Follow Up Visit, Breathing Room, and Buy the Book

Had a good follow up visit with my primary health PA today. The most pressing issue is these damn allergies that are keeping my nose stopped up and my cough going. I am now armed with information and medicine, along with a routine to finally get rid of the little buggers for good.

We talked about my desires and approach to PC. My PA put my wife at ease with the information that I have on spread outside the gland. I'd tried to support this notion before, but it's good that she got the "official" word. I didn't mind hearing it again either.

Given my age and the percentage and grade of cells found by the biopsy, I have plenty of time to monitor this thing and make some considered decisions.

In this case, time is on my side. More advances in medicine and technology will be made in the next few years, all to my advantage I believe. And, while that time goes on, I might get caught by the grim reaper in entirely some other fashion.

I must repeat. Don't get rushed into anything you may regret.

Whenever the subject of prostate cancer comes up around men, and women too, the cancer word kind of takes over the conversation and perceptions of most people. As the authors of The Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers point out, for most of us, this should be considered as a condition rather than a disease with the reputation that cancer enjoys. But, I've seen this happen, the attitude and perceptions of those involved in the conversation always move toward doing something. Treatment. Cure.

I've not met many men who had PC, or have it, that were not moved toward some kind of treatment pretty early in the diagnosis stage. And, most did not fully understand the consequences of treatment.

Don't let that be you. Buy that book and learn about what we are dealing with - the condition, and the industry that has developed around it. The Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers. A most significant and important book.

Scratch One More

One of my best friends came by to visit a couple of days ago. I learned that he has been through this too, and started out with an urologist from the "assembly line" school. "We'll just clip that prostate..."
Not words a guy wants to hear. No sympathy, understanding or basic courtesy. My friend dropped him like a hot rock and went on to find better medical help. I intend to do the same.

In that vein, I embarked on a internet search to learn as much as possible about the radiologist that had been referred by my urologist - the one I just fired. I didn't learn much, because there is not much out there on him, but what I did learn prompted me to cancel my appointment after reading comments by one patient who was pretty pissed off. Now, although these comments may have been posted by someone not fond of this doctor for other reasons, they were pretty detailed and unsettling. This, coupled with no other actual reviews by patients, almost no information about his practice and the fact that he recently graduated from a lower ranked medical school was enough for me.

I am learning that the prostate cancer industry is really huge. The after effects are often worse than the disease, depending on the treatment, and I have read that some people feel it's a money-generating industry for some people who are not so much interested in the whole picture of health and well-being for their patients.

The search continues because the consequences are serious.