Cancer Update

'Tis the month of June, which means it's time for my semi-annual cancer screening.
So far, so good.

Not likely I'll ever have Prostate Cancer again (since they took it completely out), but those little cancer cells have a way of showing up elsewhere later on, so I've got to be vigilant.

Here, now, is my semi-annual invocation to the rest of you danglers: Go get a blood test for your PSA levels. At the least, you'll have a base-line result for later comparison. At best, you'll catch early anything that might be growing in your nether regions you'd be better off without.

Last week I underwent what I hope will be my last surgery associated with this whole Prostate Cancer ordeal.
After two and a half years, I was still, as they say in polite company, incontinent to a degree. Some days, it was a degree of exponential magnitude.
I was only half-joking when I said I was seeing the world's most expensive plumber regularly--and they weren't making house calls!

But this time I think we got a handle on it.
Actually, a sling.
(Parental Warning: this link is fairly graphic.)

There is a procedure for both men and women who suffer from urinary incontinence in which a strip of mesh webbing is literally slung from the pubic bone, raising the bladder and its sphincter back into its original, anatomical address. Less pressure on the bladder, less stress on the sphincter, and voila--most people experience immediate freedom from paper products with enhanced absorption capabilities.

I had this done on Wednesday morning, and was home that afternoon. They literally hung me, slung me, and schlepped me out the door before afternoon tee-times. Granted, I couldn't beat anyone in a foot race, but after all that I've been through, this one was comparatively easy.

I'd like to publicly thank Dr. Erin T. Bird and Dr. Belur J. Patel and their amazing staff at the Scott & White Health Science Center in Temple, Texas where I received my care.

You're welcome to contact me for more details about my experience and post-operative results, or you can check out this link for more. Meanwhile, only 5-weeks left before I can get back on my bike.
A recumbent, of course!