Get tested.
After experiencing first hand how easily it could be for sufferers of prostate cancer to know too late, Aiken is the face and willing ambassador in a Harness Racing Victoria and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia campaign to boost awareness of the potentially fatal condition.
During September, drivers of Aiken-trained horses will all sport special Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia silks in an awareness and fundraiser drive.
Aiken said he wasn’t expecting what unfolded after a visit to his GP in March this year.
A blood test which possibly saved his life revealed his prostate antigen result had a near maximum reading of 14 when one or two was a normal reading.
A subsequent scan and MRI determined surgery would be required although the cancer luckily had been detected before it had spread and become potentially fatal.
‘‘I was in good hands and the early detection possibly saved my life,’’ Aiken said.
From his own experience he can’t now express enough how important it is for males of all ages to be checked for the potential fatal condition.
Each year, approximately 19,000 Australian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and over 8000 undergoing a radical prostatectomy in Australia.
Aiken, who is still recovering from the surgery and is expected to return to training in about a month, also revealed he is scaling down his team to about 10 or 12 horses.
‘‘It will also help us (the family) to enjoy a better lifestyle,’’ said the Inter Dominion winning trainer, who savoured his finest moment in the industry in Perth in 2015 when the superstar pacer he trained Lennytheshark won Australasia’s most sought-after harness race.
Aiken also said his star reinsman son, Josh, also wouldn’t be quite as active on the racing scene as he had been for the past decade or so due to taking on a new lifestyle challenge.
Josh has completed a course in Youth Intervention and enjoys his time in this field but will still assist training and driving some of his father’s team when it permits.
These days Josh often gives foster parents a break to allow the parents some ‘‘own’’ time while he looks after the children.
‘‘Our family has been helping in this field over many years we have had a lot of young people finding their way in life stay with us. Colleen (his wife) who is a schoolteacher and we all get a great kick out it,’’ Aiken said.
