Catching up on health concerns

 It has been a difficult winter, and I’m not sure now what I have said to whom. This seems as good a way as any to share this widely.

Last summer I had a procedure to remove a kidney stone. At the time everything seemed to go just fine. So, when I started having back pain in December, we figured it was simply another stone. We had the appropriate CT done and and it did look like something was there. 

At the same time, there was something else. Since I had my prostate removed, my PSA (prostate specific antigen) has been checked regularly. For almost two years there hadn’t been anything to find. In December that changed. I won’t wonk out on specific numbers, but going from “not measurable” to “measurable” was enough to get our attention, including my urologist. (You never want to see a doctor say, “Oh….”)

So, January 2 I had a procedure to look for a stone. Unfortunately, they didn’t find a stone. They found a complete blockage between my kidney and my bladder. With enough time, that could damage the kidney, and so January 21 I had a nephrostomy placed - basically, an external drain from that kidney to a leg bag. Yes, there is some daily maintenance. I am blessed with a wife who is a retired hospice nurse, with experience with wound care. (Yes, I also have help available through our life care community, but Karen is better.)

And next is a procedure next month. Doctors will use some tissue from my cheek to bypass the blockage. Lord willing and all goes well, I will come home without the external drain, and that will be resolved.

In the meantime, my PSA went up even more. My biggest hope is that the two problems are not related. One struggle we have had is that the scan I need has been denied by my insurance - basically, my number is high enough to bother my urologist but not enough to convince my insurance. So, at this point concern about the cancer recurring is on hold until I have healed from the bypass procedure. We have of course looked into normal first steps in treatment, and we have an idea what doctor we will want to work with, but it’s a while before we can start on things.

There’s more, of course. There are the jokes, for one thing. But this is enough to start with. We appreciate the care and support we have both received more than I can write. We don’t really want to wait, but we can only take things one step at a time.