Forget strapping on a plastic wristband or plastering a ribbon sticker on his car. Actor Brad Garrett of "Everybody Loves Raymond" is going all the way to raise cancer awareness.
Tomorrow evening, audiences can see Garrett bend over and get a rectal prostate exam during the multi-network celebrity extravaganza "Stand Up For Cancer."
Typically, the exam involves a patient bending over and a doctor probing the rectum with a finger to feel for abnormalities in the prostate gland.
Ziskin's office is keeping the details of what exactly the cameras will show on national TV a surprise, but promises "It will be funny."
The inevitable humor, and "ick factor"of 6-foot-8-inch tall Garret getting a digital rectal exam turned off some doctors, and made others worry that it would turn men away from the exam.
Doctors who have to perform rectal exams know how emotionally disturbing the process can be for men and their partners, even if the exam is painless and short.
"My gut reaction to this was 'bad idea'," said Dr. Anthony Smith, a professor and chief of the urology division at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
"I think the public will be grossed out at the thought at first but then curiosity will take over and they will watch just for the voyeur factor," said Dr. Mark Kawachi, director of the Prostate Cancer Center at City of Hope in Duarte, Calif.
Whether or not Garrett's public prostate exam gets men into the doctor's office or sends them out of the living room, doctors are having their own debates about the rectal prostate exams. The medical community has been debating the value of digital rectal exams for years.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/StandUp2Ca ... 014&page=1
