How My Uncle Dealt with Prostrate Cancer

An amazing story of how my uncle never gave up the fight. 

My uncle, Binggoy Dominguez was a

cheerful guy, kind and accommodating. He always greeted us with a smile and would tell us funny stories.

When my Dad, Alonso, broke his hip and was lying down in bed at home after surgery, my Tito Bings, as we called fondly called him, arrived from the US to visit Dad.

"Look at me, Al.", he said. "You had a broken hip but you're not sick like me. The doctors they told me that I have stage 4 prostate cancer and I have had this for years. I became depressed, not wanting to eat, and then I realized - I have no pain!"

I stared at my uncle in rapt fascination as he waved his hands around to punctuate his story. "I heard you rode a bike to work, Tito."

"Yes," he said, with that familiar twinkle in his eye, "I did because I feel no pain. I am doing all that the doctors told me to do as they told me I am sick but I no longer act like I am sick."

And, he stood up and moved to dance. "I just keep cha-chaing." After saying that, he did a couple of cha-cha steps to emphasize his point, then my uncle insisted that my Dad sit up and Dad tried as my uncle held him. They were both smiling their half smiles, as I watched, knowing that my Dad was a stroke victim and had survived two heart attacks and after surgery, felt weak.

When Dad was sitting up in bed, propped with pillows, my uncle went on his next wave.

"You eat, Alon!" said Tito Bings as he was handing over canned ham. "Do you like this?" Dad nodded yes and so my uncle decided to get 2 more cans from the car and placed these on the side table.

"You eat plenty so you don't look sick. Look at me, I eat and eat. And you have to stand up and move."

Dad smiled. We all knew that Dad couldn't. Still, my uncle pushed him. "Raise up your hands to exercise." As Dad raised his hands, my two aunts, my Mom and I were all smiling, knowing that Dad was weak and trying so hard to please his brother who was so encouraging.

When my uncle left, Dad asked us to open the ham and he ate a lot. "Binggoy looks okay." Dad said.

That visit from a man who had the kind of cancer that most men fear - shows that the attitude overcomes any illness and disease - and makes each day one that is lived.

* Since my uncle found out he had prostate cancer in the late stages over 5 years ago, he had followed the doctor's orders to the letter. Last year, since the experimental treatments would no longer work and he was informed that there was nothing anymore they can do for him, he came back home to the Philippines. I asked why he came home and he said,  "I have to fix a few things."

All those years since he got cancer, he lived normally and spent quality time with his family like going to Disneyland. He went to work and rode a bike as he had no pain. He told us hilarious stories of his hospital treatments like how he felt like a guinea pig but won't be paid to be experimented on, and how he saw the med tech did a slingshot move when extracting his blood then missed the vein.

This past month my uncle has been in and out of the hospital and he passed away today. He lived a life that was full and turned his situation around, making it one to encourage others...and after years of battling cancer, he has won the battles in a big way as he had the quality of life.

If life gives you overwhelming situations and you want to overcome, you can do what my Tito Binggoy did.

Just keep cha-chaing.