For years, September meant the end of summer, celebrating birthdays and all the little rituals of a season changing. But this year, September carries a very different meaning: it’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Month — and decision time for me to select a treatment.

In July, I shared publicly that I had been diagnosed. I wrote about how I see life as a kind of musical — full of unexpected plot twists, quiet interludes, moments of sorrow and bursts of joy. This chapter has been quieter, more like a solo: listening closely, facing hard decisions and choosing how the next verse will go.

When you’re told you have cancer, there’s no script. For weeks, I weighed my options: surgery, radiation or newer procedures. I spoke with doctors, survivors and researchers. I asked hard questions. I lost sleep. I cried. And yes, I sprouted a few more gray hairs. None of the choices were easy — and all of them would change my life.

In the end, I have chosen TULSA Pro, a minimally invasive treatment that uses ultrasound and real-time MRI to ablate the prostate. It offers the chance to treat my cancer while reducing long-term side effects. It also addresses my enlarged prostate (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia) — a condition that nearly cost me my life during a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon when I went into urinary retention and had to be airlifted out by Flight for Life. As a former park ranger and EMT, becoming the patient that day was deeply humbling.

Why TULSA Pro? Because I want the best chance not just to survive, but to heal and thrive — to keep showing up for the community I love, doing the work I care about and living with dignity.

But choosing a treatment isn’t just about medicine — it’s also about money. Even though TULSA Pro is FDA-approved and showing strong results, many insurers still classify it as “experimental.” To make matters worse, it isn’t yet offered in Colorado, and some of the clinical studies have closed. For insurance purposes, that likely means I’ll have to pay the full $35,000 out of pocket.

As I scramble to come up with the money for this procedure, I can’t help but think—this isn’t the first time I’ve had to fight. Over the past several months, I’ve appealed coverage decisions through the Colorado Division of Insurance just to get basic tests approved. And the truth is, insurance companies often deny claims in the hope that patients will give up and pay. I’ve learned you have to be your own advocate — you have to push back, hold them accountable and insist on the care that gives you the best chance at life. It’s a sad reality that we have empowered our political leaders to allow this to stand, leaving patients to battle both illness and a broken system.

That’s why Prostate Cancer Awareness Month matters. It’s about more than statistics — it’s about conversations that save lives. The insurance system may be frustrating and unfair, but one truth is undeniable: When prostate cancer is caught early, the survival rate is nearly 100%. Caught late, the story can be tragically different.

One in eight men will be diagnosed in their lifetime. Look around your dinner table, your workplace or your community gathering — statistically, one of those men will face this disease. Awareness means making sure that when it happens, it’s caught early enough to change the outcome.

So here’s my invitation: Use this month as an opening. Remind the men in your life to get screened. Share stories — yours or mine — so no one feels they have to carry the silence alone. Support the research and treatments that give us better options and fewer compromises. And most importantly, have the hard conversations with your fathers, brothers, partners and friends.

For me, September no longer marks just the turn of a season. It marks a new chapter — one I hope to meet with courage, hope,and the belief that the music of life still has many verses left to be sung.