Listen Up, Men: This One’s Vital

PROSTATE CANCER: A Journey of Hope

Produced by KCET/Lark International, St. Louis and Banyan Communications Inc.

Sunday, 5:30 p.m., KCET

56 minutes

Men, this is your chance to learn what you need to know about prostate health and prostate cancer. “Prostate Cancer: A Journey of Hope” is an outstanding presentation of the reality of this disease, which will strike nearly 180,000 American men this year and kill 37,000. Considering that most men don’t even know where their prostate gland is, it makes good sense to learn the facts about prostate cancer. After all, education and awareness about breast cancer have certainly worked to the advantage of women.

“A Journey of Hope” is not boring, educational TV. While Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf does not make the greatest narrator, that is soon forgotten as viewers are pulled into the stories of men with prostate cancer and their families. There are many touching moments in the program, such as the story of the Kerr brothers who have prostate cancer, one of them dying of the disease.

There is also some revolutionary television here. In detailing screening, diagnosis and treatment for the disease, we see tastefully done snatches of film taped inside actual treatment rooms. This includes a brief glimpse of a man undergoing a “dreaded DRE,” digital rectal exam. The program also shows a prostate biopsy and radiation therapy. Moreover, the topics of impotence and incontinence are handled directly and in detail, as men who have had prostate surgery discuss these common side effects.

Treatment for prostate cancer is one of the most complex and varied of all cancer diagnoses. This program will be a valuable tool to those who have the disease, who must ultimately understand that the choice of treatment is really theirs alone and that there are no right or wrong decisions.

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National Men’s Health Week/CNN’s “Your Health”

Saturday and June 19, 26

11:30 a.m.

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CNN has teamed up with the American Academy of Family Physicians’ National Men’s Health Week (June 14-20) to provide information to men. The network will air three segments on men’s health as part of its regular “Your Health” series. The academy is sponsoring a toll-free number that men can call for a free guide to men’s health ([800] 955-2002) or they can visit a Web site at https://www.nationalmenshealthweek.com.