Since September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, we asked NFL Hall of Famer Len Dawson and his wife Linda to share their very personal story of Len's diagnosis, and the the life-saving role Linda played in their marriage.

(Los Angeles September 21, 2008) Linda Dawson, wife of NFL great Len Dawson, found herself leafing through the morning paper in 1991 when she saw an ad for free prostate cancer screenings. She says she suddenly felt her stomach drop. "It was the strangest feeling," Linda told momlogic.

"I knew I had to make an appointment for Len, but I didn't know why." She had never made a doctor's appointment for her husband before, and stranger still, he had just passed a prostate screening six months prior with flying colors. Yet something compelled her to pick up the phone.

She first had to convince Len, then 56, to take the test. "He said, 'I'm not going,' so I said 'Fine, then you'll have to cancel the appointment yourself,'" says Linda.

"That sure changed his mind!" Good thing he went -- the results indicated Len was in the early stages of prostate cancer.

"I was pretty shocked," Len says. "I immediately grew concerned for my wife and two children."

Len was faced with two choices: surgery or radiation. He opted to have his entire prostate gland removed. To Len and Linda, it was an easy decision -- Len's older brother had died of prostate cancer.

"When I was growing up, getting cancer meant you die," Len says. "There was no discussion of treatment, so I felt fortunate to have options."

One in six men is affected by prostate cancer, but if caught early, the disease is 100% treatable. Experts recommend starting the screening process at age 50 -- but these days, more and more men are getting tested at 40.

Linda and Len decided to team up with Depend.com, a resource for those recovering from prostate health issues. They wanted to help spread the word about the importance of getting screened for prostate cancer.

To this day, Len credits his wife with saving his life. "The whole ordeal cemented our love even more," he says.

"For me, the decision to make Len go to the doctor was pretty random, but I believe there is an angel watching out for him," Linda adds.

Her advice to wives is simple: "Men don't like going to the doctor -- it's a macho thing," she says. "But do whatever you can to make him get tested. It's a 15-minute procedure that can save his life."

See more at momlogic. momlogic.com is an online magazine "for thinking moms who don't have time to think."

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