Hello again. I'm Steven Daniel from Chicago and I'm on a seven-year prostate cancer journey. Three years ago, I was part of this event in recording patient voices for the Prostate Cancer Foundation here in Chicago during ASCO. I'm back again today to give an update on my continuing journey. The initial treatment I was on was becoming less and less effective, and Dr. Hussain from Northwestern always encouraged me to participate in a drug trial that she was authoring. And so we started on a path using olaparib, and I was on that trial for approximately three years. At the end, the drug, that trial was highly effective for me. It was very, very successful in the treating of my prostate cancer, which I should point out did metastasize to my spinal column initially. So when I was originally diagnosed, I was already at stage four. The drug trial was extremely successful.

Dr. Hussain presented the results at a big convention, a big conference. And since that time, that drug has now been approved for prostate cancer patients that were resistant or non-resistant to surgery, non-surgical prostate cancer patients. I continue. The study ended obviously, and we needed a new course of action. So I'm now on that drug, which is now called LYNPARZA, and additionally we've added prednisone and ZYTIGA for managing my prostate cancer. Once the drug trial was successful, we knew that we were going to have to adapt because my PSA started to rise again. And so this is why we're on this new course of action, which currently is working extremely, what's working really, really well, which I'm grateful for. So I do find that there's certain activities I tend to be a little cautious about because I'm not sure how I'm going to feel or what's going to happen after that.

There's been events. We were at Universal Studios in Orlando, and we were going to go on the Harry Potter ride. And it's the ride where you feel like you're flying. You're in this thing and it feels like you're flying through the air. You can walk through the whole thing. You're walking through Harry Potter land or whatever and all these cool things. And then you get up to the ride and you cannot get on the ride, if you don't want to. And people said you're going to get, a lot of people get nauseous when they get off the ride. It's going to move you around or whatever. And I tend to be cautious because it's in my skeletal structure. So I am on a bone strengthening, I get injection every three months. It's chilled, it's in a chiller, it's like a refrigerator or whatever. What's funny about it, what I find funny about it is that I call it my belly shot because it has to be in an area where there's fatty tissue.

That's where most of mine is. So you get this injection in your stomach, in your belly. And because the medication you're on weakens your bone structure, and so they need to counteract that with this injection that helps strengthen your bones and make sure you're maintaining your structure. And I realized it's difficult for me. I can't lift a 100 pound box. I can lift stuff. I usually limit it to 30, maybe 50 pounds or whatever. And sometimes somebody will ask me to help them pick up something and I'm just like, "I can't." It's not that I don't want to, it's that I'm not able to. So you're on a series of drugs that are benefiting you, but it also has a side effect. So you have to have something else to help keep your bones strong. And I'm on that. And I'm doing well, but I realize that I have to be cautious about, I can't go downhill skiing.

I did sell my rollerblades. My MBA career is probably over. I could still swing a bat. I did do axe throwing. I did that recently. That was fun. But yeah, I know that there's, I do have limitations. I'm aware of those and I have to make smart choices that impact me specifically. I continue to see Dr. Hussain. I am a regular visitor to Northwestern Hospital. I know everybody in the CT and bone scan departments. And I think they must have gallons of my blood from all my blood tests. But I'm getting excellent care there and have responded well to treatment. I will say that when I was originally diagnosed and it had already metastasized, Dr. Hussain and Brenda Martone, my nurse practitioner, were completely honest with me and said, "Once it spreads or once you're a stage four and you go through radiation and chemotherapy and you eradicate that, the likelihood of your cancer coming back, the percentage was fairly high."

I always knew that I would face additional challenges, medical challenges, and would need additional treatment as I moved forward in my journey. I think with the trial I didn't have a lot of side effects, which was interesting, although occasionally I would feel nauseous. Certain foods tasted slightly different or differently and things that maybe I really like to eat no longer were tasty just because they had a different taste, which was one of the known side effects. But overall, I did very well with limited impact physically while on the trial. Since then with the combination, the three drug combination, I may be tired more often. I have less energy, so I have to force myself if something needs to be done, like clean the bathroom or wash the car or run errands or whatever. It takes more of an effort.

I have to push myself. I used to be more of a morning person and now it just takes me longer to get my day started. And then I have all this energy towards the late afternoon into the early evening. So there's been a shift that way. But probably the biggest thing has probably been fatigue or I'm tired, which you can remedy by afternoon naps. Even in my work environment, we have these quiet rooms you can go to with a recliner that, don't tell anybody at work, but I have used. I've used that room many times when I needed to. So I've been fortunate, blessed actually, that the side effects have been minimal for me and that I can continue working and doing the things that I like to do or I enjoy. I've always said this, it's essential that you have a good network of support around you.

And I had that great sense of support at work. And many people ask me, "Why didn't you take medical leave? Why didn't you retire? You should have taken time off." Even when I was going through initial chemotherapy and radiation, it's like, "Why are you at work?" But work gave you something to focus on so that you weren't always focusing on your illness, your cancer. So it's essential that you have that. And I've had that at work. So even this week, I had to update a team I'm working with because adjusting to this new series of medications, I'm tired. I don't have energy. It's impacted how much work I can get done. It's a challenge some days to get work done because I'm tired or I just don't have the energy. So I told people, this is what's going on. This is what I'm adapting to.

I had to have an x-ray even yesterday. And totally supportive. This is a team effort. If you need help, you should ask for help. And I've always made it clear at work that I would never use my illness, my cancer as an excuse to get out of something. And I also know deep down, if I could no longer do my job, I knew that that would be the time to exit gracefully. So yeah, I've got a great network of support at work from the top all the way down at work. When you go to Northwestern, when you're at Northwestern, it's a complete medical center, so everything is there. My eye doctor is there. And so I did start to see, I do have a therapist there. It was interesting because the reason to go there the first time was to, they really recommended you probably need to talk to somebody about this journey or whatever.

So the first session with her, so she said, "Why are you here?" So I just started bawling. I just really started just crying. And I found out that maybe the reason why I was there wasn't necessarily this journey, but maybe my life journey and that along the way, there are things that happen in your life or emotions that you have. I always looked at it as I put it in a trash can and kept pushing it down. And I told my therapist this, I said, "You know what? The trash can's full and I can't push anything." So a lot of things came out that weren't necessarily related to my cancer, but were contributing to my well-being about approaching it and dealing with issues. And one thing that I forgot to mention, particularly when I talked about this partner at work, I'm not afraid to talk about it.

So I do, if somebody asks or if there's an opportunity, and I've shared this at work, we have a program called Say It With Story. I tell people about it. I'm going to be out of the office this morning. I'm going to be at Northwestern. I'm getting some CT scans. I'm meeting with my oncology team. Or we're going to check my progress. So I always feel that you should talk about it because it maybe makes it not acceptable, but it takes away maybe the shame or the embarrassment about it. And I think in any cancer journey, you should talk about it and let people know what you're going through. And I try to bring it up in a way that's not threatening or that I'm not getting sympathy. I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I just want you to be aware that this is what's going on in my life, and it may be having an impact on the activity at hand.

As much as I'm optimistic and take a positive approach to all this, there are days when you want it to just be done. I don't want to go have another CT scan. I don't want to drink another chalky drink. I don't want to have that stuff injected into you while you're laying on the table that makes you feel like you're going to go to the bathroom or something. So you do want that to be over with. And initially, especially when I was on the trial, that was more regular. It started out it was every three weeks, then it went to every seven weeks because they were trying to monitor how you were doing on that drug. So now it's maybe every four months, so it's not as often. But there are, I do have moments when I just want to be done with it and want it to be over with and want it to be gone. And I have this philosophy that when you have cancer, any kind of cancer, it should just be for a limited time. Okay, Steven, you're going to get this cancer and it's going to last seven years.

At the end of seven years, you're going to be done with it. It doesn't necessarily work that way, but that's the way I think you should approach it. But yeah, there are moments, but I know it's necessary and it's great to see the test results, particularly in my scans from October to my scans in March. There was no change. There was no uptick in the dye or the contrast. So that's been very positive. What the concern after the trial and going on the new medication is that my PSA started to go up again, which we know is a signal that your testosterone is trying to produce cancer cells. So we're trying to negate the production of that and maintain and get my PSA back down, which has dropped dramatically. So you don't like to see that number go up because you know, you look in the mirror and you think, okay, the cancer's active again.

Where's it going to go? The tests are necessary, but there are moments when you just don't want to do them or have them anymore. I've always approached this as a journey or as an adventure, and I'm still doing that to this day. I keep a journal book. I was going to bring one today and forgot to bring it. I keep a journal, I call it my gratitude journal, and I try to write in as much as possible and just make a list of all the things for that day that you're thankful for, that you're grateful for. And it could be something as easy as finding a gas station with gas under $4 a gallon. Or your barista at the coffee shop. Somebody extended a kindness to you at work. You met somebody, you talked to somebody on the train. It could be anything, but you just write all those things down, big and small.

I'm thankful for my car. I'm thankful for my apartment. I'm thankful for my job. I'm thankful for individual people in my family each day. I've always approached it that if you focus on what you're grateful for every day, it really does change your mindset. Another thing that helps with your endorphins is either doing cold plunge or cold showers, which I can't do. I'm not going to sit in a tub of ice. But at the end of the shower every day I've started to rinse with really cold water. And it gets your endorphin, I'm trying to look at what are things I can do every day that's going to help my overall attitude and approach to all of this. It's also, along the way, I've met some amazing people that I wouldn't have met maybe otherwise. I have a cab driver, cab number 280 in Chicago, and I met him when I was originally going through...

I would get rides home sometimes to work if I took the train and was working late. His cab would be out front of the building and he would give a ride home. He said, "If you ever need a cab, here's my number." So we became really good friends. And oftentimes he would drive me to Northwestern. He would pick me up after work. Extreme kindness. There were times when he would drive me home for free. If I needed to go to the grocery store, he'd stop at the grocery store and shut off the meter and wait for me at the grocery store. And then I would usually buy his kids candy.

Anyhow, one day on the way home from work, he has friends that owned a restaurant. He called ahead and ordered dinner for me. So we stopped there and picked up dinner. Very kind individual. And we've stayed connected. As a matter of fact, I saw him, he picked me up last week for, I needed a cab ride. What's interesting about him in particular is that he is, I've of a Christian faith, he's Muslim. And it was really amazing because he said, "We're praying for you at mosque or when we're in prayer." He goes, "We're praying for you." And I told one of my Christian friends this story, that he was praying for me, they were praying for me, and her response was, "Well, that doesn't count because they're not praying to the real..."

I blocked her. No. Anyhow, I look at it this way. If anybody's praying for you or wishing you the best in your journey, you accept it. I'm grateful for him. I'm grateful for all the kindness that he's extended to me. I'm grateful that he thinks about me when they're at mosque or he's in prayer during the day, that he is lifting prayers for me. And I'm not sure where it's going, but I know it's having an impact. And it's interesting because when people say they're praying for you, you know that. There's a sense that you know that that's happening. And you feel, in some way, you feel that warmth or that strength when someone says, "We're praying for you." My response was, "I know you are, because I could sense that." You just have a sense that that's taking place on your behalf.

It's really interesting. Recently, I do training, talent development at work, in my job. And recently we had a big meeting taking place and it was for partners in the firm. And one of the partners emailed me and said, "I have to cancel. I won't be able to attend. I was just diagnosed with cancer and need to focus on my journey." So I reached out to him and responded and said, "I understand why you're doing that." I explained to him my cancer journey as well. And I gave him a whole list, of not a lot of list, but I gave him a whole list of things that I felt would benefit him. Seek the best treatment that you can get.

Be open. Do your research and be open to the treatment your medical team may be giving you. Look around in your life and what are the positive things in your life? What are the things that motivate you? What are the things that make you happy? What are the things that help you get up every day? Maybe you have grandchildren and they bring you a great deal of happiness. I take voice lessons. I always thought I would be a big famous singer, but I found out I'm probably not going to be, but it doesn't mean I can't try. I do. Anyhow. So keep a log, keep a gratitude journal. Even if you don't do a journal, there's all these fun things that you can do. You put 10 pennies in your pocket and when you're grateful for something during the day, you take the penny out and move it to your next pocket. And then make sure, it's essential, that you have support.

You may find that some people are going to have a hard time with this and they don't know how to deal. We've all had that struggle along the way. We find out someone's seriously ill and you don't know what to say or how to handle that. You're going to find that in your life. I found that as well. People necessarily didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to face the reality of it. But surround yourself with people who are going to support you, encourage you, love you. What about your faith? Investigating your faith and seeking others who may be able to support you through their faith, through prayer, through encouragement. And I would just say you probably have gone through challenges. I've gone through challenges in my life that I look back on now and think, okay, how did you get through that? But you do. And you don't need to look down the road.

You don't need to look what's going to happen two years from now. You really need to look at what's going to happen tomorrow or what's going to happen in one week or two weeks or three months, and be open to the adventure. Believe me, things are going to, you're going to meet people. You're going to find people who're supporting you that you would've never maybe met without going through this journey. You're going to have moments when you're down, when you're sad, when you're frustrated. Embrace those. That's okay. That's okay to have those moments. But keep your eye focused on you and your well-being and look for something. Maybe there's something you always wanted to do. Maybe you always wanted to be a bird watcher. You wanted to be a bicyclist. You wanted to go to the opera. You liked movies. Take a class. Go on a trip. Discover a new neighborhood. Find a bakery.

Is there a restaurant you wanted to go to? There's all kinds of things that I think you can do that can make your journey. Try not to always focus on what's going on here, but what maybe is going on around you. And my oncologist, Dr. Hussain, and Brenda Martone, my nurse practitioner, said all along that my results had a lot to do with my attitude about how I was approaching it. And I think that can apply to anybody who's going through any cancer journey. It continues to be an amazing journey. For the Prostate Cancer Foundation, one Saturday, they called me in 2022 on a Saturday and said, "We're doing the home run challenge with Major League Baseball. The Cubs game is tomorrow at 1:05 or something like that at Wrigley Field. They're playing the Atlanta Braves. We want to know if you'd be interested in singing during the seventh inning stretch, Take me out to the ball game."

That was on a Saturday. I was singing on Sunday. You get four seats. They had four tickets for me. And what was funny about that is you didn't have a lot of opportunity to prepare for it, so you couldn't really get nervous because it was tomorrow. And I reached out to my voice instructor and said, "I'm seeing at Wrigley Field, what should I do?" Warm up, breathe deeply, all that. But I had these seats, so I had three seats. So try to find somebody.

The next day was Father's Day, so try to find somebody who could go to a baseball game that didn't have plans with their father, didn't have plans that day or whatever. But it worked out. Two of my friends went with me from work that had been very supportive and it was great. And that experience, you're on national television. There's 40,000 people in a stadium. You are whisked upstairs. They come and get you during the sixth inning and you practice. You go and meet the organist and you practice with him. But what people don't know is the organist isn't even in the same room where you are singing, which was, I'm like, "Okay, how's that going to work?" And the minute, the second that inning is over, you're up and ready. There's no hesitation. You're on.

Short clip from Steven Daniel performing at PCF's Home Run Challenge event:

A one, a two, a three. Take me out to the ballgame. Take be out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Crack Jacks, I don't care if I never get back. For its root, root, root for the Cubbies, if they don't win it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game.

Steven Daniel:

And I just sang and I put some flair into it and some creativity, which was extremely well received. Even I got a standing ovation even from the press box. But I don't know if the organist was playing the same time I was singing, but it all worked out. It was extremely well received. My name was up on a billboard with my picture. People could watch me. I had friends in the crowd. When word got out, there were people who are already going to be at the game that were there and filmed me. What an incredible experience to do that and to represent something that's important. And the thing I'm always stressing about prostate cancer, when I talk to anybody about it is, early diagnosis is key. You can manage it. Don't be afraid. It's a simple blood test. We'll start you on your journey, your treatment process, but don't be afraid of it.

Get tested, find out, and then figure out how you're going to handle it. It was quite a privilege. One, to sing in front of all those people for a well-known baseball team and representing something that was so critical to men. And I've also said this, no offense to any other cancers or whatever, but I do think prostate cancer needs to get more promotion. So when I bought a new car, I had to get a new car a couple of years ago, and their license plate surrounds are pink because they support breast cancer. And I had them remove it because I'm thinking, "Okay, they get enough attention, I need something." And we are getting more of it. We are. And I do know that in certain national football games and major league baseball games, when they're doing tributes or calling out, it's a certain cancer month, they're including other cancers as well.

And we are starting to see a lot more presence and recognition for prostate cancer patients. There's been huge discoveries in the last 10 years in terms of medications for prostate cancer patients. And I also realize, I follow the Prostate Cancer Foundation Facebook page, and I do realize that everybody's journey is different. Some men have cancer. They have prostate cancer surgery, it's removed, and everybody's course of treatment is totally different. And everybody's impact and how they deal with it is different. I'm simply trying to be a positive influence. Look at all the things you still can be thankful for, even though you're going through this journey. There's a lot to be thankful for. You probably have faced challenges in your life before this. You got through them. You can get through this one as well. In 2021, there's a cancer survivors and support walk during ASCO.

It's a 5K race along the lakefront. It's beautiful. And in 2021, I participated in that, signed up, created a team. So I had family and friends travel from all over, from Ohio, Massachusetts, California that came in. Indiana, I hope I'm not forgetting a state. Anyhow, that came in and we had a huge team and we all had bracelets. My niece, my niece, Brooklyn, made bracelets for everybody. Mine I think is going to probably fall off eventually. And not to brag, but I was the top fundraiser that year. I raised over $10,000 which led to a whole another series of activities. I was a guest at White Sox Park. I was on the field during a White Sox game. So not to digress, but that was another positive thing came out of that. It was amazing. I had coworkers and I had friends all came and were part of my team and were there, and it was a beautiful day.

But what was overwhelming, if you were a cancer patient, a cancer survivor, your T-shirt was purple. If you were a cancer, if you were a patient supporter, part of the support structure, your shirts were white. And so there's hundreds of people there, some in purple shirts, some in white shirts. And it's amazing to see all the support all these people were getting. All of the white shirts, including my family. We did have special shirts made up for my family. My team was called Vivian's Son, Vivian was my mother. She died at an early age of breast cancer when I was 13. So for that race, we made it about her and our shirts had a picture of my mom on the front of it. I was interviewed on television representing the race and our cancer journeys. That was amazing because the purple shirts represented all cancer patients.

So when you looked around, you knew that each person was going through their own journey and their own cancer challenge. And even at Northwestern, when I was going through radiation and you were in the waiting room, you would talk to other people that were there for radiation, for all kinds of different things other than yours. But that was an amazing experience. We're going to do it again next year. We're going to try to do it this year, but it just didn't work out. There was a lot of stuff going on. So we're going to do it next year. Recently in February, I had a niece whom I love dearly passed away in February. She was in her early 40s, and she had breast and liver cancer. And so next year when we do the race, our tribute is going to be to my niece, Erin.

And so we'll do that race again next year. And it's always held during ASCO. So it's always a huge, huge, huge event sponsored by Northwestern Hospital. But it's amazing to be there and to see all the support everybody's getting, but all the people who are going through a cancer journey along with you. It's been seven years. And if I looked at it, if I thought about it in 2017 when I was diagnosed, what was that journey going to be like?

I never thought about seven years from now, but here it is. And you learn in life, as you go along, you learn to constantly surround yourself with people who care for you and want to be around you and want to participate in activities with you. And so I would describe it as amazing because I think about all the things that have taken place from our first interview to this interview and all those experiences that have happened in those years. It's amazing. And I just wonder what amazing things are going to happen next month, next week, next year. And who knows where, I'm still on a journey. I'm still on an adventure, and who knows where that's going to lead me. But I would say overall, I'm amazed to be here where I am today.