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Prostate Health
I did not want to start a new topic about prostates, but the others were focused on cancer which is not my situation. I will turn 59 in 11 days. I’ve been in good health all my life. I’m not sedentary, don’t smoke, and don’t drink much. I have never checked into a hospital.
For about the past year, I experienced increased urgency and frequency in urination with not a lot of output with a lot of effort. It was an inconvenience at work and at home it prevented good sleep. I finally saw a urologist a couple months ago. Painful testing there (catheters and scopes) yielded a large prostate diagnosis. Larger than large I figured since the weight was off the scale of the fun little prostate models at the urologists office. A plan was made for a procedure to reduce prostate size with another urologist. This would not happen till at least December.
Monday this past week, things got much worse. I had to go every 10-15 min. It was ridiculous especially combined with the usual strain. I put up with this until the next day when I had additional abdominal pain. Thanks to my wife being home, she kicked my butt to go to an urgent care center. The doc there did not have access to scanning equipment so she recommended going to ER.
Thankfully, there was a close one and it did not take long to be seen. There, I was introduced to the joy of morphine and the anxiety of a full catheter. The technician was a magician as the catheter insertion was less painful than a blood test needle insertion. A catscan revealed that I had a kidney blockage, diagnosed as acute renal failure. My prostate was preventing the bladder from fully evacuating. I was checked in, with catheter and bag in tow.
I was put on an IV and attended to with blood draws and the usual vital checks. A doc provided updates on my condition. Having the blockage removed was bringing my kidney function to normal. A urologist came by to discuss treatment. He put me on uroflow and another med to help shrink the prostate. I checked out yesterday (two night stay) with full catheter and a small bag. I have a urologist appt next wednesday when he will remove the catheter and noninvasively measure prostate size. We will also plan future options like keeping on meds, TURP, blue laser.
I am extremely thankful to feel somewhat normal again. It is life changing for me to have not have my prior symptoms. I guess this can be considered a cautionary tale for anyone having difficulty urinating. Get it checked ASAP. My stubbornness almost created an irreversible problem.
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