Sandra Washington

 

Since 1973,when more than 450 people arrived willing to do whatever necessary to make Senior Friendship Centers a reality, this organization has served as a catalyst for developing community partnerships to meet the challenges of aging.

Many entities have come together to work in partnership with Senior Friendship Centers to improve and enhance the lives of seniors. Using local, state, and national resources to address needs while avoiding duplication of services is central to Senior Friendship Centers’ success, saving communities and taxpayers’ money.

This innovative organization draws on the abundant talents of 1400 volunteers (valued at $2.5 million). As a result, Senior Friendship Centers is a national model for the delivery of programs and services to older adults. The first center started with a card table, $79 and the belief that people working together could solve some of the greatest challenges of aging: loneliness and isolation, failing health,and maintaining dignity and independence throughout the later years.

Today, campuses in Sarasota and Venice offer:
Friendship Centers filled with music and activities – places to find friends and explore new interests.
Healthy meals served at Friendship Cafes, satellite locations and meals delivered to the homebound through Friendship Meals on Wheels
Geriatric care management enabling people to live independently at home with dignity
Living Rooms providing supervised day programs for frailer elders and respite time for caregivers
Centers for Healthy Aging,offering health and dental care for lower income persons 50 and older provided by retired physicians, dentists, nurses to continue practice for the sheer love of medicine.

Today, more than 10,000 older adults are served in Sarasota, DeSoto, Collier, Lee and Charlotte Counties. The spirit of ‘People Helping People” – the foundation for this organization – is alive and well and continues to shape a brighter future for our communities.

PROSTATE CANCER: WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN KILL YOU.

Prostate cancer is a debilitating disease that strikes African American males twice as often as Caucasian males and we die disproportionately higher than others. The prostate is a walnut size gland that is located just below the urinary bladder. It surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine and ejaculatory fluids from the penis1.

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of otherwise normal cells. External forces such as carcinogens or radiation, and internal ones, such as heredity can initiate prostate cancer. Men whose close relatives have had prostate cancer are 11 times more likely to be diagnosed than men without such histories (National Prostate Cancer Coalition (www.npcc.org)). Severe prostate cancer can result in metastasis disease of the lymph nodes and/or bone.

Prostate cancer is a near symptom less disease that grows slowly in some men and rapidly in others. Tumor growth can reach sizes that obstruct urine flow, increase frequency of urination, reduce urinary stream flow, or may cause minor urinary pain.

Detection begins with two simple tests, the digital rectal exam (DRE) and the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. DRE allow the physician to feel the surface of the prostate gland by inserting a lubricated gloved finger into the rectum. PSA is a test which determines the concentration of a prostate produced protein in the blood.

It is important to get tested prior to 40 years of age for African Americans and 50 for other men. Treatment options range from prostate surgery, partial or radical (prostatectomy), radioactive seed implantation (Brachytherapy), cryosurgery, external beam radiation, Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy, Hormone therapy, Orchiectomy (castration), a combination of the above and others.

As a survivor, I recommend early testing, education, and personal evaluations of options compatible with your age and life style. If you wish additional information, please see the following footnotes2 www.pcacoalition.org; www.cancer.org; www.dattoli.com; www.prostatecancer.org 1 Kaltenbach,D. with Tim Richards. 2003. Prostate Cancer: A Survivor’s Guide. 4th edition. Seneca House Press, Sarasota. 238 pp.