In a rare instance of coincidence, Taiwo and Kehinde Abiodun, identical twin brothers based in the United States of America and Canada respectively, have both had to battle with prostate cancer. As they clock 60 years today, they seized the opportunity of their birthday in separate interviews to counsel the young and the old on the need to check their prostate specific antigen (PSA) regularly, considering that early detection of the ailment can help to get rid of it.

Going down memory lane, Taiwo, who said they were born to the family of the late Joshua Adepoju Abiodun and his wife, Caroline Oladoyin Abiodun (nee Olakunori), recalled that people could hardly distinguish him from his twin brother as growing up children.

He said: “When we were growing up, people could hardly distinguish us from each other.  In fact, our father could not differentiate us.

“Our elder brother, Prof. Rowland, would just call us Twins and whoever was concerned would answer him.

“But as we grew up and got more matured slight differences began to manifest.

“For instance, it became apparent that I could talk a lot more than Kehinde who is a bit more reserved.

Corroborating his twin brother, Kehinde said: “Honestly, it is now that we have different characters; one is more jovial than the other or one is more serious in look than the other. It was only with our voice that our father could determine who was Taiye or Kehinde.”

But beyond their physical appearance, there are many other areas the identical nature of Taiwo and Kehinde come to the fore. These, according to Taiwo, include the schools they attended and even their attitude to life.

He said: “We have the same attitude to life. We also attended the same primary and secondary schools before we parted ways academically. But I must confess that my twin brother (Kehinde) was more brilliant.

“When we were at the All Saints’ Modern School, Owo (Ondo State), I would come first in my class while he would come third in his; but his aggregate score was always higher than mine.

“We were only separated when we gained admission to higher institutions and were further separated when Kehinde joined his family in Canada 22 years ago.

“The last time we saw was 15 years ago when he came home to attend our mother’s funeral. But thanks to technology, we speak daily and do video calls.

“In spite of our identical nature, civilization separated us. Imagine he lives in Canada and he and his children are now Canadian citizens while I live in America and by marriage to my wife Ronnie, who is an African-American, sooner or later, I would become one of them.

“Imagine a set of identical twins belonging to different nationalities, thanks to naturalization.

Yet by far the most shocking of the things they shared together is that they were both diagnosed with the same life-threatening disease, namely prostate cancer, and they are both living with it!

Taiwo said: “We share many things in common, like he was operated on for prostate cancer about 10 years ago while I also had my own operation for prostate cancer about two years ago. We are both living with prostate Cancer and have become advocates against the disease, educating men about it.

Kehinde recalled that he was shocked to the marrow when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer about 11 years ago. But he said his shock did not emanate from fear that he could die.

“No, I was not afraid and I am not afraid of death,” he said in response to a question

“I was only shocked at the thought of what would be happening to the men in Nigeria since I was diagnosed prostate cancer here in my base here in Canada. How would they know that they have prostate cancer? Can they afford this?

“When you hear cancer, your heart would jump into your mouth. So I went straight to one of my brothers, Prof. Rowland Abiodun, in Massachusetts, USA. He calmed me down and prayed for me, and I went for the surgery which was successful.”

Since then, he has gone into advocacy against the disease, educating people on how to avoid it.

“Last year, I organised a session for two organisations here in Canada and in America. The major fears about prostate cancer are death and erectile dysfunction.

“Early detection helps, and there is treatment for erectile dysfunction if it happens after surgery. Therefore, there is no cause for fear at all.

“I regained my erection nine or ten months after the surgery. It is not a shameful thing. Women are also prone to breast cancer, uterus cancer, ovarian cancer, and so on, and early detection helps.”

Taiwo on his part said it was his wife that God used to detect his prostate cancer before it could get too bad.

He said: “God used Ronnie, my wife, to save my life because she suspected that something was wrong with me. She took me to the doctor who discovered that I had prostate enlargement and cancer and I went through surgery in 2019. She calmed me down and since then I have been living with it.

“My PSA was high and the doctor was afraid. But later I was operated on and the rest is now history.”

He added: “Ronnie is one of the most responsible women I have ever met. Although we have cultural differences, she quickly understood me. She loves my dressing some Nigerian ladies would object to.

“I have met some ladies in Nigeria who condemned my dressing, saying my bling bling is juju despite my spirited effort to explain to them that it is my own style of dressing.

“My bling bling is my trade mark. It is my logo, so why should I allow a lady to deny me what I love doing?”

credit link:  https://thenationonlineng.net/our-battles-with-prostate-cancer/