‘I had no idea I had cancer’ Court clerk urges health checkups for Men’s Health Awareness Month

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — November is Men's Health Awareness Month also known as "Movember." It serves as a reminder to men to prioritize and openly discuss their physical and mental health.

The Movember Foundation is a charity that raises awareness and funds for about 1,250 men's health research projects. Their mission is to help men live longer healthier lives by researching common issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health.

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Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond detected his prostate cancer at an early stage by being proactive. Mike felt completely normal but took a PSA test and found out that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. "I had no idea that I had cancer because I felt great and I had been doing a PSA test for 20 years, every six months, diligently. And it did not run in my family," Hammond said, "So I had no idea that it would even show up. The biopsy came back. And sure, enough I had prostate cancer. It was in the early stages."

He is now figuring out what he wants to do for treatment moving forward.

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"Now I will decide treatment and, whatever that treatment might be, it could be radiation, It could be surgery. I don't know yet, but those will be some of my options," said Hammond. "But I'm thankful that everything looks good and that I did the advanced test and that's in the early stages." Men are much less likely to go seek medical care. When keeping up with personal health it all comes down to prevention and awareness. Dr. Justin McGoldrick, VP of Medical Affairs for Covenant Health, explained that prostate cancer is common in males and suggest all men take the PSA exam. "One in seven males are estimated to develop, prostate cancer in their life. So it is one of those, those diagnoses that we need to begin in mid-life, start to screen for more and more. PSA can be done from bloodwork, so it's simple. It's simple blood tests." said McGoldrick. Hammond wants to remind all men moving forward how important it is for them to care about their health and see a primary car doctor annually. "Men need to take care of themselves. They need to take care of their health. That needs to be priority because a lot of people are dependent upon men and their health," he said.

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Hammond remains positive and focuses on keeping his mental health in check. He does this by spending life doing what he enjoys. He believes spending time with family and serving the community is what's best.

"There are options. You can be treated, you can move forward, you can live with this. And so that would be my message to men is, let's take this seriously" he said.