Pocahontas man helps raise cancer awareness

A phone call from Raul Blasini’s doctor 13 years ago may save scores of lives in Arkansas.

The call was a blow for Blasini — a diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer.

“It was bad, being only 44 years old,” Blasini said. “I was in shock.”

More than a decade after life-saving surgery, Blasini has helped to get thousands of men across the state screened for prostate cancer.

In 2001, Blasini said, he started a screening fair in Pocahontas that attracted 68 men. Last year more than 2,500 men were screened statewide through his efforts.

Over the last nine years he’s helped to organize clinics in Walnut Ridge, Jonesboro, Corning, Newport, Blytheville, Batesville, Osceola, Wynne, Piggott, Hope, DeQueen and Texarkana.

His efforts have led to his selection as a Triumph of the Human Spirit honoree.

Blasini is also slated to begin his third term on the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation Board of Directors. He counsels men with prostate cancer one-on-one through programs administered by the American Cancer Society.

“Men don’t like to do group therapy,” Blasini said. “They want to ask questions, but for a lot of them it’s better if it’s only you and them.”

Many men Blasini talks to are afraid of losing their lives or afraid they will no longer be able to have sex, he said. Men also worry about how the cancer will affect family life, he added.

“I can’t tell them what treatment options to take, but I do talk to them about there is life after cancer,” he said.

When Blasini was diagnosed, he said he had three options — surgery, female hormone injections or castration. Prostate cancer victims now have more than a dozen treatment options.

What scared Blasini about his diagnosis was that he showed no symptoms of the disease at all, he said. “You don’t know unless you get tested,” he said.

In Pocahontas alone, Blasini said he knows eight men who’ve been screened and survived prostate cancer. “It’s an opportunity that God gave to me,” he said.

This year Blasini is spearheading the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Mentor’s Program, designed to bring prostate cancer sufferers together to talk.

Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Blasini to serve on the Arkansas Minority Health Commission. With the commission, Blasini works with minorities on health-related issues.

Through all of these efforts, Blasini said his wife, Glenda, helps him and stays out of the limelight. “I couldn’t do any of this without her,” he said.

For all the hours he spends each week volunteering his services, Blasini doesn’t receive a dime. But he said 13 years ago his life was saved, and he wants to give back.

“God allowed me to see my daughter graduate from college and see my wife happy,” he said. “I can never pay these things back. I’m grateful, and as long as I can I’m going to keep working.”