About Our Organization

About

What is Eddie Check?

Eddie Check is a 501c3 Prostate Health Awareness Program that started in 2004. Each year Eddie Check teams up with Tennessee Urology, MEDIC, AEL and other businesses for a two-day event. We ask men to visit one of our many locations each September in East Tennessee to receive a free PSA blood test. They can also donate life-saving blood to our area hospitals through MEDIC. The prostate specific antigen blood test or PSA measures the level of PSA protein in the blood. A sample of their blood is sent out to a lab for analysis and your PSA number is established. Depending on your age and family history, that number will help your doctor determine if further testing is required.

The Eddie Check Prostate Health Awareness Organization has served men over the age of 40 since 2004.

We at Eddie Check want to remind you to see your doctor and get a regular PSA test. It could save your life.

About Eddie Check

In 1976 Eddie Kirkland died as a result of prostate cancer. In his honor started Eddie Check to help educate men on prostate health and the importance of early detection of prostate cancer.

In the US one in eight men will get prostate cancer. Unfortunately, around thirty thousand men each year die from prostate cancer. But if it is caught early, the 5-year survival rate is nearly 100%. Early detection is the key for finding prostate cancer and stopping its spread to other areas of your body.

Since 2004 Eddie Check has collected over 16,000 units of blood, given around 15,000 free PSA tests. Because of these numbers and our Prostate Health Awareness Program, Eddie Check has been instrumental in saving a countless number of lives. The prostate specific antigen blood test or PSA measures the level of PSA protein in the blood. A sample of their blood is sent out to a lab for analysis and your PSA number is established. Depending on your age and family history, that number will help your doctor determine if further testing is required.

A higher-than-normal number may be a sign of an enlarged Prostate or an infection but could also mean prostate cancer. That is why men over the age of 40 should get a regular PSA test to establish a base line. Your doctor can then follow your PSA blood test range as you get older.