After my
annual physical this past summer, the doctor ordered the usual blood work.
Everything was fine except this year he noticed a slight increase in my PSA.
I’m not sure what PSA means but it is used, in addition to the rectal
examination, to evaluate the condition of the prostate gland, a common source
of cancer in men. Although some question the validity of PSA results, this year
my reading moved above 4, a kind of benchmark.
The doctor
ordered another blood test and this time it read 5, still not a dangerous level
but enough to make him suggest I see a specialist. An appointment was quickly
arranged with my urologist whose practiced finger detected a slight lump in my
prostate. This finding made him recommend a biopsy of the prostate. He
explained what the biopsy entailed and scheduled the test for the week before
Christmas.
In the
examination room I had to get up on a table and assume a position much like a
woman about to give birth. Next to the table was a probe that looked over a
foot long. The probe contained a tiny camera so the doctor could look around.
Of course, I had to take an enema a couple of hours before. The probe also
contained a needle that would actually take about 14 cell samples from the
prostate.
Just as the
doctor was about to insert the probe, I asked if I could ask a question. He
agreed and I asked why he ever decided to take up such a specialty. Even the
attending nurse had to laugh but he took time to give an answer I will never
forget.
He explained
that when he went to medical school, he had no idea of what specialty to
pursue. However, his best professor turned out to be a urologist and showed him
and his other students how important that work was in healing people, many in
great agony. If you can open up or clear a blockage, the patient experiences
almost immediate relief from incredible pain. To paraphrase his words, the
doctor who can achieve such a result will have a friend for life.
His words
immediately brought to mind a college professor of my own. His name was Ross
J.S. Hoffman and I took his eighteenth century English history class in my senior
year at Fordham University in NY. Although nearing the end of his teaching
career, he was kind of a legend at Fordham. At the time though, I had no idea
of the extent of his scholarship or his position in the historical community.
To me he was
just an imposing and awesome teacher who could take you back into the past and
make you believe you were actually in it. More than anyone else he made me
realize that history was serious business, and not just a record of names and
dates. It was his class that made me decide to concentrate in British history
in graduate school at Columbia. Later I returned to the doctoral program at Fordham
and Dr. Hoffman agreed to supervise my dissertation. It took me awhile
but he stayed with me even after he retired into Professor Emeritus status. I
still recall visiting him at his home where he would go over each chapter line
by line. He was a tough critic but I remember those sessions with great
fondness. He spoke with authority mixed with real concern for me and my growing family.
I suppose many
people have had the kind of experience that my urologist and I had with an
older role model. It is unfortunate that many college students today who take
their courses online or in large lecture halls will never have this life
changing experience.
This blog post
is a kind of tribute to my urologist. He went into medicine for the right
reason and today he is one of the leading practitioners in his field. He and
many other doctors I have encountered are the real heart of the American
medical system. But let’s conclude with the biopsy.
It was a painless procedure and shortly after Christmas my urologist called with the results that
indicated that I had some cancer cells in my 75-year-old prostate. He
immediately ordered some follow up tests to see if the cancer had spread
elsewhere. In short order I had a chest x-ray, a bone scan, and two MRIs.
Just
yesterday he informed me that there were no signs that the cancer had spread. I
will see him tomorrow to discuss the treatment for the prostate cancer.
Apparently, if you get cancer, prostate cancer is the best kind since the
treatment success rate is very high.
So, after a
hectic holiday season I would like to wish my readers a very happy New Year. I
will be taking some time off in the next two months but will keep looking for
material for the Weekly Bystander. It’s amazing that you can find material even
while someone is about to shove a probe up your ass.
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