Make health your priority as Men’s Health Week kicks off
SEAN MANSFIELD is 67 years old. He works as a farmer and is in fine health. But he is also lucky to be alive as over 20 years ago he had a health scare which could have cost him his life.
This is Men’s Health Week and the Kilkenny man is an example of how being aware of niggling health issues and getting them checked out is vital when it comes to diagnosing and treating a disease before it’s too late.
Traditionally men shy away from visiting the doctor with an illness, but this father-of-six is urging others to lead by his example and not to be afraid of speaking out about health concerns.
“I was always fairly good for going to the doctor, probably because my wife Maureen has a nursing background,” he says. “So in 1995 when I started feeling very tired, losing weight without explanation and generally had no energy, I knew something was wrong.
“I went to the GP for tests but nothing showed up initially. Then I realised that I had cuts that weren’t healing so further investigations were needed.”
Despite not finding anything amiss, Sean’s doctor was keeping an eye on him so when he began to pass blood, he was transferred to hospital immediately.
“We had been pursuing my declining health for months when I had a show of blood,” he recalls. “That was really alarming and my doctor referred me straight away to a surgeon who did a colonoscopy which revealed I had bowel cancer.
“The diagnosis was utterly devastating because although I knew there was something wrong, I was fairly confident that it wasn’t too serious. And in those days being told you had bowel cancer was not a good thing as the prognosis wasn’t very encouraging.
“I said to the surgeon that I was sure it was ‘curtains’ for me, but he told me that we should just wait and see as it wasn’t necessarily the case.”
Luckily for the former teacher, his operation was a success, and although it took a long while to rebuild his life, the support of family and friends helped him to get through it.
“The bowel section involved major surgery but it went well and I went on to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy afterwards,” he says. “I was extremely exhausted by the treatment and actually suffered from fatigue and mental confusion for several years afterwards — so much so that I had to give up my job as a teacher as I wasn’t ‘match-fit’ to be able to cope with it all.
“Recovering from cancer is a little like walking away from a mine — you don’t know if you are over the worst or if it will go off at any time in the future. Some people turn to prayer or faith healing but, luckily for me, I had my family to rely on.
“Maureen was very strong and positive throughout the whole thing and did everything she could to support me.
My four daughters and two sons were also wonderful and gave me the strength to carry on. And I also had great support locally — I’m sure I have a snappy manner at times but everyone I met was rooting for me so that really helped me along.”
Although his recovery took many years, Sean believes he is lucky to be alive and says other men should realise that their lives could be saved by early medical intervention.
“When we are young, us men think we are going to change the world, but what we learn over time is that the big things in life just happen anyway,” he says. “We grow up with a macho approach which ironically proves to be our weakness as we think we are immune to things until it is too late.
“If I hadn’t acted swiftly when I became concerned about my health, there is no doubt about it but I wouldn’t be here today. So I would encourage all men to have a look at their lifestyle and their health and if there is anything they are worried about, make an appointment with the doctor straight away.
“And it is important to add that if they are not happy with the speed in which they are being investigated, they should do whatever it takes to quicken up the process.”
“At the end of the day, your health is the most important thing you have — so many people take it for granted but without it, they will be on the way out.”
On average, men die four and a half years younger than women do.
* Males have high death rates than women for all the leading causes of death.
* Poor lifestyles are responsible for a high proportion of chronic diseases amongst men.
* Late presentation to health services leads to a large number of problems becoming untreatable.
* The most common reasons for poor health in men include obesity, lack of exercise, poor diet, too much alcohol, smoking, mental health issues, lack of protection from harmful rays of the sun, too much screen time.
1. Be weight and waist line aware
2. Stay physically active
3. Cut down on portion sizes
4. Reduce alcohol consumption
5. Stop smoking
6. Eat less meat and more vegetables
7. Find an enjoyable interest to contrast work life.
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