MOST people can tell a story about a male friend or relative whose reluctance to see a doctor can raise a laugh.
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Registered nurse Rob Woolley has plenty of such stories that raise only concern.
"I was in a rural town recently where, in the space of nine months they lost three blokes aged in their early 60s," Mr Woolley said.
"They were found dead on their properties and had been considered fit and well.
"But when the widows got together they realised their men had two things in common. One, they each complained of heartburn or indigestion. And, two, they did nothing about it. What a bugger."
Turns out what the men thought was heartburn was in fact the first symptoms of a developing cardiac incident.
Mr Wooley is not your average health care professional. He has a handlebar moustache, and is a knockabout style of a bloke whose conversations with male patients are more like chats over a beer at the pub than medical consultations in a surgery.
Mr Woolley works in the Men's Health Education Rural Van (MHERV), a purpose-built caravan with two consulting rooms.
It has been set up by Rotary District 9670 and is managed and directed by volunteer Rotarians. The van visits regional and rural towns in NSW offering men free health checks.
Mr Woolley and the MHERV have visited 65 towns, including Morisset, in 12 months. And it's working.
Men who haven't been to their GP in years have been happy to sit down with Mr Woolley in the MHERV.
"I think it's because it's informal. It's bloke to bloke. You don't have to make an appointment. You don't have to sit in a waiting room. And the consultation takes five to 10 minutes," Mr Woolley said.
With a simple finger-prick blood test, Mr Woolley tests blood sugar and LDL cholesterol levels. In the three minutes it takes for the blood results to materialise, Mr Woolley will take the patient's blood pressure and pulse, consider a body mass index (BMI) test (if the patient wants one), and discuss any other health concerns.
When the results come through, he'll decipher the numbers using plain language and, depending on the results, he might offer some dietary or lifestyle advice, or recommend the patient see a doctor.
He's lost count of the blokes he's checked whose numbers were concerning, yet they had no idea there was a problem.
"The thing is, the health problems I'm testing for have no symptoms [in the early stages]," he said. "But we can rectify some of these conditions before there are symptoms."
The same goes for prostate cancer testing for blokes older than 40, and bowel cancer testing for men (and women) older than 50, he said.
"We're not bullet proof. A quick diognostic test can let us know if there's something going on."
Morisset men's health
Mr Woolley said he saw 65 men in the MHERV at Morisset Show.
"It was a good cross section of blokes. There were older blokes, but a couple of young fellas aged 15 and 17 came in too, which was really good."
About 40 per cent of the men he saw in Morisset had elevated levels of LDL cholesterol. They each received a worksheet explaining foods that can lower cholesterol, and foods that will increase it.
About 10 men had elevated diastolic blood pressure readings and were told to see their doctors for treatment.
Overall, the snapshot Mr Woolley got of men's health in Morisset was typical of what he sees in many regional towns. And as often happens in towns wherever he goes, it was the wives, girlfriends and partners that led their men into the MHERV.
"But if the blokes leave after a consultation with me and say 'He's a funny bastard but he knows what he's talking about', then I'm a happy man," Mr Woolley said.
