Prostate Cancer

A little over a year ago Rich Patterson went in for a regular physical.

A routine blood test showed he had signs of cancer.

Just a day before his surgery, Rich Patterson is hard at work at the Indian Creek Nature Center.

"The irony of it is I feel just fine, I have no symptoms, I walked to work today and no one would ever know that this was there." No one, but his doctor.

Patterson says a blood test showed he has an elevated prostate specific antigen.

"It's stealth disease, you don't know you have it until it's kind of advanced and that's why it's important to have the physicals and have the blood tests early on." A biopsy confirmed Patterson's cancer.

Patterson opted to have it removed.

Doctor Jonathan Rippentrop with the Physicians Clinic of Iowa will use the Da Vinci Surgical System to remove Patterson's prostate gland.

"We're using the robotic system to do this in a minimally invasive fashion." Rippentrop says men over 40 with a history of All men should get tested annually when they turn 50.

"The goal with He'll only have to be in the hospital for a day after the surgery.

He hopes his story will encourage more men to get tested every year.

We'll follow along as Rich Patterson reco...

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