As someone who’s lost loved ones to cancer over my lifetime, I’m here to tell you cancer can be as disabling and debilitating as any classical physical or intellectual disability—and not solely for the person who bears the disease’s brunt. In my experience, I was barely out of elementary school when my mother first got wind of her breast cancer diagnosis, spending the next several years—up until the end of my sophomore year of high school in 1998 when she finally succumbed—as my mother’s caretaker when I wasn’t in school or doing homework. As a CODA, it was equally hard because those years were spent acting as the literal in-house interpreter for my parents when my mom had to see her doctor and get chemotherapy treatments. The salient points are simply (a) cancer sucks; and (b) the effects of it ripple like waves in a pond.
In the spirit of recognizing that cancer sucks, adult incontinence brand Depend has teamed with Emmitt Smith, the former Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame running back who holds the NFL’s career rushing yards mark with 18,355, to promote its Stand Strong for Men’s Health awareness campaign for prostate cancer. The campaign goes from September through November, with Depend writing on its website the company’s goal is to raise $300,000 to donate to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Another famous figure to work alongside Depend and Smith on the Stand Strong campaign is sports broadcaster Ernie Johnson. Best known for hosting TNT’s ever-popular Inside the NBA show alongside Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith, Johnson connected with me recently for an interview about his involvement with Depend. The mission is deeply resonant with Johnson, as he’s a prostate cancer survivor himself and, as such, explained he feels grateful for Depend’s efforts to “raise awareness and donations to the Prostate Cancer Foundation to further its mission of funding critical research to improve the treatment of prostate cancer.” Besides prostate cancer, Johnson battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2003—winning that war too.
Johnson said the support of his family has been there since the first day of his diagnoses. That steadfast support caused him to look at his fights in a new light, saying he not only wants to stay healthy for himself; he wants to stay healthy for his family—especially his five grandchildren.
“They are such an incredible source of joy for me and my wife Cheryl Ann,” Johnson said of his grandchildren being motivators. “One of the most gratifying aspects of my partnering with Depend on this initiative has been her encouragement to speak up and be honest about a very personal journey. She tells me she’s proud of me. That means the world.”
When asked who exactly in the target demographic for the Stand Strong campaign, Johnson told me there’s the obvious answer and then there’s the less obvious answer. Obviously, he said, Stand Strong is all about reaching men and raising greater awareness of prostate cancer. This is especially poignant given the reluctance with which many men are to get checked, with Johnson saying 1 in 8 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer—yet it isn’t a condition “we talk about openly.” Johnson feels fortunate to be on “the other side of the disease,” and he feels a compulsion to “help normalize the conversation and encourage others to talk to their doctor about being tested.” Johnson conceded his own hesitation to get tested in the past, but earnestly told me it can be done nowadays with a blood test. Moreover, Johnson called being proactive for one’s own wellbeing important, noting his experiences made him realize “how important it is to make your health a priority.”
As to the less obvious answer, Johnson told me he aspires to reach “men’s support systems.” However prevalent prostate cancer is as a common cancer, he said “you can easily feel alone if you are living with it.” As such, Johnson proudly proclaimed “spreading a message of positivity, honesty, and community has always been my #1 goal.”
Johnson’s response to the less obvious question harkens back to what I wrote at the outset. Cancer can cause disability in so many ways. The reality is, the Stand Strong campaign is essentially about accessibility, insofar as Johnson, Smith, and others are making awareness more accessible to more men. And to tie it all together technologically, the proliferation of the internet—especially social media—has made it such that amping up the awareness meter for prostate cancer (or any other) has never been easier. All told, this is yet another one of those times when the speed and power of a modern internet connection is accessibility unto itself. For Johnson’s part, he’s taken to places such as Instagram on multiple occasions to spread his self-described message of “positivity, honesty, and community” around prostate cancer awareness.
As to Depend, Johnson acknowledged incontinence is an issue “no one loves to talk about” that, however embarrassing, is nonetheless important to broach. He called bladder leakage “a common occurrence for those with prostate cancer” and lauded Depend for its ability to literally “[have] you covered if that’s something you are experiencing.”
If prostate cancer can be disabling, then Depend is accessibility.
“There’s no shame in taking care of your health,” Johnson said. “It’s the ultimate display of strength. Honestly, I never pictured myself posting a video in which I talked about bladder leaks, but it can go with the territory when you’re being treated for, or recovering from, prostate cancer. Those Depend products are game-changers.”
Johnson called the reception to his messaging on this topic “really cool” because people have been so supportive and appreciative. Many people have flooded his social media channels, he told me, with kind words about Johnson “stepping up and discussing openly what can be something a lot of folks don’t really want to talk about.” It’s a sentiment that “means so much” to him when he sees it. One big lesson he’s learned from his cancer experiences is by going through the crucible and surviving, the onus subsequently falls on him to “[take] the responsibility to help the next person who may have to go through it.”
“The biggest mistake I could make is to be quiet,” Johnson said. “I’m grateful to all who have taken the time to listen.”