Thumper
05-20-2016, 11:09 AM
I haven't been around much the last few days. A big storm knocked out my internet on Tuesday. The repair guy made it here late Wednesday afternoon and got it fixed. When he left, it all of a sudden hit me like a ton of bricks. I have to pee NOW!!!!
I went back inside to pee and felt like I could pee over a house ... BUT ... all I got was a dribble. WTF? I didn't think much of it, although "something" just didn't feel right. Oh well, I needed to gas up my truck to hit an estate sale on Thursday morning, so I drove over to the gas station about 5 mins. from my house. As I got out of the truck and started pumping gas ... all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks (AGAIN) .... I have to pee NOW!!!!
I barely made it home and as I was running into the house, there was a little bit of ... well ... "leakage"! Dammit! WTF is going on? The rest of the night, it would hit me about every half hour ... no warning, I just suddenly HAD to pee. Each time, all I'd get was a dribble! It was a miserable night and I had to jump up out of bed every half hour to run to the bathroom, only to pee maybe enough to fill a shot glass. Ok, I knew right away, this is a symptom getting old and having a prostate problem. I looked the symptoms up on the i-net and out of about 10 listed, I had 6-7 of 'em! I called my doc at the VA and she told me to head straight over to the lab so they could draw blood and have me dribble into a bottle. She also gave me a bottle of general antibiotics to start on, before the lab work gets back, just in case it's an infection of some sort. Also the hospital in Tampa is sending me some meds (forgot the name) for the prostate issue.
Well, she called back this morning and said one test came out negative, but they're still running a culture that's not completed yet. The problem is, my PSA is blown off the map and it was fine at my last check-up in February. She says it could still be a urinary tract infection throwing the numbers off, but she won't know until the culture results come in. She also wants me to come in to see her on Tuesday morning so she can stick her finger up my ass. (always fun .... NOT!) She's also scheduling an appt. for me to see a urologist at the VA hospital.
Ok, normally, I'd just write this off to the typical "old man" crap ... prostate problems are VERY common in men over 50. BUT ... I went through 3+ years of drinking, bathing in and breathing Agent Orange and I'm already registered with the National A/O Registry. All that means is that the VA has already researched where I've been and what I did while in the military and have verified the exposure. It's kind of a fast-track to treatment in case anything comes up in the future as the research and leg-work has already been done. Prostate cancer is a VERY common result of A/O exposure. My SEAL buddy (we worked some of the same missions and were in some of the same places) has just finished having his prostate removed and has gone through all the radiation treatments, etc. after being diagnosed with prostate cancer due to A/O exposure.
I'm keeping a positive attitude and banking on a simple infection of some sort, but I have to be honest, the circumstances and possibilities have me a little bit nervous. Sometimes I feel like a walking time-bomb. I guess I'm just asking for a few good vibes to be sent my way (just in case). I think the waiting and the unknown is the roughest part. :(
I went back inside to pee and felt like I could pee over a house ... BUT ... all I got was a dribble. WTF? I didn't think much of it, although "something" just didn't feel right. Oh well, I needed to gas up my truck to hit an estate sale on Thursday morning, so I drove over to the gas station about 5 mins. from my house. As I got out of the truck and started pumping gas ... all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks (AGAIN) .... I have to pee NOW!!!!
I barely made it home and as I was running into the house, there was a little bit of ... well ... "leakage"! Dammit! WTF is going on? The rest of the night, it would hit me about every half hour ... no warning, I just suddenly HAD to pee. Each time, all I'd get was a dribble! It was a miserable night and I had to jump up out of bed every half hour to run to the bathroom, only to pee maybe enough to fill a shot glass. Ok, I knew right away, this is a symptom getting old and having a prostate problem. I looked the symptoms up on the i-net and out of about 10 listed, I had 6-7 of 'em! I called my doc at the VA and she told me to head straight over to the lab so they could draw blood and have me dribble into a bottle. She also gave me a bottle of general antibiotics to start on, before the lab work gets back, just in case it's an infection of some sort. Also the hospital in Tampa is sending me some meds (forgot the name) for the prostate issue.
Well, she called back this morning and said one test came out negative, but they're still running a culture that's not completed yet. The problem is, my PSA is blown off the map and it was fine at my last check-up in February. She says it could still be a urinary tract infection throwing the numbers off, but she won't know until the culture results come in. She also wants me to come in to see her on Tuesday morning so she can stick her finger up my ass. (always fun .... NOT!) She's also scheduling an appt. for me to see a urologist at the VA hospital.
Ok, normally, I'd just write this off to the typical "old man" crap ... prostate problems are VERY common in men over 50. BUT ... I went through 3+ years of drinking, bathing in and breathing Agent Orange and I'm already registered with the National A/O Registry. All that means is that the VA has already researched where I've been and what I did while in the military and have verified the exposure. It's kind of a fast-track to treatment in case anything comes up in the future as the research and leg-work has already been done. Prostate cancer is a VERY common result of A/O exposure. My SEAL buddy (we worked some of the same missions and were in some of the same places) has just finished having his prostate removed and has gone through all the radiation treatments, etc. after being diagnosed with prostate cancer due to A/O exposure.
I'm keeping a positive attitude and banking on a simple infection of some sort, but I have to be honest, the circumstances and possibilities have me a little bit nervous. Sometimes I feel like a walking time-bomb. I guess I'm just asking for a few good vibes to be sent my way (just in case). I think the waiting and the unknown is the roughest part. :(