The tradition continued Saturday morning with over 300 riders participating in the 180 kilometre Telus Motorcycle Ride For Dad event. Money raised helps in the fight against prostate cancer.
Ride co-chair John Strang, says the number of registered riders shows just how great a job the committee is doing in raising awareness about prostate cancer.
"We're hoping to raise close to $40,000 this year. Over the past nine rides, we've raised $300,000 in Nipissing. It's pretty incredible. All that money stays local. It goes towards prostate cancer research and awareness," said Strang.
John Pitman is a 10-year prostate cancer survivor. Prior to his diagnosis, Pitman made it a point to be screened annually, because of his family history. Both his father and brother battled prostate cancer.
"I have a lot of young guys that say 'I'm only 35 or 38 years old'. My specialist had a guy 32 years old with full-blown prostate cancer. I was 58 years old, but it was caught at a very early stage. So get checked. Everybody has this fear of the examinations but it's about time they grew up and said, do you want to live, or do you want to die,?" said Pitman.
Dr. Mike Conlon is a director of Epidemiology research at the Northeast Cancer Centre at Health Sciences North in Sudbury. As a research scientist, he is currently studying whether a person's genetics can predict how they're going to respond to treatment.
"That's probably one of the most important areas of research right now, how can we better tailor people's treatments so that they're going to have the best response," said Conlon.
The doctor was presented with a cheque for $27,000 by the Ride for Dad committee, which will go directly into his laboratory research, looking at health-related quality of life and how it comes from care for men with prostate cancer.
"This is an on-going project and we've been fortunate enough to have support from the Ride for a number of years. So we're probably four or five years into a larger research project."
Strang says one of the new urologists in North Bay Dr. John Pace, is also involved in research.
"He's going to submit a research application to our national foundation this year, and we're hoping to be able to donate this year's money to him for the research project he's doing. Our dollars are very specific, they have to go to specific research for prostate cancer. So with Dr. John Pace on board, we'll be able to make a cheque presentation next year right to the North Bay Regional Hospital," explained Strang.
Prostate cancer doesn't just affect men, it also affects those close to them. Women are encouraged to tell the men in their lives to get checked. Many experts say as, with any disease, early detection allows for a wider range of potential treatment options.
Amanda Daigle-Randall says prostate cancer is one of those taboo subjects men don't want to talk about, but she insists her loved ones get checked regularly. She says some of the men she's known who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer were given the news in the very late stages of the disease.
"I have a friend who has been recently diagnosed, and he's going through a really, really hard time with it. It's hard on his family with the treatments, and not being able to work," said Daigle-Randall. "So that's one of the reasons why we're here, to promote prostate cancer awareness. I want the men in my life to stay around as long as possible."
The Ride's motto is 'get it checked'. Those who have been screened say the blood work takes just a few minutes, a short amount of time that has proven to be life saving. When asked, many survivors admit if they hadn't put off going to the doctor, their battle might have been different.
Part of the awareness campaign encourages men to have a conversation with their family physician about screening programs.
