Al Roker Reveals Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Al Roker told his Today show audience that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancerRoker, 66, mentioned that he will leave the show for a while to have surgery. “It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing,” he said. “Good news is we caught it early.”

He underwent a five-hour surgery by Dr. Vincent Laudone on November 9 at New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to remove his prostate and some surrounding tissue and lymph nodes.The surgery went well, and Al was already doing laps around the hospital hallways by that afternoon. He was home by the following day and bustling through his regular five-mile walk around the park just three days after the surgery.

“I feel good,” Al said. “The technology has gotten so good – they did it with a robot – that I felt much better after the surgery than I did with any of my joint replacements.

WATCH INTERVIEW

The 5 Warning Signs of Prostate Cancer
  • A painful or burning sensation during urination or ejaculation.
  • Frequent urination, particularly at night.
  • Difficulty stopping or starting urination.
  • Sudden erectile dysfunction.
  • Blood in urine or semen.

In addition, you may have pain around the base of the penis and behind the scrotum, pain in the lower back, and the feeling of a full rectum. As the prostate becomes more swollen, you may find it more difficult to urinate, and the urine stream may become weak.

 

We’re celebrating World Diabetes Day with musical inspiration from Aretha Franklin.

There are many reasons that Aretha Franklin is the legend of legends, a groundbreaking singer with the fortitude to transcend race and genre, using that tremulous voice as the bulldozer to break down every barrier set up in her way.

Aretha’s own health journey is sparking a discussion about the uncertain connection between pancreatic cancer and diabetes. Long-standing diabetes can be considered a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. It causes a modest increase in risk of 1.5- to two-fold. Some of the other risk factors for pancreatic cancer include smoking, chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), family history of pancreatic cancer, obesity and certain genetic syndromes.

Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Dr. Wendy Satin Rapaport, Diabetes Strong’s owner Christel Oerum, Beautyphonics CEO and “Beneath The Makeup”Author Suzanne Perez, Jessica Clark, Trisha Artman, and the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach.

Throughout the podcast we will be playing music from Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics’ courtesy of SONY Music.

Diabetes Late Nite is a fast-paced, full-filled hour of diabetes education and wellness advice that encourages listeners to “laugh a little, learn a  lot.”

31 Days of Divabetic Podcasts, Twenty Eight

Divabetic (Divabetic.org) presents a month-long showcase celebrating 10 years of diabetes podcasting. Each of the featured podcasts spotlights our favorite guests, topics, poems, games and/or musical inspiration. Enjoy!

On Day 28, we’re spotlighting Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite Inspired by Aretha Franklin podcast from November 2018.

There are many reasons that Aretha Franklin is the legend of legends, a groundbreaking singer with the fortitude to transcend race and genre, using that tremulous voice as the bulldozer to break down every barrier set up in her way.

Although the Queen of Soul didn’t talk much about her diabetes, she admitted to a local news station in 2014 that she was living with diabetes, but did not specify whether it was type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

Later on in another interview reprinted in BlackDoctor.org, she alluded to living with diabetes when she discussed maintaining her 85 pound weight loss.  Aretha Franklin said, “I have diabetes, really, from years ago when I was really badly and grossly overweight. Now, I’m back to my natural size and thrilled about it.”

Aretha’s own health journey is sparking a discussion about the uncertain connection between pancreatic cancer and diabetes. Long-standing diabetes can be considered a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. It causes a modest increase in risk of 1.5- to two-fold. Some of the other risk factors for pancreatic cancer include smoking, chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), family history of pancreatic cancer, obesity and certain genetic syndromes.

Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Dr. Wendy Satin Rapaport, Diabetes Strong‘s owner Christel Oerum, Beautyphonics CEO and “Beneath The Makeup” Author Suzanne Perez, Jessica Clark, Coach The Cure‘s Trisha Artman, and the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach.

Throughout the podcast we will be playing music from Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics’ courtesy of SONY Music.

 


Our monthly podcasts are dedicated to Music Lovers living with, at risk and/or affected by diabetes. We aim to be the epicenter of the circle of care, a link between patients and their health care providers, a translator of clinical speak and a bridge between denial and acceptance, fear and confidence

Divabetic was inspired by the late music legend, Luther Vandross and created in 2005 by Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek, who, as Vandross’ assistant of 14 years, witnessed his boss, mentor, and friend struggle in silence and solitude with the diabetes and its related complications. Since its inception, Divabetic has presented outreach programs in 15 major U.S. cities, reaching hundreds of thousands of women, their families and health care professionals.

Experience more of our GLAM MORE, FEAR LESS philosophy at divabetic.org

https://youtu.be/XHsnZT7Z2yQ