In a 'now it can be told' moment, let me share with the readers that I got good news last Thursday afternoon, the day before the Missus' birthday.
Back at the end of April my doctor told me that I needed to get a prostate biopsy to check for cancer. Certain indications led him to be concerned and he felt this procedure was needed.
Being the busy guy that he is, his earliest available time was near the end of June. So that gave me a couple months to think about the implications of all of this.
The Missus, being the upbeat person that she is, stated that there was nothing to be found because I was fine. I certainly hoped so but I did think about it.
I broke the whole thing down into tasks to be accomplished: biopsy prep the week before (check); do the procedure (check); wait 10 days for the results to be ready (check); leave work early on the 10th day (check); go home, get the Missus and go to the doc's office (check); wait to speak with him....this way I wasn't brooding and worrying because I had tasks to accomplish in sequence.
It is not a surprise to anyone that anything involving modern medicine is devoid of dignity, especially a procedure such as this. I had to leave my dignity at the door and just go with it.
It was very painful, embarrassing, and the doc's ultrasound machine broke down but he persevered because neither of us wanted to do this thing all over again. When it was done I felt like crap and stayed that way for a couple of days but eventually got myself together.
So, on day 10 the Missus and I went to his office to get the pretty much good news. No cancer was detected but there were some 'irregularities' that would need to be followed up on every 6 months.
That was good enough for me! I didn't think I had been worried about the news I might receive, but I guess I was. A friend of mine recently died from prostate cancer. He was a vital person who went from healthy to dead in about a year.
Once again the Missus was my rock in all of this. She was kind and considerate to me the day of procedure. The next day though she told me to get my butt in gear and stop pretending I was sick or something. She would have made a great first sergeant in the Army!
Back at the end of April my doctor told me that I needed to get a prostate biopsy to check for cancer. Certain indications led him to be concerned and he felt this procedure was needed.
Being the busy guy that he is, his earliest available time was near the end of June. So that gave me a couple months to think about the implications of all of this.
The Missus, being the upbeat person that she is, stated that there was nothing to be found because I was fine. I certainly hoped so but I did think about it.
I broke the whole thing down into tasks to be accomplished: biopsy prep the week before (check); do the procedure (check); wait 10 days for the results to be ready (check); leave work early on the 10th day (check); go home, get the Missus and go to the doc's office (check); wait to speak with him....this way I wasn't brooding and worrying because I had tasks to accomplish in sequence.
It is not a surprise to anyone that anything involving modern medicine is devoid of dignity, especially a procedure such as this. I had to leave my dignity at the door and just go with it.
It was very painful, embarrassing, and the doc's ultrasound machine broke down but he persevered because neither of us wanted to do this thing all over again. When it was done I felt like crap and stayed that way for a couple of days but eventually got myself together.
So, on day 10 the Missus and I went to his office to get the pretty much good news. No cancer was detected but there were some 'irregularities' that would need to be followed up on every 6 months.
That was good enough for me! I didn't think I had been worried about the news I might receive, but I guess I was. A friend of mine recently died from prostate cancer. He was a vital person who went from healthy to dead in about a year.
Once again the Missus was my rock in all of this. She was kind and considerate to me the day of procedure. The next day though she told me to get my butt in gear and stop pretending I was sick or something. She would have made a great first sergeant in the Army!
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