ORANGE COUNTY, Fla \u2013 Five months ago, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings was running for governor. Then a routine blood test changed everything.<\/p>\n
Demings, who suspended his gubernatorial campaign in June after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, now says he is cancer-free following surgery in late July. The Mayor sat down with News 6 Anchor Matt Austin to urge other men not to skip the screening.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the surgery on July 28th, and here we are today, cancer-free, caught it early,\u201d Demings told News 6. \u201cFor many of the men that I talked to, some of them were not so lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n
Demings received his diagnosis on June 1. Four days later, immediately after delivering his final State of the County address, he told the public and announced he was stepping away from the race for Florida governor to focus on treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a decision to suspend my race for governor and get treated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What makes his case notable, his doctors say, is that he had no symptoms at all. The only red flag was a number.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther than the numbers going up, I did not have any symptoms that I could identify as having a problem,\u201d Demings said. \u201cIt really was the numbers.\u201d Those numbers \u2014 his prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, levels \u2014 were being tracked because Demings gets screened regularly, according to Dr. Vipul Patel, the surgeon who treated him in Celebration<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he takes good care of his health, he was being screened regularly, and that\u2019s what led to the early diagnosis, and that\u2019s what led to him having a very good outcome,\u201d Patel said. <\/p>\n
But Patel warns many men no longer get that screening. He points to a 2012 change in federal guidelines that pulled the PSA blood test from routine recommendations. \u201cThere are many men who don\u2019t get screened, because even though it\u2019s still the second leading cause of cancer death, it\u2019s not part of normal screening,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n
The doctor\u2019s message is blunt: early detection is nearly everything. <\/p>\n
\u201cProstate cancer found early is highly curable, in the high 90s,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThe key is to really get screened.\u201d Demings echoed that, noting men too often avoid the doctor\u2019s office altogether. \u201cThe cautionary tale that I say to men is go to the doctors, because oftentimes men won\u2019t go to a doctor at the same frequency that women go to doctors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As for whether the mayor could return to the political arena \u2014 perhaps another run for governor down the road \u2014 Patel didn\u2019t hesitate when asked if Demings would be healthy enough. \u201cHe\u2019s already healthy,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n
Demings, who is term-limited and finishing out his time as mayor, stopped short of ruling out a political future but made clear he isn\u2019t retiring quietly. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to be of service. This is my home \u2014 I was born and raised here, so I will continue to find an opportunity to continue serving our community,\u201d he said. \u201cIt may not be in an elected role or any of those things, but giving back to the community by volunteering or being of service. So you\u2019ll continue to see me around.\u201d<\/p>\n
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