
The actor describes the experience as highly surreal
Ben Stiller – who was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago – is now in healthy conditions and proud to say this is a thing of the past. However, he admits the painful diagnosis was undoubtedly a surreal experience.
He told Matt Lauer on Today: “It’s surreal. It wasn’t something I was thinking about. It wasn’t on my radar at all. If it wasn’t for this test [a PSA test], I don’t think I would have had as easy a course of treatment or prognosis that I did have.
If it was up to me, I would say every guy should get tested after the age of 40, 45, especially if you have a family history. If I hadn’t taken this test, I wouldn’t have known.”
Ben ultimately removed his prostate through an operation, and while he knew about the side effects beforehand, the actor feels this was the best decision.
He explained: “When you’re confronted with the question of, ‘Hey, do you want to live, or do you want to make sure your sex life is the best it can be?,’ I opted for wanting to see what happens, and luckily everything’s cool.”
And much like other patients, the 50-year-old actor admitted the disease came rather abruptly.
“It came out of the blue for me. I had no idea. At first, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was scared. It just stopped everything in your life because you can’t plan for a movie because you don’t know what’s going to happen.
I wanted to talk about it because of the [PSA] test … I feel like the test saved my life. It’s the second most deadly cancer, but it’s about one of the most curable,” he added.
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