Movember

Raising money and awareness for Prostate Cancer

[Demaestro]

Hello all,

I am growing a Mo (mustache) to raise money and awareness regarding prostate cancer.

It is hard for men to ask to be tested for such a thing but 1000s will die in Canada alone this year.

If you would like to donate money or your face please check out [Movember.com...]

If you would like to follow my 'stach... I am going to go for "The Trucker" mo... basically a handlebar as my friends offered up more if I do.... PM me and I will link you to my profile.

Thanks to all members who even just take the time to read this... even if you can't donate please consider your risk levels and get yourself tested.

Also please post a good luck message here to keep this message bumped to the top... my goal is awareness as much as fund raising.

Thanks again
Demaestro

[engine]

Oh, I shaved my tache off!

Good luck with your endeavour.

[tangor]

I've worn a full beard for 50 years... at times it made Billy Gibbons look clean shaven. :)

These days I wear it a bit shorter... less wind resistance on the bicycle.

Elevating awareness is a good thing. Do get tested.

[Rugles]

Good luck Demaestro.

I have a firefighter friend who is doing it and already hit me up for a donation.

Good cause.

[Demaestro]

Thanks you guys... ill be bumping this thread all month.

I may link my 'mo once it starts coming in.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Best of luck Demaestro. I made a donation here in the UK.

My brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2000. He went through all the treatments and was more or less told that there was nothing more they could do about two years ago. Amazingly he is still surviving and his condition is no worse. By surviving for more than ten years he has proved that discovering you have prostate cancer is is not necessarily a death sentence.

I had some minor problems a couple of years ago myself and knowing that these things tend to run in families I went to my doctor. Being in computers I had the PSA and the "digital" test and got the all clear ;)

I was worried sick about the prospects of having cancer at the time and the test was a wee bit embarrassing but such a relief when it came back negative. Give freely folks!

(On a side note I have found that using Saw Palmetto and Pumpkin seed helps with BPH if any of you old codgers are sufferers.)

[Demaestro]

BDW

I send good vibes your family's way. That is amazing about your brother. He must have real fight in him, it is really nice to hear about victories.

I lost my grandfather to Cancer. It wasn't prostate cancer that got him finally but he did battle it.

Good health to you and yours.

*********
DAY 3
*********

The itchy lip begins and so do the jokes!

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I already have my 'tache.

[tangor]

Get the check up, of course, but do know that prostate cancer is USUALLY slow growing. Though it can be fatal, is generally treatable... where fatalities occur is ignoring the signs until too late.

My 'stach is white these days. It was quite ferocious when dark back in my younger daze (sic). :)

[Demaestro]

*********
DAY 4
*********

I am starting to notice that I have new facial expressions I can make with the 'stach

My wife fears that I will start to like it.... which would be funny cause it was her that agreed to let me do it.. her skin is sensitive and my whiskers make her blotchy.... but that happens even if I have that day after 5

[tangor]

Short hairs are toothbrush... female skin will react. Get that half-inch and it becomes silky... even a tickle (use imagination). A mustache is also beneficial in dusting cookies. It is not beneficial as regards ice cream cones, soup, sneezing, or scuba diving. :)

Depending on whisker growth, you might need a bit more than five days.

[Demaestro]

tagor, I have always had a "soul patch"

Now that my whiskers are coming in I am calling the whole package.... My flavor saver!

People in my office building are now calling me "Johnny Depth" in the elevator.... day 9 and I kind of want to shave.... more for the itch than anything..

[alt131]

Go Demaestro!

I'm writing in blue because it is associated with prostate cancer here (pink for breast cancer) - our awareness month is "blue September". Tattooing is common for cultural reasons, so one awareness technique is using blue body-paint to draw stylised swirls or patterns on the face or upper arms. If the mo' gets too much, you might consider starting a trend ;)

Can't emphasise the importance of the checks - we've recently had a second friend diagnosed and operated on. Also, the importance of self-education and following up results - in the last case the person got regular checks, but the routine doctor missed the signs and they were only caught by a locum when he visited on another matter.

For those who cringe over the indignity of it all, reflect the other option is a life-time of cervical smears and breast screens. Not a bad deal by comparison ;)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Alt131 I was in Australia on holiday with my wife in 2008 and was impressed with the large billboards at the side of the road drawing people's attention to the importance of getting tested.

I think they must have meant the PSA test because the ad said (perhaps in typical Australian fashion and as I recall) ...

NO FINGERS, NO BUMS, JUST A LITTLE PRICK!

[alt131]

Hi BBW, the Australians sense of humour is similar to ours, but more robust - I doubt those billboards would be allowed in public here.

But I guess there are (at least) two points:

There are multiple ways of testing for this increasingly prevalent silent killer - so find one you are comfortable with - and do it!
There are multiple options for raising awareness - so use the most powerful, culturally appropriate technique - and do that too!

@Demaestro, I hope this doesn't read as denigrating your efforts to grow a mo'. Not at all. It's intriguing because I couldn't see it being effective in a lot of places I've been - but that's what's fascinating about cultural nuances.

If it works, it deserves support:

Keep growin' man*

* Refers to facial hair ... not illegal weeds ;)

[Demaestro]

alt.... not at all... awareness and funds is what it is all about.

You are right about the 'Mo not working everywhere.

For example, I suspect in India there are lots of men sporting a Mo already, can't see it working as well there....

I am wondering when the itch stops... arg

[tangor]

Demaestro, man up! The itch does go away (haven't itched the last 50 years). :)

There is a growing recognition of prostate cancer, and things like this help to get the message out.

[James2]

Awesome thread, love the 'biscuit duster!'

I sponsored a friend last year for this and at the end of the month he said he went into a pub and the barmaid turned round and just laughed in his face before either of them had a chance to say anything. £20 well spent I think!

[Demaestro]

tangor... haven't you noticed by now? I am a sensitive boy ;)

Actually as the hairs get longer the sensation is less of an itch and more of a tingle.

Last night I had this weird urge to dress up in a Reno 911 getup... maybe I will get an early start on my Mo next year so I can do that for Halloween 2011!

Thanks for keeping the thread and the awareness alive you guys!

Much Love
Ian

[alt131]

Bumping for awareness ... and an update on the mo' ;)

[Demaestro]

Well my nickname has gone from a Johnny Depth to El' Diablo.

I kind of have that Captain Morgans thing going on but without the length in the 'stache.

I am getting close to a couple hundred now and last night 4 of us were out with our Mo's and lots of people were talking about cancer awareness. Strangely we went out for pizza and there was an auction raising money for cancer and a girl with hair almost to her hips raised $3000 cutting it off and auctioning art.

Still not over the "itch", but when I complain my friends were calling me something that rhymes with that

Please encourage anyone in a high risk category to be checked. Early detection is our best defense.

[rocknbil]

I was at the Classy Awards (Google it) in which Adam Garone gave a speech. The whole idea started for no particular reason (well, pints and pints of ale, actually,) and it really took off when they decided to apply it to a cause. Kept my 'stache this year though. :-)

[buckworks]

My father had prostate cancer, but lived for more than ten years after it was diagnosed.

Shortly before he died (at age 80), he had the dubious distinction of having the highest PSA count the lab in Winnipeg had ever seen, several hundred times the normal level. In a perverse way he was proud of that!

[tangor]

While prostate cancer is serious, it is generally very slow growing. Not all can achieve ten years, but for those who are mid-sixties or older living with it is sometimes discussed since there are other risks associated with surgery... and the older you are, the more serious those consequences might be.

Mustache management is like gardening: Some prefer beautifully trimmed hedges, others go for the wilderness look. I fall into the latter category.

[tangor]

Damaestro... How's that mo coming along? Can you twirl the ends like Snidely Whiplash in the Dudley Doright cartoons? Jay Ward would be proud!

Has your aspect become more ferocious, more manly?

Have readers of this thread made appointments (particularly those 55 and older) for a screen?

[alt131]

Hi Demaestro,

A final bump for awareness!

I'm ahead of lots of members by time, so already well into the last day of Movember.

Keen to know how it all went - and any chance of a pic to mark the first of more foo-famous mo-months to come ;)

Go Mo!

[Demaestro]

No curling of the whiskers yet.

I have been shaving my head for so many years now I forgot how wonderfully soft conditioner can make your hair... works on 'staches too.

I am making a final donation push, I have a bunch of cash ones to enter on my own as well, but I am close to my goal.

I link up a picture tonight or tomorrow to mark the occasion.

It was really cool how many people would come up to me and ask if I was growing a 'Mo and then would say "Good Job"

Even if I raised $0 I would be happy with the amount of awareness that was spread.

[Demaestro]

Me and My 'Mo

[static.movember.com...]

[tangor]

Gollies! You're so YOUNG!

My "mo" is posted at my hobby site... and I'm old(er)! :)

Arrrggghhh!

[Demaestro]

I looked but didn't see you. Curious how distinguished yours is.

I am 36 that isn't that young. I am starting to feel old. 40 looms!