The bar has been raised

I am very pleased to tell you that with our total to date of $4,800 we have now passed last year's total of $4,681.
Many thanks to latest sponsors:
Cathy Boyd
Susana Weiss
John Cariati

Dare we hope to exceed $5,000?

You should know that while Canada still leads the world in donations with $17,135,105, Australia with $16,829,061, is doing an amazing catch-up. The difference is now a mere $306,044.

Although tomorrow, 30 Movember, is the last official day of the mo growing month of Movember and a lot of the moustaches will be gone on Wednesday, we will continue accepting donations for a few days into December. We will also have a wrap-up photo gallery of the out-going Team of 2010.

Latest Mug Shots

Ryan Sim - Kristin can't wait

James Demarco - Enforcer

Inching Closer to Last Year's Figure

Yes! Yes! With $4,549 we have passed $4,500.00
Thank you to our latest sponsors:
May and Adrian Van Mil
Dave and Alicia Burry
Kevin Timmins
Michael Murray
MMM Consulting Structures Team (Kel's brownie fundraiser)
Lucian Acatrinei
Miriam McCann
Gord Heath
Kristin Sim

Our next target is to pass $4,681.00 and beat our last year's total.

Some Reminiscing

I was looking back to our first year of Movember (four years ago) and found this contribution made by our son Stephen who was at Queen's at the time, wondering what his family was going to look like when he got home. He had NEVER seen me without a beard. Our team at the time was the MoCann Terriers. Click on the link to see the YouTube video.
Let Me See That Mo

Mo'stache Styles
Mo Bro Greg Forbes tried these various styles. I hope his wife liked them...

Greg Forbes - Long Mo

Greg Forbes - Wide Mo

Greg Forbes - Double Mo

Deliciously Close to $4,000.00

We are on the brink of four thousand dollars. Maybe tomorrow? I am still hoping to break $5,000.00 and so beat our last year figure of $4,681.00.

Terry McCann, Patrick Ford

As always, thanks to our latest sponsors:
Matt Penfold
Luis E Magalhaes
Ingrid McCann

Remember, Prostate Cancer Canada (www.prostatecancer.ca) uses the Movember funds for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.

Thank You to the Ladies

I lifted this from the Movember Canada site. I couldn't say it better.
As the age old adage goes, behind every great man, there is often a great woman; and this has absolutely proved to be the case during Movember 2010. As such, we wanted to put a shout out to all of the Mo Sistas who have helped us achieve another record breaking year. Although focussed on men’s health we wouldn’t have had the success we’ve had without women supporting and encouraging the men in their lives to get involved – whether it be a friend, brother, uncle, boyfriend or husband. For some guys, all they need is the go-ahead from their better half and they’re off, but for others a little more encouragement or organizational input is needed with fundraising and end of month celebrations.


So, for all of you who’ve put up with a Movember Mo and all the itchiness that goes with it – thank you. Your support is truly appreciated and absolutely going towards changing the face of men’s health.

Movember Motivation

New to our Sponsors "On-a-roll":
Philip Sager
Renee Tseng
Thank you for your sponsorship.

Why We Do This

Greg Weinstein

Wayne Hudson made me aware of the Movember GE Network that I joined yesterday. The person who started that Movember network is an Australian by the name of Greg Weinstein. I had a look at Greg's Movember blog page. He has so far raised the Canadian equivalent of $1,828 and his team of GE employees, GE MOlunteers, have so far raised $8,108. Greg's motivation is rather inspiring.
"Four years ago I lost a good friend to testicular cancer. Last year another friend was diagnosed but early enough and he beat it! Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18-39 and is highly curable when found early and treated promptly. I've been Mo'ing for 6 years because getting men thinking and talking about health ultimately saves lives!"

So, I thought it is time to share my own motivation which you can also read on my Movember blog page.
"I have a small, slow growing cancer of the prostate which has spawned a desire for a cure and sparked my awareness of the need for men to be better informed about prostate cancer."

Photo Gallery

James "The Enforcer" Demarco

Jonathan Sam - Dr Mo

Wayne Hudson - Serious "Trucker"

Let's try again

The Power of Small

Thank you very much to our latest sponsors:
Katy McLachlan
Jerry Chan
Suzanne and Andrew Boyd
Damian Barrett
Linda Crawford
Judith McCann

Looking for the names of our donors to put on the "on-a-roll" I cannot help noticing that a large number, possibly a majority, of the donations fall between $10 and $25. It set me to thinking that we often underestimate the power of small. We may think that our donation is puny next to that of the benefactor who has donated $500 or $1000. Imagine if none of the people who donated $25 or less had donated, each thinking that their contribution was not worth the effort. What a huge loss that would be. So to each one of you, thank you. Your donation really does count.

Health Watch

This morning health shake may or may not help, but it won't hurt. I can't say I've tried it. I'll let the nutritionists comment.
Movember - Health and cooking tips to fight cancer


Photo Gallery
There is a problem with the blogger image upload tool. I will try again tomorrow.

Four Days - Twenty-five Donations

In the space of just four days we have raised almost another thousand dollars. As always, we must express appreciation to our sponsors. If by some oversight I have omitted any names from the Sponsors On-A-Roll, please accept my apologies.


Jennifer Druker
Badrinath Narayan
Peggy Yin
Bahar Torabi
Sylvia Wu
Leah Solomon
Joan Fraser
Iris Murray
Lucia Ma
Kelly Luu
Sarah Demarco
Jay Brandao
Guy Allan
Bob Dougherty
Jennifer Viger
Heather Dakin
Daniel Doll
John Joseph
Mahir Basheer
Kris Simpson
Tony Gerace
Jonathan Sam
Joel Neufeld
Rory Sim
Allanagh Latimer

Canada: From Strength to Strength

I continue to be amazed at how Movember has taken off in Canada. Australia, with a population of around 22 million, leads on registrations at 126,099. (Well done, Australia!) Canada (pop 34 million) follows on registrations with 114,698 beating out the UK and the USA. But on amount raised Canada has maintained a commanding lead with $12,091,571 at time of this posting. That's right. Over twelve million dollars will be going to Prostate Cancer Canada for funding cancer research and promoting men's health education and awareness. To see the full list of countries click here or on "How's Canada doing?" in the side bar.

Photo Gallery

Al Minnick

Tom Sagar - Setting us free

Mark McCann, Peter Righton, Terry McCann

Luisa, Mark, Vikki, Peter, Terry, Ingrid

Day 16 - We Have Platinum

As you can see our team total as I write is $2,495.00. Grateful thanks to our latest sponsors:
Quynh Doan
Kitty Ching
Elaine She
Peter Borst
Dagmar Wong


Updates on Mo Growth

Another Guess Who?

Wayne Hudson - That trucker's looking good now

Michael Kirkland - That web cam does not do you justice.

Bob Arpin - Another trucker starting to look good.

Doctor Mo - Platinum Citizen of Movember

Movember Platinum Class Citizenship is awarded to any Mo Bro or Mo Sista who receives sponsorships of $1,000.00 or more. I am extremely pleased to tell you that rookie Jonathan Sam who, by the way, is our Mystery Mo Grower pictured in the last post, has now raised $1,150.00 which makes him a Platinum class Movember Citizen. Well done, Jon.

Jonathan or should I say, Doctor Sam, as he is known to the children at BC Kids, copied me on a "Half-way Movember Update!" email that he sent to his friends and supporters. Here is an extract. I believe it really captures the spirit of Movember.

Thank you so much for everyone’s overwhelming support!  


I can’t believe the progress that we’ve already made and it’s only half-way through Movember.  We’re currently sitting at $995 and on the verge of reaching the $1000 goal.  

Dr Mo - Jonathan Sam

The mo’s been tremendous at generating discussion about prostate cancer at work and with friends.  I know only half of you have prostates, but prostate cancer is COMMON.  Unfortunately, men have a tendency to neglect and not discuss their health problems.  Movember changes all that by publicly acknowledging that it is a concern, supporting men who are struggling with prostate cancer, reminding the rest to discuss these issues with their docs, and raising funds for research as well.


A very sincere thank you for being a part of the solution,
Jonathan Sam

Two Thousand and Counting

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, our band of courageous stalwarts has now raised over two thousand dollars for Prostate Cancer Canada to fund research into a cure for prostate cancer and for promoting awareness of men's health issues. Our latest sponsors who took us past the $2,000.00 mark:
Mia Pradinuk
Elisa Chiu
Viola Yee
Steve Brake
Robert Beatty
Glen Thomas


More Mo's

Terry and Kevin

I asked the team to send me photos that we could zoom in on and examine the state of our mo's up close and personal. One of our number went above and beyond the call of duty. See if you can guess who this is. I'll give you the answer in my next post. Don't forget to zoom in all the way. No liability for nightmares or traumatic memories accepted.

Mo' scary than hairy. Guess who?

More Mo Growth to Sponsor

Many thanks to our latest sponsors as we inch toward $2,000. Is it possible we hit that tomorrow?

Mark McCann
John Omura
David Patton

Two week old 'Stashes

Tom Sagar - Valiant Mo

Al Minnick - Mop 'n Mo

Terry McCann, Ryan Sim, Mark McCann and Mo Sista's

Time for some more health talk

Appreciative thanks to our latest sponsors:
Amy Haight
Nadia Roumeliotis
Ross Petty
Tina Meones
Greg / Margaret Landry
Luisa Magalhaes

We are less then $300 away from $2,000.00 - but still way short of where we would like to be. Please tell your friends about Movember and give them the link to this blog. Any amount, however small, is appreciated. It all adds up.



PSA testing
The more you search on the web the more debate you find around the  relative value of PSA testing and the pros and cons of PSA testing. PSA stands for prostate specific antigen: a protein manufactured exclusively by the prostate gland; elevated levels of PSA in blood serum are associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer.
(wordnetweb,  Princeton University)


In 2009 the American Urological Association (AUA) made a statement recommending that physicians start offering the test to men at age 40. After a baseline measurement, subsequent PSA testing should be individualized to a man's risk profile.
(AUA: Urologists Support Baseline PSA Test at Age 40)

The bottom line is, if you are a man aged 40 or older and have never had a PSA test, now is the time to speak to your GP about the value of having a baseline PSA test.

Mo Bros Growing Mo's

Wayne Hudson - trucker mo is back

Jonathan Sam - Chinese Mexican?

Lest We Forget

I am republishing my post from last year's Memorial Day. I cannot do better than what I did last year which really expresses my own emotions and feelings at this time. The only difference is that this year I have become more aware of those who were not killed, but were seriously wounded in action and whose lives can no longer ever be "normal."

In 2008, I think it was, Ingrid and I were driving east on the 401 on a Friday afternoon, on our way to Ottawa, along the section known as the Highway of Heroes at a time when one of the soldiers from the Canadian Armed Forces was being "brought home." The scene was exactly as described in this YouTube video. As we passed under one of the bridges we could see the motorcade approaching from the east and I looked at the blocked-off on-ramp on the other side of the road and saw a dozen or so very, very elderly veterans standing to attention and saluting this young soldier, I think he was just 21, who had given his life in Afghanistan. I choked up. They knew. They understood. Even after fifty years they will never forget. Nor must we.

I decided that, beautiful as it is, I would not use John McCrae's In Flanders Fields this year but rather Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est. It has rather a shocking ending that reminds you what war really is. A Five-Nine referred to a German 5.9 inch artillery shell in World War 1.

Dulce et Decorum Est

Wilfrid Owen (1917)

Bent double, like of old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind: Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!- An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime… Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in sonic smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,- My friend, you would not talk with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

And then there were fourteen

Appreciation and thanks to our latest sponsors:
Simone Rousseau
Natasha Reiche
Francine Ling
Justin Khetani
Oreste Apolito
Murray Fitzgerald
Blanca Myers
Andy and Natasha Mason

Some New Team Members

I am pleased to tell you that we have not one but two new additions to this year's team bringing our team total to 14 members:

Mark McCann

My son, Mark McCann who has has been on our team before and then went on to form his own team last year. Various pressures have prevented him from organising a team this year. Welcome to the Mo Stashed Hairiers, Mark.

Ryan Sim

Mark's friend, Ryan Sim. Thanks for joining up and growing a mo for The Cause, Ryan.  Ryan, Mark and Jonathan Sam are old friends from student days.






Some Pics of Mo Progress

Here are some of the latest photos of your heroes.

Wayne Hudson - Coffee Mo

Michael Kirkland

Jonathan Sam - Tiger Mo

Peter Righton - Maple Mo

Whirly Mo

Yesterday I brought you an airliner mo from Kulula. Today Movember Canada found another aircraft with a moustache - this time a military helicopter.

Movember 2010 - One week down, Three to go

To our latest sponsors, thank you, thank you, thank you:
Chris Sager
Christa Wilcock
Andrew Mason
Sam, Marcus & Laura Kirkland
Maddy Heyd


I have a few mo's to share with you - off to a sputtering start after just one week.

Bob Arpin - Day 8

Kevin Timmins - Day 8

Mo Capt. Terry - Day 7

Tom Sager - Day 4. Don't even ask.

Kulula and Movember

The best has to be this one from Kulula. South African airline Kulula has partnered with Movember. To show their support they have designed one of their planes in a way we can't even begin to find the words to describe.


Canada Leads the World

At this point in time Canada has more money in donations than any other country ($5,906,837) and has the second highest number of registrations behind Australia (95,413). The individual in Canada with the highest amount raised thus far ($41,710) is Rick McCreary of CIBC fame. His team, CIBC Mo'sale Banking, has raised $134,423 so far. The good news is that we are all the winners, but most especially men's health and Prostate Cancer Canada.

Mo Stashed Hairiers Break First Ton for Movember 2010

Let off the fireworks - today our Movember sponsorship exceeded a thousand dollars. Congratulations all round. Let us acknowledge and thank our latest sponsors:
Aisling O'Gorman
Darryl Sam
Johnny Rodgers
Helen Xu
Jodi Vezina
Patrick Ford
Wayne Hargrave


The James Demarco Secret Technique Revealed.

James 5 Nov 2008

I present to you my take on an interaction between Jimmy and a "targeted" sponsor. I cannot imagine how else he does it. I would love to be a fly on the wall to be able to learn from The Master while he performs his magical artistry.

 

James: Hey Franco, good buddy. What's going on?

Franco: Hey Jimmie! What's wrong with your face? Oh! Are you growing a stash?

James: Sure am, Franco. Actually it's a special mo-stash.

Franco: Special? Why's it special, Jimbo?

James: It makes money. heh-heh-heh

Franco: Yeah, right!

James: Franco, haven't you heard of Movember? Where have you been for the last four years?

Franco: Oh wait. Is that the thing with George Parros? But he shaved his mustash off, didn't he?

James: Right. And lots of people are going to pay him lots of money to grow it back again. Same with me.

Franco: Say what?

James: During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I'm growing a Moustache to raise money for Prostate Cancer. That's right - I'm bringing the "Mo" back because I'm passionate about tackling the fight against prostate cancer and being proactive to men's health issues. If you can find it in your heart to donate anything at all - $1,5,10, 20. THANK YOU !!! I'll take it.

Franco: Well I don't know. So what do you do with the money, Jimmie?

James: We give it to Prostate Cancer Canada. They give it to medical scientists to find a cure for prostate cancer.

Franco: Well, that's nice Jimmie, but I don't think so.

James: Say what?

Franco: I need to think about it, Jimmie.

James: You didn't hear me, Franco. It's not about thinking, it's about the heart. If you can find it in your heart to donate anything at all - $1,5,10, 20. THANK YOU !!! I'll take it.

Franco: Well, maybe...

James: So I'll put you down for $34?

Franco: Huh?

James: One plus five plus ten plus twenty. That's $34.

Franco: Thirty-six.

James: Even better. Why don't we just make it a round fifty?

Franco: Around fifty?

James: You're a good man, Franco. Your mother always said you had a big heart. You carry on serving that customer, I'll just take it out the till and send you a tax receipt.

Franco: Mumble, grumble.

James: Ciao.

(Sotto voce: I told you it makes money. heh-heh-heh)

Why Are We Doing This?

Before answering the question I must give Janet Sam a big thank you  for your very generous donation.

...and now I want to republish a blog posting from previous Movembers. It is an extract from an email sent to me by Peter, an old friend of mine in South Africa. He sent it to me in November, 2007. I publish it with his permission.

...about my own brush with prostate cancer.  I was diagnosed with it in February this year, although suspected since August 2006, but that was just before my by-pass (I sent you an email about that), so prostate surgery was not appropriate right then.  I had the prostatectomy in May, so am now 6 months over it.  The immediate post-surgery time was not nice - all the stuff surrounding 3 weeks of catheter and then the subsequent incontinence was really traumatic.  There was a guy at work who had gone through it all a few years back and he was a great encouragement to me.  It is all looking OK now (my two PSA readings since the surgery have been 0.06 and 0.09 - which is essentially "undetectable", and I hope it stays down there in the less than 0.1 area), but during the first month or so after the catheter came out (which itself was 3 weeks after the surgery), I was quite desparate about ever coming right.  If you have to go the surgery route, let me know and maybe I will be able to provide a long-distance shoulder to cry on.

In a follow-up email Peter wrote:
I think people normally like the radiation because it doesn't involve being admitted to hospital/anaesthetic/etc.  But my reading tells me that the side effects of radiation can be just as bad as those from prostatectomy - i.e. urinary incontinence or the opposite (blockage), impotence, etc.  On top of that the radiation (unless you do the one where they sort of inject radioactive little blobs into the prostate) can cause damage to all the surrounding stuff.  In the end, I suppose, everyone has to make their own decision. It's not easy, though, when you are just a layperson in medical terms.

Thank you, Peter, for your frank sharing of your experience with prostate cancer and I am glad that, 3 nearly 4 years later, you are still getting those negligible PSA counts.


That is a personal, inside account of one man's experience of prostate cancer. Of course, there is also the outside, expert answer to the question many of us are afraid to ask, "What is prostate cancer?"  In the side bar of this blog I have posted a link to a web article hosted by Prostate Cancer Canada under the heading, Learn about prostate cancer.

Proud of Our Sponsors

After only 3 days of Movember we are sitting with a team total of $570.00. What a great bunch of sponsors you are. New names to appreciate and add to our sponsors on-a-roll:
Johnny Wrinn

Michael Kirkland

Debbie Cella
Bruce Linton
Jennifer Levins
Jack Swan
Brad Wilson


I am very excited to have my first picture of Michael Kirkland which I managed to steal off his Movember membership profile picture. Thanks, Michael. Mike is giving a lot of serious thought to what sort of stache style he wants to cultivate.

Peter Righton

Peter Righton sent me this Day 1 photo taken by his wife, Vikki, who is a very dedicated Mo sista, but loves it when Movember comes to an end. I'm not sure if Peter gets her to donate to shave off his Movember mo. There's a thought. James, you may want to think about that, too :-)

The NHL and Movember

I did a search on Movember NHL and found endless pages of Google results in under 1 second. Teams on the first page: Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, Atlanta Thrashers. I also found this TSN video with George Parros where he loses his stache for Movember. It's both entertaining and encouraging.

More Sponsors Than Mo Growers

Today we passed another milestone. We now have more sponsors than mo growing Hairiers. Congratulations all round and a special thank you to our latest sponsors:
Agnieszka Boekdrukker
Shannan Jones
Kelly Sam
Jack Swan
Angelica Lau

(If I have overlooked any sponsors, please forgive me.)

This brings our team total to $430.00 towards finding The Cure and promoting men's health.

Latest team member - Jonathan Sam.

Jonathan Sam - Day 1

Just as I was closing up for the night yesterday I received an email notification of another new member on the team - Jonathan Sam. Jon, you are a very welcome addition. Thanks for joining. I'll be relying on you to keep me on the straight and narrow when I post health items!

Patrick Ford "before"

Patrick Ford sent me this "before" picture which he had taken on the weekend. Click on the picture to enlarge and appreciate. Doesn't it pull at your heart strings to see such a work of pure aesthetics sacrificed for such a great cause? Weeks and months, if not years, of grooming dismissed with a few deft strokes by a brave heart.

Then, as promised, I bring you...

The Greg Forbes Transformation

Greg sent me this sequence of three photos titled successively: "Just Before", "Clear Cut" and "Clean Start".

Greg - just before

They speak more eloquently than any words I could dream up of a courageous man crusading on a great mission - the Movember Mission.

Thanks for the inspiration, Greg. The rest of us will be able to carry on for the next few days just on the energy generated by this marvellous sight alone.

Greg - clear cut

Greg - clean start