(JUNEAU) - As legislative action heats up, House Special Committee on Education Chair Representative Carl Gatto (R-Palmer) still found time to participate in the Celebration of Life Cancer Survivors' Walk in Juneau on Saturday morning. Gatto is fighting prostate cancer.

"It was July of 2000, I had just retired from the Anchorage Fire department a few months earlier, and was surprised to be diagnosed with metsastatic cancer, a highly unusual phenomenon," Gatto said. "My previous exam, just six months earlier in January of 2000, returned normal results."

Surgery did not remove all of the cancer, and Gatto continues to work to repress the remnants of the disease. Medication, eating right, and exercise are a part of Gatto's daily regimen. Exercise helps prevent bone loss, which is a common side effect from the medication. Gatto says that men should take the responsibility to maintain their own bodies and understand their health situation.

"There are a lot of guys out there that need to monitor their own health," Gatto said. "That means keeping on top of your Prostate Specific Antigens and having those levels checked regularly."

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