Prostate cancer survivor: “God gave me the opportunity to live because I have some tasks to solve”

This Sunday, November 19, International Men’s Day is celebrated and that is why we want to tell you the story of Don Fernando Ruiz, who, even at the age of almost 77, lives an extraordinary life.

Don Fernando overcame prostate cancer 21 years ago and today he loves sharing his life story with other men, so they can understand the need to take care of their health.

Ruiz is a chemist by profession and, although retired, he continues to advise on painting, which remained his specialty throughout his life. In addition, he loves spending time with his family and is a loyal baseball fan, although the team he loves, the New York Yankees, has not brought him any joy in the Major League for some time.

Don Fernando, who lives in La Guasima de Alajuela, spoke very kindly with La Teja and told us his story. This gentleman, a real oak, is the father of José Pablo, Luis Fernando and Daniel Alberto and the proud grandfather of Sofia, Emilio and Catalina.

Don Fernando’s father of the same name died of prostate cancer on 25 February 2001. According to his son, the disease resurfaced after 15 years.

“When dad died, I met Marco Antonio Venegas, a classmate with whom I was very close friends. He was a urologist, he was with me at the funeral and he told me that due to heredity I had to get myself checked every six months. At that time I was 55 years old.

“To be honest, I had not gotten tested before because there were not awareness campaigns like there are now, there was not as much interest in prevention and I was aware of the disease, but I was a very healthy person and that’s why I Didn’t get tested. I had surgery for appendicitis when I was 16 and I rarely went for tests,” he said.

Read more: Pay the seal of 2024 or give a Christmas gift to the family? Experts help you achieve both

Last year, 454 men died of this cancer.

Ruiz began his testing six months after his father’s death and every time he took a prostate antigen test, his results changed. They were treating him for possible prostatitis, but each time the percentage of antigen increased and it was time to undergo multiple biopsies.

“One of them came back positive and it was only because of God that my cancer was detected on time. Of course I was surprised when I got the news, but I hoped it wouldn’t be that shocking and when I got the news, two people helped me make an important decision in my life.

“My wife Rosa Maria was a stronghold, because at that time I was working. During one of the many visits, in the southern region, my wife called me on September 5 and told me that Dr. Marco had informed her about my health and that I had to take a decision,” he said.

Dr. Venegas offered his friend and patient the possibility of undergoing cancer surgery all at once or waiting a year for surgery. A week later, he had surgery at the Calderón Guardia Hospital.

Read more: Pay the seal of 2024 or give a Christmas gift to the family? Experts help you achieve both

Don Fernando assures that he did not think much about it, because, coincidentally, the day before he had dreamed about his father.

“This was the first time after his demise that I dreamed about him. He came in front of me and said: ‘Mijito, are you ready?’ I replied: ‘Yes dad, why?’ He replied: ‘I am also ready.’ A few hours later my wife called me and this was where I needed to make a decision: it was cancer or me and here I am telling her the story,” he highlights.

The surgery was completed without any interruptions and according to this cancer survivor, in one of the biopsies they were able to remove the tumor, because it was very small in size, as he told them a few days later, in some cases In France with information related to. ,

After the operation, Don Fernando remained in bed for a full month and then another month with little movement. Due to the size of the tumor he did not receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Currently, Don Fernando takes care of himself by walking every day, eating healthy, and working out. He was discharged five years after the surgery.

“I am sure that God has given me the opportunity to live because I have some tasks to solve.

“At the moment I continue to practice my profession, giving assistance to some needy relatives and from time to time they call me for consultation or because they need support from me in the field of painting.

Read more: Costa Rican put aside his desire to become a police officer to star in a beautiful love story

“I love to dance, I listen to salsa and dance and I try to talk to my kids a lot. He said, laughing, “God is so kind that he repays me for doing with my grandchildren what I could not do as a father.”

This champion believes that nowadays men take more care of their health.

“This paradigm of not having tests to help detect prostate cancer has changed and men choose between the shame of not getting tested and the right to survive. I think this feeling of gender discrimination should end,” he said.