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Quick Buzz, Anyone?

By Paul Comrie
30-Nov-12
Quick Buzz, Anyone?


Mr. Bowman, at center, and his close-shorn entourage (photo: ISL).
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Solidarity, cancer awareness warrant a closer cut at International School of Luxembourg
“I believe in going head-to-head with a challenge,” says the director with a characteristic grin. “No pun intended of course.” Chris Bowman is referring to a cancer awareness event staged in school, where he and several male staff members of the International School of Luxembourg shaved their heads to help raise awareness for prostate cancer, the second most common disease afflicting men over 40.
Mr. Bowman is currently undergoing chemotherapy as part of a course of treatment for prostate cancer, and began losing his hair. In anticipation of this new look, he decided to shave his head. In a show of solidarity with their director, numerous male teachers offered to join him on stage in front of the entire student body. When Mr. Bowman realized that he would not be the only one shaving his head, he leapt at the opportunity. “After today’s event, I will not be the only one sporting this sleek new look. We will be something of a squad I think,” says Mr. Bowman.
This refreshing approach to men’s health issues, and prostate cancer in particular, is on the cutting edge of how the medical community is dealing with the easily treated illness. Because it is so easily treated with modern medicine, the issue is not so much whether or not you have the illness, but rather one of early detection and timely treatment.
Where once people suffered in silence, communities are now banding together to create awareness. There is no better example of this than Movember, a men’s health movement that originated in the UK to help raise awareness of men’s health issues, in particular prostate cancer. The event quickly became a global phenomenon. A man who supports the movement is a “Mo Bro” and a “Mo Sista” is any woman who loves and supports a man concerned with men’s health. The underlying message is of course that you do not have to be afflicted with the issue to be concerned with it. Secondly, laughter is often the best medicine.
On the lighter side, while prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer amongst men worldwide, in almost all cases it is easily treated. As Mr. Bowman explains, “This is not something that has come up unexpectedly and, thanks to the availability of modern treatments, will not negatively impact on my work. My treatment will be completed by the winter break.”
Studies indicate that most men suffering from prostate cancer will have no symptoms and it can go undetected for years before more serious health problems arise.
“I would urge any man over the age of 40 to get tested once a year,” says Mr. Bowman. “If you were to ask me, of course I would rather not have this happen to me. But it is really about turning a challenge into an opportunity.”




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