Very occasionally I might visit a casino and have a go at roulette. 

If you have never been so foolish, one of the flutters you can take is a 50/50 bet, red or black, paying two to one. Except of course, it is an immutable rule of capitalism that the house must always win, so alongside the red and black numbers there is always one and sometimes two green numbers (0 and 00) so that an even bet becomes uneven.  

Sometimes in life, the odds are just stacked against you.

After I had my prostate removed, I was given a different, rather more serious 50/50 chance; being that my cancer was even odds to come back within the next five years. When I was told this, I asked the oncologist if there was anything I could do to make those odds better and the answer was no. 

Fifty/fifty, spin the wheel, pay your money, take your chances.

Last week I had the three-monthly PSA test that coincided with hitting the two-and-a-half-year mark since surgery and it came back clear, to my huge relief and gratitude. Nothing is guaranteed in life, and I feel a bit like I might be tempting fate by writing this now, but I’m half-way through the five year white-knuckle ride, so the odds must have moved to 75-25 in my favour surely? Those are much better odds.

While there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about shifting the 50/50 odds of my cancer coming back, the odds of not getting it in the first place lie in the hands of every man reading this. Early detection is the key, and that early detection is easy, a visit to your doctor, a blood test or a moment's discomfort is all it takes. 

Even if you have no symptoms (I had none) Prostate NZ recommends that men over 50 (and those over 40 with known family history) should be tested every one to two years. If you, or someone you care about, falls into those categories, get the odds on your side, and get tested. 

Please.