Well, the visit with my regular doctor confirmed that I understood all the test results properly. He said blood in urine could be something or it could be nothing. My doctor recommended I see a urologist. He said the best way to choose a urologist is glove size. Funny thing about doctors. All of my doctors are in the same medical group, sharing a large database and using all the same diagnostic and testing services. Though that's the case, for some reason, I have to drive to the radiology department, pick up my x-rays and hand deliver them to my urologist. When I asked for the x-rays, they asked me if I wanted them on film, or digital. It might be because I make my living on the Internet, but couldn't they have just emailed the digital images to the urologist and saved me half a day? Please keep praying God has already healed me.
Well, so far so good. I have this cool online medical account with my doctor, so I can see the results of all my tests, his notes from visits and about tests…even graph the changes from past tests and visits. Here are the results of all those tests I took: Xrays: Nothing visible. Complete Blood Count: Normal Differential: Normal, but one type of white blood cell 25% higher than past tests...possibly due to infection. Urinalysis: Slightly elevated glucose, normal for a diabetic. Urine Culture: Negative...I think this rules out infection in bladder, urethra, kidneys, but prostate infection is still possible. Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA): 2.73 is only slightly elevated, but it increased from 2.42 in 5 months. Not Earth-shattering, but something to discuss with the doctor. According to the NIH, There can be several reasons for an elevated PSA, including infection, prostate enlargement, prostate cancer, inflammation, age, etc. So, it looks to my untrained eyes like the prostate is the most likely suspect and (in order of likelihood) infection, inflammation or cancer are still possible. Even if it were the worst case-cancer, the blood tests, xrays and PSA suggest it is very early. This is one of the most treatable cancers, so I'm feeling pretty good. Further Tests the doctor might recommend include: CAT scan, ultrasound, scope of the urinary tract (really looking forward to that one), and an xray with blood dye to see what's clogged. Since the last one can cause kidney failure in diabetics, I doubt they'll do it with me. Just keep waiting and praying!
For guys, if there is a question about your prostate, you know fingers are going where you don't want them. Since my doctor had been there before, it wasn't going to be that traumatic...of course, my doctor was off, today. Instead, I would see a nurse-practitioner (NP). Bad enough I was there to talk about bloody urine, after sex, and get a prostate exam, but now it was going to be with a stranger...worse, the NP was female, about 30-ist, tall, thin, blonde...she looked like one of those TV female doctors you never expect to see in real life. Now, a younger, single man might have dreamed about this situation, but it's very different in real life when you're over 50 and overweight. I was very embarrassed. She examined me for a hernia, as well, to be thorough, and it was thoroughly humiliating. She was very professional and sensitive, asking permission and apologizing for what had to be done. I apologized, too. My web research suggested they would perform a series of tests and, if no other cause was found, would assume it was infection and give me an antibiotic. This is because many people are getting these over-prescribed, causing more health problems than are solved. It may be the NP noticed I hadn't had any antibiotics in over 13 years, because she prescribed ciprofloxacin, a powerful antibiotic, to treat the most likely cause (infection) while we investigate the other causes through a series of tests. I had urinalysis, urine culture, blood tests and x-rays of the kidneys, bladder and prostate. Don't know the results of all that, yet. Some possible future tests to look forward to are ultra-sound, CT scans, and my favorite...a camera they insert in a tube to look at the inside of the prostate, bladder and kidneys. If they give me pictures, I'll share them with you. |
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