You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.
Hey, it's Marielle.
Do you know Montell Jordan?
He's the singer-songwriter-producer of the absolute banger.
This is how we do it.
He's also a husband, father, pastor, speaker, author, Grammy Award winner, prostate cancer advocate.
An estimated one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives.
Montell was diagnosed in early 2024 at age 55 after a routine screening and a biopsy.
He and his wife spent months seeing doctors and getting their opinions.
We didn't know how to tell our kids and so we kept it between ourselves for months.
Montell decided to have his prostate removed,
but after that his blood tests revealed that there were cancer cells left behind in his lymph nodes and in his prostate bed,
so he just finished radiation treatment.
I asked him about his decision to share his story publicly
because I know from my experience that this is a very personal topic.
I would even go further when it comes to men and prostate cancer because of the functionality of what the prostate does,
it's a very personal thing that I don't imagine any man would want to probably talk about or disclose or share that information.
But he says he's sharing in the hopes that his transparency will save a life,
that it'll get people to the doctor for their routine screenings.
Because the thing is, most of the time, people with early stage prostate cancer don't have symptoms.