Back From Hospital II
I am home from the appointment at the Ottawa General Hospital with the urologist.
That was, to say the least, uncomfortable. I arrived at the hospital, and managed to find some decent parking without a problem. After making my way to the Cancer Assessment Clinic, I got to fill in a ton of paperwork about my medical history, that interesting enough, also dealt with my sexual history (prostate problems are partially related to sex and stuff, so...) I came to conclude, after filling in all the paperwork, that at 55 years of age, I've lived an interesting, if somewhat less-than-mundane life than I had thought.
The doctor's resident and personal assistant on new cases, Amy, took me in to the office, and went over the medical history, and asked a few questions about stuff. It's amazing how clinically one can talk about one's own sex life and stuff when dealing with doctors, to be honest. After clarifying some info on my meds, both the diabetes and the prostate stuff, I waited for about 10 more minutes before the doctor came in to see me.
The doctor in question was a relatively young man in his late 40s, early 50s, with a pretty good bedside manner and charm, considering I was a new patient, and somewhat nervous and anxious. After talking about my medical history and when the prostate problems first started, he told me that the PSA test that I had two days ago had come back, and the results were down to 1.68 again, after the last test had a result of 4.08. He explained that a lot of things could cause this, and so he told me what we could potentially rule out or rule in. He then took me across to an exam room, where he performed two DREs on me (you want to know what that means, ask in the Comments, I dare ya!). They were both somewhat uncomfortable, but not unbearably so, but let's just say that I still have no fondness for being anally probed (either way). Furthermore, the second probe that he did would cause a bit of pain the rest of the day down in that part of my anatomy, and he told me to take Tylenol or some such as needed. He said that the prostate didn't seem to him to be unduly swollen or problematic, but that we would do another PSA test in about four months and schedule another appointment. If things on that PSA test come back with a high reading again, then a prostate biopsy will be necessary. And he spelled out for me how that works, and suffice it to say, it's not comfortable and is pretty invasive.
We talked about a few other things pertaining to my prostate as it relates to the diabetes, and then I headed out of there.
Stopped off on the way home, and picked up a turkey sub from Subway, and then came home to shower again. Just didn't feel clean.
And that's that. Not as bad as I expected, but not a...pleasant experience. As expected, I suppose.
That was, to say the least, uncomfortable. I arrived at the hospital, and managed to find some decent parking without a problem. After making my way to the Cancer Assessment Clinic, I got to fill in a ton of paperwork about my medical history, that interesting enough, also dealt with my sexual history (prostate problems are partially related to sex and stuff, so...) I came to conclude, after filling in all the paperwork, that at 55 years of age, I've lived an interesting, if somewhat less-than-mundane life than I had thought.
The doctor's resident and personal assistant on new cases, Amy, took me in to the office, and went over the medical history, and asked a few questions about stuff. It's amazing how clinically one can talk about one's own sex life and stuff when dealing with doctors, to be honest. After clarifying some info on my meds, both the diabetes and the prostate stuff, I waited for about 10 more minutes before the doctor came in to see me.
The doctor in question was a relatively young man in his late 40s, early 50s, with a pretty good bedside manner and charm, considering I was a new patient, and somewhat nervous and anxious. After talking about my medical history and when the prostate problems first started, he told me that the PSA test that I had two days ago had come back, and the results were down to 1.68 again, after the last test had a result of 4.08. He explained that a lot of things could cause this, and so he told me what we could potentially rule out or rule in. He then took me across to an exam room, where he performed two DREs on me (you want to know what that means, ask in the Comments, I dare ya!). They were both somewhat uncomfortable, but not unbearably so, but let's just say that I still have no fondness for being anally probed (either way). Furthermore, the second probe that he did would cause a bit of pain the rest of the day down in that part of my anatomy, and he told me to take Tylenol or some such as needed. He said that the prostate didn't seem to him to be unduly swollen or problematic, but that we would do another PSA test in about four months and schedule another appointment. If things on that PSA test come back with a high reading again, then a prostate biopsy will be necessary. And he spelled out for me how that works, and suffice it to say, it's not comfortable and is pretty invasive.
We talked about a few other things pertaining to my prostate as it relates to the diabetes, and then I headed out of there.
Stopped off on the way home, and picked up a turkey sub from Subway, and then came home to shower again. Just didn't feel clean.
And that's that. Not as bad as I expected, but not a...pleasant experience. As expected, I suppose.