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Producing his weekly show, Friday\u2019s from The Funky Uncle<\/em> to raise money and help unemployed musicians during the pandemic has been top priority for New Orleans music producer Shane Norris, even after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.\u00a0 Norris, 61, received his first of three elevated PSA scores in March 2020, just as the Covid-19 lockdowns \u2013 and postponement of elective medical procedures \u2013 had begun.<\/p>\n A month later, Norris launched the first \u2018Funky Uncle\u2019 webcast, featuring New Orleans talent, and \u201cproduced with love.\u201d He has managed to deliver a live musical performance every week since the first show aired on April 3, 2020, and raise $272,000 through the \u201cFunk Fund\u201d to distribute to all members of the New Orleans entertainment community in need.<\/p>\n By May 2020, a month after the inaugural show, an MRI and biopsy confirmed a malignant tumor in Norris\u2019s prostate.\u00a0 Although the cancer had not spread, the risk of delaying treatment was high.\u00a0 Under the care of Stephen Bardot, MD, Chair of the Urology Department at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Norris was presented with a choice of the two standards of care for treating prostate cancer: radical prostatectomy and radiation.\u00a0 Radical surgery involves removing the entire prostate, while radiation calls for beaming high doses of radiation into his body.\u00a0 Both procedures come with potentially serious side effects of urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction and even penile shrinkage.\u00a0 These side effects worried Norris, and he began to research alternative therapies.<\/p>\n Although he eventually agreed to surgery, Norris was determined to find a better option. He learned about laser ablation which offered promising results.\u00a0 In June 2020 Norris opted for this treatment instead of surgery and started his own GoFundMe campaign to crowd fund for the procedure. Not only was laser ablation not covered by his insurance, but the closest hospital offering the treatment was nearly 400 miles away in Galveston, TX.<\/p>\n Between Covid delays and Hurricane Laura that closed the border between Louisiana and Texas, Norris\u2019s procedure ended up being postponed until October, the same month he was due to return to Dr. Bardot for a follow up exam.\u00a0 The delay was fortuitous.\u00a0 In the five months since Norris was diagnosed, Ochsner Medical Center acquired Focal One High Intensity Focused Ultrasound \u2014 or Focal One HIFU \u2013 expressly for treatment of localized prostate cancer and one that dramatically reduced the risk of debilitating side effects.\u00a0 Ochsner was the first hospital in Louisiana to acquire Focal One HIFU.\u00a0 And Norris became the hospital\u2019s first Focal One HIFU patient.<\/p>\n FocalOne HIFU is a medical device that uses high-frequency sound waves directed at cancerous tissue through an ultrasound probe inserted into the rectum.\u00a0 No incisions are made.\u00a0 No radiation is emitted.\u00a0 No organ is removed.\u00a0 Focal One HIFU works by heating up and gradually burning just the area of the prostate that has cancer.\u00a0 Dr. Bardot explained to Norris that HIFU works similarly to holding a magnifying glass above a leaf on a sunny day.\u00a0 The sun\u2019s rays shine through the lens and gradually cause the leaf to burn.<\/p>\n Focal One HIFU first fuses magnetic resonance images with biopsy data and real-time ultrasound imaging, presenting the doctor with various 3D views on a large screen.\u00a0 From those views the doctor draws a precise contour around the diseased tissue and destroys only that portion of the prostate.\u00a0 Because of HIFU\u2019s accuracy, incontinence and impotence are largely avoided.<\/p>\n \u201cThe less tissue we remove from a man\u2019s body, the better he will do post-treatment for prostate cancer,\u201d said Dr. Bardot.\u00a0 \u201cThis new generation of noninvasive devices are purpose-built for prostate treatment, with pin-point accuracy, enabling us to precisely and non-surgically eradicate only the focal area of the prostate involved by cancer, while preserving the rest of a man\u2019s healthy prostate and functionality.\u201d<\/p>\n So besides the benefits of getting care close to home at Ochsner and avoiding a whole day\u2019s drive to and from Galveston, Norris preferred Focal One HIFU because of the low risk of collateral damage, and the possibility of preserving his quality of life.<\/p>\n Norris\u2019s Focal One HIFU procedure was completed in two hours and he returned home that afternoon.\u00a0 He experienced no side effects and was pain free, although he did have some discomfort from a catheter that was removed six days later.<\/p>\n Norris was enthusiastic in his praise for the procedure. \u201cI am incredibly pleased with the outcome of this and I highly recommend anyone with the prospect of having a prostate tumor removed to consider this route over other options. I was able to return to work on light duty after two weeks and resume all physical activities on a limited basis.<\/p>\n \u201cI am profoundly grateful to have been given the opportunity to have the HIFU procedure. I am proud to be able to tell other men in Louisiana that they should talk to their doctor about this procedure if they\u2019re diagnosed with localized prostate cancer like I was.<\/p>\n \u201cI am also most humbly grateful for Ochsner and to Dr. Bardot for allowing me to be the first to receive the HIFU procedure in Louisiana.\u201d<\/p>\n And the musicians of New Orleans are forever grateful to Norris and his team for never skipping a Funky Uncle production and his continued support for their own medical and economic challenges during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n Tune into the Prostate Choices podcast to hear directly\u00a0 from Shane about his experience.<\/p>\n Photo by\u00a0National Cancer Institute\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n