DESCRIPTION
Andre Dawson played major league baseball for 20 years and was good enough at his craft to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Even when his skills started to decline, he kept himself in great physical shape. But a routine doctor visit in February 2012 resulted in his physician telling him his prostatic specific antigen, or PSA, came back elevated, and that Andre should see a urologist. Andre admitted he had no idea what a urologist was, and became leery when realizing such a visit pertained to his prostate.
Seven months after the physical, Andre went to see the urologist, who suggested Andre undergo a biopsy. Wishing to have the matter cleared up, he consented to the biopsy. When the results came back, the urologist called to say he wanted Andre to come in to his office. The doctor had a grim look on his face and said the results of the biopsy indicated Andre had prostate cancer. He told Andre to take some time to think about how he wanted to proceed. He was frightened by the word ‘cancer,’ and frightened at the prospect of having to share this horrific news with his wife.
Andre concluded the cancer out of his body as soon as possible and relayed his sentiment to his urologist. They discussed treatment options before agreeing on the relatively-new robotic surgery. That was in December 2012. The next February, he took another physical, and that’s when the doctor looked him in the eye and told Andre, “You are cancer free.”
When considering robotic surgery, Andre Dawson says the first thing he was asked by his doctor, “How is your sex life?” He said it was fine. The urologist said he would try to be as minimally invasive as possible. He admitted erectile dysfunction could occur, but if it did, it could be addressed at a later time. Andre, who was 58 at the time, said sex wasn’t all that important, but getting rid of cancer, was, and that’s why he thought robotic surgery was the best way to go. He also knew that prostate cancer aggressively affects Black men, so he felt he had to deal with it.
In addition to sexual function, prostate cancer also affects men in terms of their ability to urinate. Andre says he urinates more in the middle of the night than he used to, but hasn’t given it that much thought. He just wants to get it over with and get back to bed.
For those diagnosed with prostate cancer, generally speaking, the threshold for reaching survivorship is five years after treatment. Andre Dawson says he never spent much time counting the years after his robotic surgery; he can just you for quite some time, he has been feeling well, and adhering to his schedule of aftercare doctor visits.
By way of advice, Andre suggests one start to get screened around age 40. He says if you are diagnosed, one should know that prostate cancer is treatable, especially if caught in the early stages. He suggests that throughout the journey to maintain a positive attitude and trust your care team.
Additional Resources:
Support Groups:
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Ed Randall’s Fans for the Cure
TRANSCRIPT
Andre Dawson…
Bruce Morton: Greetings, and welcome to the Cancer Interviews podcast. I’m your host, Bruce Morton. It is our honor and our pleasure to have for you a very special guest. If you are a baseball fan, you know who he is. He is Hall of Famer Andre Dawson of Miami, Florida. If you are not a baseball fan, that’s fine. We ask you to settle in as Andre shares the details of his journey with prostate cancer. So, now let’s get to it, and Andre, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
Andre Dawson: Thank you very much, Bruce.
BM: We always like to start off by learning about our guests exclusive of their cancer journey. So, for the benefit of our viewers and listeners who are baseball fans and for those who are not baseball fans, if you would, tell us about where you grew up, your life in baseball and your life after baseball.
AD: Well, I grew up in Miami, Florida and baseball was always a big part of my early life. I got my initial start with my uncle who was a Parks & Recreation director and was involved with a little league baseball program. I used to work out with the men’s travel team, and got the nickname “The Hawk,” that way. I just always had this desire to play the game of baseball and go as far with it as it would allow me. In middle school I determined I wanted to be a professional baseball player. My counselor said, “Fine, but what’s your next choice?” I said that is the only thing I really wanted to do because I admired at that time, greats like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle because they always stood out. They were the ones that were constantly in the news. I was given an opportunity to play and start in high school, but then I got hurt in high school. I got a devastating knee injury and as a result, all the scouts watching me just disappeared. With that, I found out that I had to go to college and go out for the baseball team as a walkon, which would eventually lead me to Florida A & M University, where I made the team as a freshman, then the starting lineup as a freshman and I was given a scholarship. From there, I played three years. Then I was drafted by the Montreal Expos at the end of my junior year, and I felt that my dreams, my childhood dreams had come to fruition. I just wanted to have that opportunity to play at that level and see just how far I could go. I had a very productive college career, had a very successful minor league career and after a year and a couple months, I found myself in the big leagues. I said, “Wow. God is good.” From there, I was able to play for 20 years. I set out to set some goals, and among them was my goal to play 15 years, and at that time, the major league lifespan was only four years. With the history of the knee problems, I knew it was going to be a huge task, but during the 20-year career, I was able to accumulate enough numbers so that I was worthy of the Baseball Hall of Fame in the eyes of a lot of people. It took nine years before I was elected to Hall of Fame, but I played the game far longer than I would have ever expected, and I have to attribute my success at that level was my work ethic. I had a grandmother who was my chief mentor growing up. She would always say to me, “Get down on your knees, be thankful of your blessings, be thankful before you even receive them and put your education as your first priority. That will be something that can’t be taken away from you and will set the groundwork for your life going forward.” I always took that with me, and from her teachings, I had the backing of so many people who wanted to see me at that level and have a lot of success that I did. I love the importance of the role they played in my life and attribute that to my persevering for that long. At the end of my playing career, I worked in the Florida/Miami Marlins organization for 15 years and then three years in the Cubs organization, then as a result of my being an investor, I had a funeral home fall into my lap. That’s where I am now, I am the owner of a funeral home in south Florida, and I devote a lot of time to that.
BM: Now let’s talk about the work ethic and how it manifested itself. One of the things you did in your playing days was something that really placed you well ahead of your time. When your team was at bat and you were in the dugout, you would be busy charting opposing pitchers, learning about them and assembling your own personal databank. Did that sort of thing have your grandmother’s fingerprints on it?
AD: Well, that was just me being a student of the game. That was probably a form of analytics, when you think of it. What I did was track every pitch, what the pitch was, whether I swung at it, or if I took it, whether it was a breaking ball or a fastball, the location of the pitch and what the situation was, so I could get sort of an inkling of how the opposition was going to approach me and what sort of adjustments I would have to make. I did this between at-bats and kept the book on the bench itself so I wouldn’t to have kill myself thinking back through the situation that occurred in the game, so this for me was something that would help me. I would study the book depending on what team we were playing and even though we had scouting reports, I didn’t rely solely on that, I took it as an individual thing. This is how I should expect teams to approach me and what I needed to do going forward depending upon what the situation is.
BM: So, you were in the big leagues 20 years. That speaks for itself, but there was an exclamation point put on that in 2010 when you were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now, for every player, that is a day that is both exciting and unforgettable, so if you would, take us through the emotions of getting that news that you were going to Cooperstown.
AD: Well, I had already been on the ballot for nine years, and I felt like 2010 was my best window to get in. I didn’t feel like there were many people I needed to hurdle, as they were already in. That day, I did something I had never done before. I got up and went to the gym, I worked out, then I went to the gravesites of both my mother and my grandmother, who had passed earlier on. I just wanted to thank them for the role they played for having me responsible for where I was in my life at that particular time. It was a very emotional day for me. I kneeled at my grandmother’s grave and my mother’s grave, and I said to the both of them if something happens on this day that I think is going to happen, I just wanted to say that I hope I made you proud, and I want to thank you for everything in my life to get me to this point in life. I got up and left the cemetery and went home and I was very exhausted at that point because of the workout, then visiting the cemetery. I said to my wife, I am going to take a shower, then a quick nap prior to the announcement of the inductees that particular year. I always felt if one was going to get in, they would be tipped off so you could make preparations, but there was no such thing, and I felt this could be another year of disappointment. I had my wife awaken me at five minutes to 1:00, and I told her I was supposed to get the call at one o’clock. There was no call, and I said I guess it is going to happen again this year. Getting in the Hall just isn’t going to happen. She looked at me and just gave me a nod and walked out of the room. Then about five minutes later, the telephone rang, and I knew if I was going to get the call, it would come from New York, with a 212 area code and it was going to the president of the Baseball Writers. I am standing there looking at the phone and it said area code 212. The phone rang five times and my wife said I should answer. I guess just for that brief moment I was kind of shocked at who it might be and what was about to happen. I finally picked up the telephone, said hello and sure enough on the other end was the president of the Baseball Writers. He said, “Andre, I am calling you to congratulate you, an inductee into the Class of 2010 of the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
BM: Andre, that was more than a decade ago, and in any situation personal or professional, the passage of time oftentimes can afford one perspective on something that happened in the past. Now that getting into the Hall is more than a decade ago, do you have a different sort of appreciation for this accomplishment than you might have had on the day that you got the good news?
AD: I just feel that when you are Hall-worthy and it took me nine years to get in, it took some of the luster off the situation. I have a different appreciation for it because I really wanted my mother and my grandmother to witness that particular moment. My grandmother, she passed away as the result of Alzheimer’s and she never really got to see me play professionally and my mother would always say to me it is inevitable getting in is going to happen at some point in time, that, “They can’t keep you out.” This is what I sort of lived with for those nine years. When my mother passed away, that was probably the most painful part of not getting in sooner because the people that were most important to me weren’t going to witness it. I look back on it and say it is what it is, but the fact of the matter is, I knew I had their blessings. My grandmother, growing up, always wanted me to get my education with the idea that you can play the game and you can play it and if you are good at it, someone is going to take notice and my mother always said I had a very stellar, exciting playing career and you let the process play itself out, you will be rewarded even further in the future. These are things that were important to me along the way, and that’s why I probably had a bit of a different feel at that time than it does now.
BM: Now we want to move on to your cancer journey. For all of us who are diagnosed, there is something that lets us know that something isn’t quite right. What was that for you?
AD: It’s funny, because working out has always been pretty much a part of my daily routine. To be an athlete is something you have to do that is a necessity because you have to prepare for what your job is. I had been a workaholic when it came to going to the gym and putting the time and effort in. As a process of putting the uniform on, when I was playing for the Florida Marlins, you have to go through a physical. That physical takes place about the second week of spring training. Prior to going on the field, you go through all of the tests. You do your bloodwork, and at that time I thought I could still play the game. I couldn’t run anymore, but I had the basic instincts. After going through the physical, I was summoned by the doctor in his office about a week later. He said I have something I want to share with you, and I want you to give me your thoughts. Your PSA came back elevated, and I didn’t have a clue as to what he was talking about. He said it’s not urgent, but at some point, you want to visit a urologist, and my thinking was if there was no urgency, I googled what is a urologist, then I got a bit leery because we are talking about your prostate. My brother had had prostate issues earlier to the point where he had to have his prostate removed. I elected to wait until the offseason. I let the entire season pass and I went to see a urologist in October. This was March when we did the actual physical and I went to see the doctor and I did a physical examination. He said everything looks fairly normal; however, to be on the safe side, you may want to do a biopsy, and I was all in. I just want to make sure I clear everything up. So, we did a biopsy and he wanted me to come back in his office. He wanted me to have a conference with me. He didn’t say anything on the phone and that’s what frightened me as I wondered where are we going from here? He looked at me and he had this look on his face, and he said he was sorry to break the news to me, but a few of the samplings came back positive. I just got quiet. I didn’t say anything. He said I should think about how I want to proceed and that we could talk about it over the next week or so. For me, it was tough going home because I had to break the news to my wife. I saw her tear up. I said I hope it is not as bad as you might think that it is. The doctor says he wants to talk with me again. At that point I gave a lot of thought as to how I wanted to proceed. He mentioned some of the procedures that were available. The word ‘cancer’ kind of frightens you, and as good as I was feeling, I just said to myself if this is something I am going to have to tangle with, I just want it out of my body, period. I don’t want to get any radiation, anything like that. I just want the prostate out of my body. I met with the doctor and we both agreed we would go the route of the robotic surgery. I could only think at that time, if this is the right course, if this is what can cure me, then I am buying all in. So, I did elect to do the surgery in December 2012, and I was told the following spring training when I went back to the Marlins to take another physical and learned that my PSA was zero. The doctor looked me in the eye, and he smiled, and he said, “You are cancer free.”
BM: It sounds like this was an easy call for you, not a pleasant call, but an easy call to go with the robotic surgery because different cancers present different problems to different people, and some cancers don’t have a whole lot of treatment options; but usually with prostate cancer, most times when people are diagnosed, they do have some choices as to which way to go. That said, was there any hesitation when going ahead with the robotic surgery?
AD: The first thing he said was, “How’s your sex life?” And I said, it’s fine, and I don’t have any problems. I don’t think my wife has any problems. The doctor said he would try to be as minimally invasive as possible. He then pointed out some of the consequences, saying erectile dysfunction can occur, but that we could tackle that later on. I told the doc I was 58 years old now and that stuff is not that important to me anymore. I just want to know that I am going to be cancer free. He then said that we would do real well together. I was really disappointed to hear this was a problem I had to tackle. I wasn’t in a sense a person that thought something like this could never happen to me, I never had that kind of attitude. I just realized this is where I am at this point in my life. You get old and you experience whatever. You know that type of cancer that affects Black men at an aggressive rate, so I knew this was something I had to tackle. I realized the high mortality rate amongst Black men, and I said to myself I wanted to be on the safe side. I want to be on the safe side in a productive manner, and that’s where I was with it.
BM: You had mentioned earlier on in your life when you were trying to get your baseball career going, you mentioned the tremendous volume of support you had from your family, and your diagnosis took place after you were voted into the Hall, and by the time you were voted into the Hall, family members who at an earlier time were providers of support had passed on. At that time, even though it looks like this is a problem you ran toward instead of from, what were your sources of support after you got this news, Andre?
AD: I tried to not keep it private per se because I work with the Sylvester Cancer Center here in Miami to help promote prostate cancer awareness and screening. With that you had to go public. The media wanted to interview me to know how I was feeling, and so on and so forth. That was an eye opener for my family outside of my immediate family because I didn’t really enlighten them, but one thing about the robotic surgery is, it really beat me up in a sense because I lost 22 pounds over the course of that first month. I actually got back down to my playing weight when I retired. I just knew there was a journey, there was a process after the surgery to just get back to feeling good again. My source of comfort was having my family there to see and help me through that process until I was able to get back on my feet and feel that I was back to normal.
BM: You had talked about one of the areas in which men are affected by prostate cancer after they go through some sort of prostate cancer procedure. Now I want to ask about the other piece in all this because prostate cancer can one where urination is concerned. To what degree were you affected in that area?
AD: I felt I was urinating more at night, and it would awaken me in the wee hours, say, 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., then I was going back to the rest room around 6:00. I also noticed I didn’t have as steady a flow as I would normally have. Of course, I didn’t know what was going on, if there was a problem. I stood there with my eyes halfway open, just telling myself to hurry up and get this over with, so I could get back into bed, and that’s pretty much how it was.
BM: Your procedure was in 2012, but for a lot of us who undergo some sort of prostate cancer procedure, kinda the big threshold is getting to the five-year mark, and you have passed that now. At what point did you feel like you were starting to get the upper hand on this?
AD: I have been feeling fairly well for quite some time now. I paid no attention to the five-year threshold, and after a while I had to remind myself just when the procedure took place. I just adhered to a schedule for my screening and getting my bloodwork, getting my bloodwork as a result of my physicals with the ballclubs I was working for, and my PSA was still down. So, there was no reason to believe that I was going to be affected one way or the other.
BM: Let’s talk about screening. You had mentioned the importance of screening and is that a message that you bring to many of your friends of a certain age, is that a message you bring to their attention?
AD: Oh, yes, especially to people of color in the African-American community because it is recommended to get started as early as 40. This is something you don’t want to play around with. You have just got to work closely with your doctor whoever that might be and evaluate what your options are if you have ever been diagnosed and you move forward with your decision making. Early detection is the key.
BM: Andre, we’re going to wrap things up now. If you found yourself with a private audience with someone who had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer or if they are sort of in this interim period between when they hear that they might a candidate and when they are actually diagnosed, if you had a message for that person, what would the message be?
AD: Don’t lose sight over what you are about to encounter. Just trust the people that you gotta work with. Even though cancer is going to frighten you to a degree, it is not the end of the world. It can be cured in its early stages, and just have the attitude that you will have to make some adjustments, whatever they may be. Then you put your best foot forward. That can go a long way toward helping you with your self esteem, you know, what you have to go through to encounter the positive results that you want to have. And believe in the system. It does work. Again, have prayer, have faith, and just thank God for where you are in your life and pray for peace and whatever blessings He can bestow upon you.
BM: Outstanding, Andre. I know you have a lot of demands on your time, so I really appreciate your taking some of that time to spend with us. Thanks so much for being with us on Cancer Interviews.
AD: Thank you, Bruce, and it is my distinct pleasure.
BM: And that’s going to wrap up this segment of Cancer Interviews. We hope that what Andre Dawson had to say can provide information and/or inspiration. So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.
Support Groups…
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Ed Randall’s Fans for the Cure
SHOW NOTES
TITLE: Andre Dawson, Prostate Cancer Survivor – Miami, Florida, USA
Andre Dawson is a prostate cancer survivor. He enjoyed a stellar 20-year career as a major league baseball player and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, in 2012, a physical revealed an elevated PSA and a subsequent biopsy came back positive for prostate cancer.
He opted for robotic surgery and is now cancer free. Andre has been very public about his diagnosis and treatment and works in his native Miami with the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center to spread the word about his prostate cancer awareness and the importance of early detection.
Additional Resources:
Ed Randall’s Fans for The Cure
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Time Stamps:
13:56 A physical revealed an elevated PSA.
16:34 Andre’s reaction to the diagnosis.
19:43 Explains his decision to go with robotic surgery and its effects on his sexual function.
23:20 Robotic surgery was rough, resulting in weight loss.
24:23 How the procedure affected urination.
29:20 After the procedure, Andre worked in his native Miami to spread prostate cancer awareness.
30:34 Advice for those diagnosed with prostate cancer.
KEYWORDS (tags):
prostate cancer
cancer
cancer interviews
prostate cancer survivor
robotic surgery
bruce morton
prostate cancer awareness
andre dawson
Comments