The Cause 2016

My name is Dan Snyder and I am a musician and photographer. In 2015 I was diagnosed with stage 3 metastatic prostate cancer. I decided then to take action and not let prostate cancer control my life. As a lifelong hiker living in the Adirondack mountains of New York State, I continued hiking and exercising through my six months of treatment. My treatment included two months of daily radiation, five days a week. I found that diet and lifestyle change, and most importantly exercise, curbed my side effects to almost zero and that is exactly why I decided to create ADK Hike for Hope. ADK Hike for Hope is a conduit for bringing about awareness of this deadly disease, provide a forum of conversation and raising funds for prostate cancer research. Please visit our “Resources” page for links to treatment centers and more.

Above is a photograph of Dr. Paul Nguyen and myself at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Nguyen is the Director of Prostate Brachytherapy and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School and is currently heading a research study to establish data on the lessening of side effects for men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer through exercise. I suffered very few side effects during treatment and I attribute it to my regimen of exercise, being a vegetarian and getting acupuncture twice a week. It is widely reported that most men suffer side effects like mood swings, hot flashes, diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, head aches, fatigue, breast tenderness and depression when undergoing androgen deprivation therapy. As Dr. Nguyen put it "there can be an avalanche of side effects'. Having been on the frontline I can attest that the benefits of exercise is undeniable.