Get screened MONDAY! One man's prostate cancer story should be motivation



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Men from all over Wisconsin will have the chance to get a free prostate cancer screening on Monday, May 12th at Miller Park.

A man who seemed perfectly healthy made a decision he thought was way out of left field. He went in for a prostate exam, and it turned out to be a life saving decision.

Dennis Lasecki is just enjoying the ride. The 72-year-old Franklin man has a clean bill of health following a year that had its share of twists and turns.

Last spring, the Vietnam Veteran says a friend suggested he get screened for prostate cancer.

"I said `Well I don't have any symptoms. I'm fine'," said Lasecki.

But Lasecki changed his mind when he saw an advertisement for the annual free screening event at Miller Park. The results of that test stunned the avid photographer.

"She told me I had a nodule on my prostate and she told me that...I should be, I should be concerned about it," said Lasecki.

Lasecki had what doctors called a high-risk tumor. He began to receive treatment at Froedtert Hospital's Clinical Cancer Center. His doctor, Colleen Lawton, says men between the ages of 40 and 70 should test annually for a disease that kills more than 30,000 American's each year.

"I think it's important that all of us understand prostate cancer kills almost as many men as breast cancer kills women, we don't understand that," said Lawton.

Lawton says Lasecki was part of an experimental treatment process at Froedtert. The equipment is the same but the radiation is a big stronger with the hope that it will require fewer visits.

"If we can shorten the treatment time, in other words, give a little bigger dose each time to the prostate and the lymph nodes, then we're controlling the disease better," said Lawton.

Lawton says so far, the results have been promising. That includes Lasecki's case; last month he was labeled cancer-free.

"She came out and told me she was very happy with the results and that made me happy and yeah, I'm here today, very happy camper," said Lasecki.

With his life back on the path, Lasecki urges other men to get screened; those who haven't already will have a chance on May 12th, when Froedtert and The Medical College of Wisconsin host the annual Zero Prostate Cancer Testing at Miller Park.

"Get checked. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain," said Lasecki.

Dennis Lasecki gained the good health he thought he already had.