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Dr. Ira Hantman, The Urology Specialists of Maryland

Mercy Urologist Dr. Ira Hantman Discusses How Women Are Increasingly Worried About Their Partner's Prostate Cancer

New research shows that women worry more about prostate cancer than their partners do.

Edward and Patricia Ditzell have been married more than 50 years, and 12 years ago, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, it was his wife who had insisted on regular checkups.

"I came in this one checkup and had a biopsy, and yes, I did have cancer. It didn't show up in my blood work," Edward Ditzell said.

After discussing their many options, the couple decided on surgery. Mercy Medical Center urologist Dr. Ira Hantman said women partners are a big part of the process.

"If (patients) come to the doctor alone, you won't absorb everything that is said. It helps to have two people listening, and also the questions are different coming from the spouse. Their intent is not just, 'Let's get this over with.' It's, 'Let's get it right,'" Dr. Hantman said.

Patricia Ditzell is still a big part of her husband's health care 12 years later.

"I lay out the pills every morning and I lay them out at night. He calls me the pills lady," Patricia Ditzell joked.

The couple will celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary in December.

"I was told once that married men live longer than single men because women do this, so hopefully it's true," Edward Ditzell said.

Dr. Hantman spoke with WBAL-TV11 News anchor Donna Hamilton about prostate cancer and about recent reports that say the Prostate-Specific Antigen, or PSA, test doesn't save lives. To see that interview, as well as Dr. Hantman's interview on "The Woman's Doctor," click on the video link: http://www.wbaltv.com/womansdoctor/20040561/detail.html