Early detection saves lives. This is a very treatable cancer.
Seven years after being told he had months to live, Ilija Milacic of the Okanagan is still on the golf course with his son — a quiet testament to what medicine can offer when a man refuses to let silence become a death sentence. His Stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis arrived too late for surgery, yet early enough for treatment to extend his life far beyond what his doctors first imagined. As September's Prostate Cancer Awareness Month unfolds, the Milacic family has turned their private reckoning into a public one, joining a growing call to normalize the conversations that men have long avoided — conversations that, when they happen early enough, can change everything.
- A Stage 4 diagnosis with a 7-to-10-month prognosis forced one father and son to confront the possibility that their time together was nearly gone.
- With 30,000 new prostate cancer cases expected in Canada this year, the scale of the disease is not the crisis — the silence surrounding it is.
- Men's cultural reluctance to discuss symptoms or seek screening means cancers that are highly treatable in early stages are routinely discovered only after they've advanced.
- The tools for early detection — a PSA blood test, a physical exam, an MRI — are simple and accessible; the real barrier is psychological, not medical.
- The Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada is using Awareness Month to push screening into the mainstream, framing it as a routine health habit rather than a cause for shame.
- Seven years past his prognosis, Milacic's defiant pragmatism — 'Big deal, they are going to cure it as much as they can' — has become both a personal philosophy and a public argument for catching the disease before it reaches Stage 4.
Seven years ago, Ilija Milacic sat in a urologist's office and received a diagnosis that reordered his world: Stage 4 prostate cancer, with a prognosis of seven to ten months. The disease had progressed too far for surgery, and he was referred to BC Cancer. For Milacic and his son James, who had spent years building a shared life around rounds of golf, the news reframed every moment they had left together.
His story sits inside a much larger one. One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and Canada is on track for 30,000 new cases this year alone. What makes Milacic's case instructive is not the diagnosis itself but its timing — Stage 4, already beyond the reach of the most effective interventions. Mark Mahl, executive director of Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada, points to a familiar pattern: men resist discussing symptoms, delay seeking help, and arrive at the clinic too late. The screening options are straightforward — a PSA blood test, a physical exam, an MRI — but the obstacle is cultural, not clinical.
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and the foundation is working to make screening feel as ordinary as any other health check. Mahl is clear that prostate cancer doesn't stay contained to the patient — it moves through families, reshaping relationships and daily life. The Milacics know this firsthand.
What defines Ilija Milacic's response to his diagnosis is a kind of grounded defiance. He doesn't dwell on the illness; he acknowledges it and moves forward. His son James has watched that posture with quiet admiration, recognizing it as a choice his father makes every day. Seven years past a prognosis measured in months, Milacic is still here, still playing golf — not as a miracle, but as a reminder that early detection changes the odds, and that the first step is simply being willing to speak.
Seven years ago, Ilija Milacic walked into his urologist's office expecting answers. What he got instead was a diagnosis that stopped time: Stage 4 prostate cancer. The doctor didn't mince words. "You probably have seven to 10 months to live," he said, before referring Milacic to BC Cancer because the disease had progressed too far for surgery or intervention. That conversation changed everything about how Milacic and his son James would spend their remaining time together—especially on the golf course, where they'd built a lifetime of shared rounds.
The numbers behind Milacic's story are sobering. One in eight men will face a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. This year alone, Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada expects 30,000 new cases across the country. But what makes Milacic's situation particularly instructive is not just the diagnosis itself—it's how late it came. His cancer was already at Stage 4 when discovered, a reality that underscores a broader pattern in men's health: silence and avoidance often precede crisis.
Mark Mahl, executive director of Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada, identifies the root problem plainly. Men struggle to talk about prostate health. They resist sharing symptoms. They delay seeking help. This cultural reluctance, he explains, is precisely why so many diagnoses arrive too late to offer the full range of treatment options. "Early detection saves lives. This is a very treatable cancer," Mahl says. The screening tools exist and are straightforward: a PSA blood test, a physical examination, or an MRI. The barrier isn't medical—it's psychological and social.
September marks Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and the foundation is pushing to shift the conversation. The goal is to normalize screening, to make it as routine as any other health check, and to encourage men to speak openly about symptoms and concerns without shame. Mahl frames prostate cancer as a disease that ripples outward, affecting not just the patient but the entire family. For the Milacics, that reality is lived daily.
What's striking about Ilija Milacic's response to his diagnosis is neither denial nor despair. Instead, he's adopted a kind of defiant pragmatism. "I never think I have cancer," he says. "When somebody asks me, I say, 'Yes, I have cancer.' Big deal, they are going to cure it as much as they can, as long as they can." His son James has watched this unfold with admiration. "It's nice to see his positivity around it," James says. "I know some people can get really sad." That attitude—Milacic's refusal to let the diagnosis define his days—has become their shared strategy. It shows up in the doctor's office and on the golf course, where every round together carries weight that only they fully understand.
Seven years past a prognosis of months, Ilija Milacic is still here, still playing golf with his son, still living. His story is not a cure narrative—it's a reminder that early detection changes the calculus entirely, and that the conversation men need to have about their health often begins with breaking the silence that surrounds it.
Citações Notáveis
Early detection saves lives. This is a very treatable cancer.— Mark Mahl, executive director of Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada
I never think I have cancer. When somebody asks me, I say, 'Yes, I have cancer.' Big deal, they are going to cure it as much as they can, as long as they can.— Ilija Milacic
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does prostate cancer catch so many men at such an advanced stage?
Because men don't talk about it. They don't go to doctors for screening. They don't mention symptoms to anyone. By the time someone like Ilija gets checked, the cancer has had years to spread.
But the screening tools are simple, right? Blood tests, exams?
Completely simple. That's what makes the silence so costly. The tools exist. The knowledge exists. What's missing is the willingness to have the conversation—with a doctor, with family, with yourself.
How does a Stage 4 diagnosis change what a family does together?
It makes every moment deliberate. Ilija and his son James play golf. That's not just recreation anymore. It's time they might not have had. Seven years past a seven-to-ten-month prognosis, and they're still out there.
Is Ilija's optimism unusual, or is it common among people living with advanced cancer?
It's unusual enough that his son noticed it. Some people collapse under the weight. Ilija decided not to let the diagnosis occupy his mind. He says he doesn't think about having cancer. He just lives.
What would change if men actually got screened early?
Everything. Early prostate cancer is highly treatable. You get options. You get time. You don't get a seven-to-ten-month countdown. You get a life that looks more like the one you planned.