Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Rick Glumac is back in the B.C. legislature after recovering from treatment for prostate cancer.
Glumac, who won his seat in last May’s provincial election, missed two weeks following surgery at Vancouver General hospital on Feb. 13.
A follow-up with his doctor gave him the all-clear and Glumac said he’s feeling “well enough that I can be here and get back in the swing of things.”
Glumac told The Tri-City News he was diagnosed Dec. 23 after a blood test showed slightly elevated levels of prostate specific antigen, a protein that is produced in the prostate gland. High levels of PSA can indicate the presence of cancer.
Glumac, 46, said he initially went to the doctor because he “had a suspicion something wasn’t quite right.” The diagnosis of cancer hit hard.
“You can never quite wrap your head around news like that,” he said. “I’ve never broken a bone or spent a night in hospital in my life.”
Glumac said he chose to limit news of his diagnosis to close family and friends because “It’s a lot to deal with, and I wanted to get through the hardest part of that.”
Subsequent tests confirmed the cancer was confined to the prostate and with successful robotic surgery now behind him, Glumac said it’s important to raise awareness.
“That’s the thing about cancer, sometimes it’s very subtle,” he said. “It’s easy to ignore it because you’re not experiencing any pain, but it’s not normal.”
Glumac said the PSA test took only a few moments out of his busy life, but it may have saved his life.
“It’s such a minimal thing to get,” he said. “It’s easy to procrastinate, but you can’t take chances.”
Glumac’s first day back at work at the legislature on Monday was even noted by Premier John Horgan in a Tweet.
“Great to have @RickGlumacBC back in the @BCLegislature today,” wrote Horgan. “My thanks go out to the quality doctors and healthcare professionals we have in BC.”
