Nisus Leaders Team Up to Fight Prostate Cancer

ROCKFORD, Tenn. — Kevin L. Kirkland, president of Nisus Corporation and Jim Gorman, vice president of marketing have teamed up with local East Tennessee businesses, hospitals and charities to fight prostate cancer. Both Kevin and Jim have a personal stake in this fight. Kevin lost his father, Eddie Kirkland, to prostate cancer, while Jim is a prostate cancer survivor.

The number of deaths from prostate cancer continues to rise. In fact, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. The good news is that if prostate cancer is detected early, nearly 100% of affected men will survive, and a PSA test is a simple and fast way to detect the possibility of prostate cancer. PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) testing is a simple blood test that can alert doctors of possible prostate cancer far in advance of digital exams.

“I want to encourage all men, 40 and over, in the pest control business to ask their doctor to conduct a PSA blood test to establish an early baseline,” says Gorman. Most doctors recommend testing to start at age 50, but I was diagnosed at 42, if I had waited until 50 I might not have been able to be cured.

In 2004, Nisus worked with Knoxville’s Medic Regional Blood Center to provide free PSA testing to screen for prostate cancer at their blood drives. “Teaming with Medic made sense, because working with them during the blood drives made it fast and easy to draw a blood sample for a PSA test at the same time. This gives men easy access to PSA testing and gets the message out to the public,” according to Kirkland.

In 2005, Kevin and Jim formed the Eddie Kirkland Memorial Blood Drive and PSA Testing event. The program started with a single location and has successfully grown to include neighboring counties today. This event claims great success in educating men on the importance of early detection. In 2006, the event expanded to five locations where 306 PSA tests were completed. Of that amount, 19 tests resulted in elevated numbers, prompting these men to get further testing – possibly saving their lives.

During Prostate Cancer Awareness Month this September, Nisus will once again team with Medic Regional Blood Center, Covenant Health, Thompson Cancer Survival Center and Blount Memorial Hospital to reach even farther out into neighboring communities. This year, they plan to promote blood donation, prostate cancer awareness and free PSA testing at nine locations in four different East Tennessee counties. Their 2007 goal is to collect 750 pints of blood and provide 500 PSA tests.

“When there is a problem in the community it is incumbent upon us as local businessmen to take action,” says Kirkland. We have a personal connection here at Nisus with the national problem, and that give us extra motivation to help promote awareness.”