Kelowna doctor donates proceeds from joke book to Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada

To Dr. David Goldberg, laughter really is the best medicine.

It’s what has always fueled the family doctor and surgical assistant in orthopedic surgery at Kelowna General Hospital.

He began telling jokes in the hospital’s operating theatre to pass the time while the cement hardened to replace a joint, a period during an operation he said no other work can be done.

Turning to humour helped him through his own diagnosis of prostate cancer.

“I was aware that I was at a higher risk for prostate cancer given my family history and as a result, I was making sure I was having my P.S.A.’s tested regularly,” said Dr. Goldberg.

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“P.S.A. stands for Prostate-Specific Antigen and it’s a blood test done in order to see if your prostate is metabolically more active and therefore could perhaps could be at risk for prostate cancer.”

Dr. Goldberg said that he saw a bump in his P.S.A. levels and received his diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer in 2022. He began writing a joke book while he was getting treatment. Now he has become an advocate, encouraging men to get their P.S.A.’s tested.

After the first round of his book’s publication in March, he donated some of the proceeds to the KGH Foundation. He’s now published an updated version, with a portion of the proceeds to be donated to Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada.

“We use humour as a way of coping with a lot of life’s stressors and the joke book has helped me do that and it’s helped many of my patients,” said Dr. Goldberg.

Being a doctor, going through the diagnosis and treatment himself gives him a unique outlook on the process.

“I have been a family doctor for 30 years and I have actually treated and been involved in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and it helps in some ways to have gone through it myself to see what areas they may need more support in,” said Dr. Goldberg.

Right now the book is being sold at Indigo across British Columbia and Mosaic Books in Kelowna as well as at Kelowna General Hospital.

Goldberg said he hopes that it will eventually be sold across Canada to raise more funds for the non-profit.