Take Care of Yourself, Men

Normally the daily piece here is written the night before so that I can actually wake up, publish it, send it off to the world, and do what I actually get paid for the rest of the day.

This one is a little different, because yesterday was a little different, and leaves me a bit thoughtful this morning.

Monday afternoon late found me in the Surgical Center of a local hospital, undergoing a wonderfully uncomfortable process known as a prostate biopsy. This procedure was necessitated by the fact that my prostate-specific antigen, or "PSA" level, after years of being called "a bit high" at 3-4 or so, had gotten up to a value of over 7.

Now, there are various indicators of when PSA levels should make you concerned about things like prostate cancer, particularly when the number rises fairly quickly (my rise was slow but starting from an elevated point).  Nothing else had suggested a problem, but the doctor thought it best to check a bit more invasively.  A high level can can simply be from inflammation, of course, but better to know.

In a week or two, I will hear the results.  At best, they will have found nothing untoward, and they'll continue to watch my PSA levels for the rest of my life.  At worst, they will find something that necessitates prostate removal, and that is a pretty routine thing that I'm not particularly fearful of, except that since we are relocating in two weeks, it would be performed by a brand-new practice of urologists.

I mention all this not to get all surgical on you, but because we as men don't talk that much about urological things, and there are factors we should take into account.  The reality is that all men, were we to live long enough, would suffer from an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH) and, eventually, prostate cancer.  It is inevitable if you live long enough, and you only don't get it if something else gets you first.

And prostate cancer, fortunately, is a very, very slow-growing disease.  It is fairly easy to detect, fairly easy to contain if it is detected, and fairly easy to cure through removal of the prostate gland with little subsequent problem after recovery.  Surgery in that area is pretty advanced these days and the recovery quite smooth now.

So -- this column is a simple reminder to all of my brother readers, and all my sister readers with men on your life.  I know far, far too many men who do not undergo an annual physical, let alone a PSA test.  Get the physical.  Get your PSA tested.  There is no downside, and if indeed you are discovered to have something that needs addressing, it is a routine procedure anymore.

I don't even know how my results will turn out, but I am quite confident in being readily able to deal with the result, if for no other reason than, by having monitored PSA for years, I know that I have acted properly in accordance with the results. Having been aware of slightly elevated levels for a long-enough period, I also know that if anything further needs to be done, we are doing so in good time.

Do the same.  Do your family the service and be good to your self.  Set up an annual physical and include a PSA test.

This has been a public service announcement by www.UberThoughtsUSA.

Copyright 2016 by Robert Sutton
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