El Paso man back at work two weeks after prostate cancer

Paco Salas-Porras, a finance manager at Casa Ford, diagnosed with prostate cancer, returned to work this week for the first time after having his prostate removed on November 2, 2016.

Salas-Porras shared his story with ABC-7 a couple of weeks ago with the hope of raising awareness about prostate cancer.

Although breast cancer is perhaps the most-talked about kind of cancer, prostate cancer is the third most prevalent form of cancer, second in men.

“Two weeks ago, I was just getting out of surgery,” said the 58 year-old Salas-Porras, who wants all men in the Borderland to hear his story. “Now the cancer is out of me and from here on in its just healing, so I’m really happy with the procedure and the outcome.”

In just 14 days, Salas-Porras has gone from the operating room and four small incisions in his abdomen to being back at work.

“Don’t think of this as something to be afraid of, think of it as maintenance for your body,” Salas-Porras said.

It was at a blood drive at Casa Ford last summer where Salas-Porras discovered that he may have prostate cancer. His willingness to tell his story has inspired some of his co-workers to get their prostate checked.

“Thank God he’s back with us and that inspire me to go check myself,” said Casa Ford Sales Manager Alberto Berumen. “All the employees, they need to check, and everybody in the city, they need to do something because you never know what you have inside.”

Salas-Porras’ doctors from Rio Grande Urology said symptoms include urinary discomfort or frequency or urinary urgency waking you up at night.

“It was after we did the last story, some guy that I sold a car to here and did his paperwork, he called me and he was asking me, ‘I’m frequently getting up at night and urinating. Do you think this is a sign that i have it?'” Salas-Porras said.

With a new lease on life, Salas-Porras now looks forward to doing some of the things he enjoys most, like riding his dirt bike.

“I guarantee it in a month from now, if you came back and do a follow up, you might get me on my dirt bike, riding my dirt bike,” Salas-Porras said with a smile. “I don’t know, we’ll see how that goes. But I will be back on the dirt bike.”

Dr. Jeff Spier at Rio Grande Urology told ABC-7 the best ways to detect prostate cancer is by evaluating a PSA, or prostate specific antigin test, or getting a digital rectal exam. He said without those two tests, prostate cancer can go undetected and spread.