422136044> to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Prostate Cancer Foundation

Brett Troia is "raising awareness and funds to change the face of prostate cancer"

As you may be aware, I was diagnosed Dec 3, 2008 with prostate cancer. I have since had a robotic prostatectomy, been diagnosed cancer free and well on my way to a full recovery. This year I will be "racing for the cure" with Athletes for a Cure in the Florida IRONMAN Triathlon on 11/07/2009. In addition, I am committed to supporting the Prostate Cancer Foundation by setting a fundraising goal of $10,000 for prostate cancer research.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting one in six men. Men are 35% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than women are to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Athletes for a Cure, a program of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, is a new fundraising and awareness program to assist individual athletes in their quest to raise money for better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer. The Prostate Cancer Foundation is the world’s largest philanthropic source of support for prostate cancer research with a simple, yet urgent goal: to find better treatments and a cure for recurrent prostate cancer.
I am dedicated to this cause, this race and hope that you will support me in reaching my fundraising goal.

If you're interested in my journey you can follow me on my blog, face book and twitter.

http://www.globalroboticsinstitute.com/en/urology-robotic-prostatectomy/press-and-news/former-patient-competiting-in-ironman-florida

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/home.php?ref=home

http://twitter.com/bretttroia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEKahj1CsLg

http://www.vipfriendsonline.com/bretttroia.html

August 6, 2009 The "GREY AREAS"

All this was posted on the http://athletesforacure.ning.com/ website by a friend (and site creator) of mine Greta Rose Zagarino;

"Member Brett Troia, prostate cancer survivor and triathlete, is experiencing an important "grey area" among his medical team: as a young man of 41, what are the typical physical traits of an Ironman triathlete compared to those of a young prostate cancer survivor? His doctors aren't quite sure.

Can we get some important feedback from some of the IMers out there who DON'T have prostate cancer, so we can compare? Specifically, do male IMers regularly experience a decrease in potency and other physical misc. levels when their training is at a max level? This information will give Brett and his doctors really valuable information about his health, and may help other men out there with the same question. Could be good or bad news for him, and he needs to know.

This is a great opportunity to put this NING community to use. Thanks for your help and participation."

Here is another link for Prostate Cancer information, this includes PC survivors who chose the robotic prostatectomy with Dr. Vipul Patel, http://www.vipfriendsonline.com/bretttroia.html

July 31, 2009 Who Do You Race For?

Athletes For A Cure wants to know, "Who Do You Race For?"

Here is my 1 min 30 second response....

Brett Troia was diagnosed on December 3, 2008 with Prostate Cancer and now he runs to raise funds and awareness for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

MY NAME IS BRETT TROIA and I AM A PROSTATE CANCER SURVIVOR!Help me raise funds and awareness for The Prostate Cancer Foundation while competing in the IRONMAN FLORIDA on November 7, 2009.

Brett Troia is “raising awareness and funds to change the face of prostate cancer”

If you'd like to help me fundraise; Please join me in supporting a great cause as I compete in the Ironman Florida Nov 7, 2009: http://bit.ly/KyAZR

July 13, 2009 Where Have You Been?

Well let me start with a "Hello" and apologize that it's been so long since a post; 53 days to be exact.

Today, July 13 2009 is 14 weeks since surgery and I am thrilled to tell you that things are progressing along quite well. There is a lot of catching up to do so I'll do my best using bullet format.

- June 12, I had my first follow-up with Dr. Patel since the catheter removal, the visit went well; he was pleased with my PSA of 0.00, thought that my incisions healed up nicely, happy to hear I was training again but not so excited with respect to my "continence" or "dryness" percentages. The bottom line was, "Just do the exercises I told you to do, 300 kegels daily and things will get better" Dr. Patel didn't exactly tell me that I have been a disobedient patient through recovery but it didn't require much discernment.

- May 30, through much consultation, my wife's (Kim) approval, my friends 'The Peavy Persuasion" factor, Athletes For A Cure friends and some IRONMAN strings being pulled I accepted a "media slot entry" for the 2009 IRONMAN Florida on November 7. I began training June 1 (5 months from race day) and was provided with a "gift" from a very close friend of mine, he provided a training opportunity from a professional triathlete, Carole Sharpless. Follow the days up until the race on the IM counter on my frontpage.

- June 1, officially kicked off the training and fundraising to raise funds and awareness to change the face of prostate cancer. Help me raise funds and awareness for The Prostate Cancer Foundation while competing in the IRONMAN FLORIDA on November 7, 2009. As you may be aware, I was diagnosed Dec 3, 2008 with prostate cancer. I have since had a robotic prostatectomy, been diagnosed cancer free and well on my way to a full recovery. This year I will be "racing for the cure” with Athletes for a Cure in the Florida IRONMAN Triathlon on 11/07/2009. In addition, I am committed to supporting the Prostate Cancer Foundation by setting a fundraising goal of $10,000 for prostate cancer research.

Please follow the link below to donate to my cause;
Follow This Link http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?faf=1&e=2422136044&ievent=186390&supId=232476329 to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Prostate Cancer Foundation.

- June 9, had an opportunity to be interviewed by CURE Magazine regarding The New England Journal of Medicine report on PSA testing. For those of you that have followed my journey you that without PSA "testing early and often" for me we would not have diagnosed the prostate cancer yet. I was also asked by them to do a photo shoot for the article. The story should be in the FALL 09 issue of CURE.

- June 21, Father's Day, what a glorious day this was, a day to be THANKFUL for so much in life, GOD has blessed me with two beautiful girls and a wonderful wife. So much in life we take for granted until something so subtly reminds us. James 4:14. "You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."

- June 21, I did it, I broke down and started a FACEBOOK page (well my daughter did it) for several reasons. I realize how AWESOME this blog has been (reaching over 4000 hits) for helping others with the same diagnosis and allowing friends and family to follow our journey. I want to use this cancer as an opportunity for outreach to help and inform others. If I can reach more people via FACEBOOK, then I'm all for it. If it increases my ability to reach people for raising funds and awareness then it makes sense. I feel that soon the blog will reach it's end and be available for those too come.

Here are my FACEBOOK and TWITTER links;

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/home.php?ref=home

http://twitter.com/bretttroia

As for my health; things are progressing, I do not have any issues to really report. I am training at full performance level for Ironman with no restrictions. With respect to potency I am approximately 80% (not requiring any medicinal assistance) and continence I am approximately 60% (not requiring any pads.) I continue to perform the prescribed 300 kegels per day and must be aware of urinary frequency required.

May 21, 2009 Jeopardy

"I'll take prostate cancer for $1000 Trebek"

"0.00"

"What is Brett Troia's PSA level?"

Correct, I just received these results, dually confirming the pathology report from April 8, 2009. Brett Troia is "CANCER FREE" or should I say "cancer FREE," it doesn't deserve the CAPITALIZED emphasis.

As I mentioned several times before this is truly God's grace, compassion and glory. Thank GOD for my awesome medical team Dr. Vip Patel and Staff, Dr. Mike Jenkins and Staff, and Dr. Stephen Armistead and Staff!

I ask all of you to help me in my pursuit to raise funds and awareness while changing the face of prostate cancer. Please follow the link below to donate to my cause;

http://athletes.kintera.org/2009triathlon/bretttroia?faf=1&e=2422136044

(if the link is broken, please cut and paste into your web browser.)

May 15, 2009 Intuitive Interview

During the 2009 World Robotic Urological Symposium in Orlando I was interviewed by Intuitive Surgical Inc. Intuitive Surgical designs and builds the da Vinci Surgical System, the breakthrough platform for robotically assisted minimally invasive surgery. The following caption is from the Florida Hospital website

"When Brett Troia was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he researched the best possible treatment for his condition and circumstances. He was referred to Dr. Vipul Patel by his physician, who performed a robotic prostatectomy on Brett on April 6, 2009. This interview took place just two days after his surgery."

interview url:

www.globalroboticsinstitute.com/en/urology-robotic-prostatectomy/testimonials/brett-troia