A PSA about your PSA

[slothead]

I can't decide which makes me prouder to be part of HRW, Dave sharing his story here for us all to acknowledge the value of early detection, or the wonderful display of friendship and support everyone has shown. Guess it's the same thing really.

Dave - best wishes for a full recovery, and thumbs up to everyone.

Slothead

[dreinecke]

[BARC 1]

My prayers and thoughts are with you, and your speedy recovery. Issue discovered and dealt with, and now you can move forward.

Sharing your experience is a positive thing to come out of this, and the fact that 50% of all men will develop prostrate cancer is hopefully enough to ensure all of us have discussions with our doctors. It simply can not be ignored.

Thanks for sharing Dave. I know the anguish of the past few months probably took a little wind out of your sails(or should I say lowered your RPMs). Now you can rebound quickly,and enjoy life to its fullest.

God Bless you

Dan

[RV Racing]

Dave,

Sending positive thoughts for a full and speedy recovery. You did the right thing, both in your decision and in sharing your experience with our online brotherhood.

Peace,
Rick vV

[dreinecke]

Thanks gents. I got a follow up call from the urologist with more on the pathology - while they will never say 100% cure, he did actually clarify that the cancer was nowhere near the outer sheath so he is completely confident nothing got out.

Just to make today better, my 1957 Chevy showed up today and I am really looking forward to running it tomorrow!

I also had two guys from work call to ask how I was and they informed me that they just found out they have something showing up and that they are about to do biopsies etc. so they had a LOT of questions obviously. I'm always here to help and am grateful for those that have helped me.

[Broman62]

Dave... great to hear your recovery is going in a positive direction!!! Hoping you have a strong and quick recovery!!

If I may add, my dad had prostate cancer, had it removed and survived it so this meant that I possibly could be a gene carrier!!! So starting at about 42 when my doctor found out he recommended I start getting my prostate checked yearly at my yearly physical!! Yes, it was embarrassing the first time but when I told my brother about it he said, "Brother, 5 seconds of indignity can add 20 years to your life!!"and I never forgot that and next week I go in for my yearly visit(the day before my 54th birthday) and hope all is still good!!! So to me age is not a factor but if it's in your gene pool GET IT CHECKED!!!! One more related thing...if your nearing 50ish and haven't had it done yet....GET A COLONOSCOPY!!! I had my first one done this winter and believe me when I say it is not a big deal at all to go thru... from start of "drinking of the juice" to when you wake up after the procedure!!! They did find 1 larger than normal polyp and removed it so the doctor recommended that I have a screening every 3 years because I am a candidate and believe me I will follow it up regularly!!! Guys take care of your bodies!!!

[dreinecke]

Broman - glad you've been checked - I've already had the talk with the LT to have it done too. I'm not too modest so I really don't worry about stuff like checkups. I hit the magical 50 next year so that is at the top of the list for that appointment.

Ok, back to slot cars LOL!

[TsgtRet]

I have to relate what I told my (lady) doctor during my last prostate exam: I related what Alan Alda said in "Same Time, Next Year" ; His female doctor asked him if he was tense because she was a woman performing the exam and he said: "No, I get tense when anyone does that to me!"
My Doc got a pretty good laugh and it relieved the tension :mrgreen:

[strangebrew]

Are you sure it isn't better to have a lady fool around with you than a GUY! :D

[waaytoomuchintothis]

When I moved from Texas to Virginia, I changed to a lady doctor. She is the tiniest person you ever saw, and I bet she doesn't weigh over 90 pounds (after two children!) When the same situation happened, and she said the same "I hope that wasn't too uncomfortable", I was nervous enough to tell her it was a pleasure because the last doctor who did that to me had hands even bigger than my huge mitts, and I held my hand up for her to see (dwarfing hers). She and her assistant doubled over and hooted laughing. Interestingly, she has never had me undergo that exam since!

[dreinecke]

[ccobra]

Thanks for sharing the information and hope you get well soon. One word of caution though, don't take the percocet (sp) on an empty stomach, when I did it made my blood pressure up and an anxiety attack. I ended up driving to the VA hospital and checking into the ER. Must admit though, slot cars were the best remedy for recovery for me after my c-spine surgery.

[dreinecke]

CCobra - I'm with you. I did my massive shoulder surgery with no meds coming home. Sucked it up because I hate the way narcos make me feel. This time I asked for Tramadol for the house, but they also gave me Percocet. I took that for a full day and switched, but again, hating how it makes me feel. The Tramadol gave me two instances last night where I felt like my BP dropped like a rock and started a panic attack. I was totally fine and took my BP, but it was that hallucinating effect. So, as of 2am today, I'm on Tylenol. I can live through this without the crazy effects.

[dreinecke]

I've had quite a few emails asking how things are, so here's a quick update:

First, a member contacted me and said that this post convinced him to get his checked this week for the first time ever. That is exactly the response I was hoping this post would generate!

I'm doing ok, the parts I'm not are my fault. I really wanted to get off the meds as quickly as possible and started cutting way back over the weekend. That was not a good plan as I had a few unhappy days. So, I've modified what meds I take and removed the one that made me feel the worst and cut back on the dosage to the point I can tolerate it on the other drug. Much better sleeping and waking today. Just took a few days to get that dialed in. My post-op is Thursday and I am looking forward to that.

Anyway - Get checked out!

[padirtfan]

David, I feel terrible as I just now saw this. I really hope you're on the mend and doing well. I get checked every year and now I'm really glad that I do. Take care.