Not many people are brave enough to go public with intimate details of medical problems, especially cancer, and to start going public when the problem is diagnosed, not just when it’s cured. Ken Holman is one of those rare people who have done so, and in email with him shortly after he came out of hospital he welcomed my doing my small bit to publicise what he went through, in the hopes that it will help others (from Ken: “I know that I would have appreciated reading actual testimonials from patients rather than just corporate medical reports”).
For those who don’t know, Ken has been a stalwart in the SGML/XML community for many years, taking part in various standards committees as well as being a well-regarded teacher and speaker. He’s had a bad run health-wise recently, culminating in a bout with prostate cancer (which now appears to be effectively cured, though some side-effects still remain). The details are at Awareness of Male Cancers – my personal stories; what may be startling is that even test results within the normal range can indicate cancer that needs to be treated. Here’s hoping that few people need to go through what Ken just has, but if you do, I hope you recover well and quickly.