RALEIGH, N.C. — William Jones is a prostate cancer survivor who advocates for early screenings.
“They said, 'Mr. Jones, I have bad news.' They said, 'Your situation is so grim, so severe that we had a conference meeting about your situation,'” Jones said.
During his first sermon with the Destiny Christian Center, youth pastor Jones preached a sermon on “faith over fear.”
“On March 7, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer. He said, 'Unfortunately Mr. Jones, the cancer has spread outside of your prostate,'” Jones said.
Jones, who was 40 at the time of his diagnosis and much younger than most men living with prostate cancer, documented his health journey after overcoming six rounds of chemotherapy last month.
Jones discovered he had prostate cancer after finding blood in his urine. That’s when his wife told him to go to the doctor.
“They told me, literally, 'I don’t know how much time you have left to enjoy life Mr. Jones.' But see, I didn’t focus on that situation, I focused on the opportunity for God to do something great in my life,” Jones said.
Prior to his diagnosis, Jones didn’t make trips to the doctor for his yearly checkups, something he said he doesn’t take for granted anymore.
“[I] just recently went to the doctor on this past Thursday for a health checkup since I’m not on chemotherapy, and I got great news! All my numbers look great, everything is steadily improving,” Jones said.
Jones said his church got him through prostate cancer, and his testimony fuels his passion to give back to others.
“They said, 'Mr. Jones, you know the cancer that was aggressively eating away at your body? That cancer is undetectable. We have no signs of the cancer in your body,'” Jones told his congregation.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in North Carolina.
The numbers are also startling for Black men who face disparities.
The American Cancer Society said Black men in the U.S. are about 70% more likely than white men to develop prostate cancer in their lifetime and twice as likely to die from the disease.
Prostate cancer is rare in men younger than 40, but the American Cancer Society said the chance of having prostate cancer rises rapidly after age 50. About 6 in 10 prostate cancers are found in men older than 65.