Thank you!!!

I want to thank all my co-workers and all those that I work with on a daily basis for taking up my slack while I was out.?? While I still have a long road ahead to fully recover, I feel strong enough to get back in the saddle. Thanks to all those that reached out to to check on me! Matt Parker , Vatsal Gupta , Thrilok Abhishek (GT), Amy Ingram , Stephanie Safi , Tore Wick , Meenakshi Katyal , Natalie Marshall and numerous others. There were some hard days and you lifted my spirits!

I would be woefully negligent if I did not thank my bed-side angel, Rhiannon Adams , for taking care of me and for being the strength I needed to get through the dark days after surgery. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for being the best mom and wife a husband could ask for.

I really hadn't gone public with this prior to this post, but I feel like I need to share my story as it may help some others, or possibly save someone's life.? My journey started a little over two years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.?? Much like everyone that is told the have a disease, I was in shock, pissed off, sad and scared all at the same time.

The biopsy came back with a Gleason score of 6.? Which, if you have prostate cancer, is the best news you can have.? My urologist told me that he knows men that have lived with a Gleason score of 6 for ten years or more before they need to do anything about it.? My plan, with my urologist, was to keep an eye on the cancer with "Active Surveillance".?? We were to do blood work every six months to check my Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) score, do an MRI every 12 months to check for any tumor growth, and a biopsy every 24 months if needed.

The first year went as planned, and everything stayed the same… no changes. Fast forward to late May of 2023 and my PSA score started to rise. Still nothing to really concern ourselves about.?? But, in November of 2023 my PSA score rose even higher and the yearly MRI showed a new tumor in my prostate.? A subsequent biopsy came back with more aggressive cancer cells and a Gleason score of 7.?? It was time to do something about the cancer. I had a few options: Several choices of some form of radiation or a da Vinci robot guided radical prostatectomy.? I chose the surgery over radiation for a number of reasons.

If you look up the surgery online you may find some description as, "a minimally invasive surgical procedure that removes the prostate, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens to treat prostate cancer". Let me tell you right now, while they may make five minimally invasive cuts in the abdomen to cut out your prostate, it's anything but.?? When I read the description of the surgery, I thought I could have the surgery?on a Thursday and be back to work within a few weeks.? That was not the case, and thank God that a few people came into my life to talk me off that ledge. Thanks Thomas Orberger for the encouragement!

I am so thankful to work for an amazing company, like Publicis Sapient , that encouraged and allowed? me to take?proper time I needed to recover both physically and mentally. We have an amazing 'working with cancer' program that allows those affected by this horrible disease to focus on their health and their family in the worst of times. Leah Cathers has been wonderful through all this.

With that, I want to offer up my support and knowledge on this subject to anyone that is starting on this journey.? I remember back to when I was first diagnosed. I had a lot of questions, concerns and fears and meeting folks that had gone through the same procedure was a godsend for me and I want to be able to be there for others.

And fellas… DO NOT hesitate to have your prostate checked! DO NOT hesitate to get your PSA score tested during your yearly physical.? Prostate cancer does not know age.? It's not an "old man" disease.? 1 in 7 men will get prostate cancer. And, if you catch it early, like I was able to do, you can beat it!

All the best… John