Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli Image by: Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli
21 November 2020

What I’ve learned from my father and uncle surviving prostate cancer

Peter Facinelli
3 minutes read time

Peter Facinelli gets real about his year of self-reflection

I didn’t know much about prostate cancer until my dad got it. And then my uncle was diagnosed with it after him. They both had different procedures done and different forms of chemo. It’s a treatable disease and both of them are thankfully in remission and survived.

It made me realize that it’s not a death sentence if you do get prostate cancer. The important thing is to catch it early. It’s a treatable cancer and has a high rate of success with treatment. Don’t be afraid to put your focus and energy on healing as opposed to worry.

I was thinking of something yesterday. I have a friend who was sick. I think the body lives in the past. If you eat a hamburger today or junk food today, it doesn’t show up for a couple of days. So whatever sickness you have, you have to think of it as ‘that’s a reflection of my past and now that I know I have this sickness or disease, from the present on, into the future, it’s about healing.’ It’s no longer about sickness. And if you have that mentality, I think it helps.

During quarantine, I’ve had a lot of time to focus on doing positive things. I’ve been taking a little more time for myself, eating better and cooking at home. I lost 30 pounds, so I’ve definitely been exercising and focusing on my health more. Since you can’t really go out and travel, it’s been a time to travel within.

I’ve been meditating a lot more lately, practicing yoga, and running on the treadmill. I’m not a huge runner but at least with the treadmill I can get a workout in while also being productive with other things—like reading scripts. I’m also really excited to be in Oklahoma at the moment working on a new film, The Unbreakable Boy, based on a book written by Scott M. LeRette.One good thing to come out of 2020 is this film and also the self-reflection and focusing on my health.

While meditating is a big part of my day, I also find benefits in hypnosis. I took a course in hypnosis and got certified.I think that hypnosis is very powerful and I’ve actually used it to help family members with anxiety or things they’re going through. I’ve made hypnosis tapes for myself that I listen to at night. It sounds like it’s a little “out there,” but I do believe we have subconscious programs that kind of run our system and through hypnosis, it’s a way to reset those programs.

Working with Prostate Cancer Foundation to shine awareness on the disease has been a great partnership, especially since this disease runs in my family. I teamed up with them, along with Nic Tailor Underwear for a social media campaign in September to bring attention to prostate cancer. We were trying to figure out ways to get people’s attention, and prostate cancer is such a vulnerable topic for men, we thought if we did this campaign and highlighted the importance of having that conversation and we use pictures that are vulnerable, it kind of goes hand in hand. The goal was really for other men to join me in being vulnerable to talk about this disease.

Health and wellness have always been important to me. I want to use my reach and my platform to further that awareness and encourage men to get screened.I hope to keep the conversation going with Movember. As the leading global organization committed to changing the face of men’s health, being part of Movember is something I find to be very meaningful and, hopefully, impactful.We should all pay attention to our health probably now, more than ever. And I also think moustaches should have a month of their own.