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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 04/21/2008 : 12:40:57 PM
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Gentlemen: Please heed the wise words of Peter Medeiros. Even if you have no symptoms now, screening should be done followiing established medical guidelines.
Please -- do your Auntie Wanda a favor. I think your wives and/or significant others would certainly feel better knowing you have looked into the issue. Peter is fighting a brave battle. I am sorry that he has to fight so hard. I would like to hope his warnings and words of wisdom can prevent at least one of you guys from having problems such as his. Please. Also -- I am a very good nudge. I can pester the daylights out of you. Don't make me come over there. Do it. Now.
From http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org
At this link you can find specifics on when you should be screened and what the tests entail. Nothing too bad -- a blood test and the old gloved finger up the you-know-what. http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org/site/c.itIWK2OSG/b.47285/k.CCF1/Detection__Screening.htm
Prostate Cancer Symptoms
If the cancer is caught at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms. Some men, however, will experience symptoms that might indicate the presence of prostate cancer, including:
A need to urinate frequently, especially at night;
Difficulty starting urination or holding back urine;
Weak or interrupted flow of urine;
Painful or burning urination;
Difficulty in having an erection;
Painful ejaculation;
Blood in urine or semen; or
Frequent pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, or upper thighs.
Because these symptoms can also indicate the presence of other diseases or disorders, such as BPH or prostatitis, men who experience any of these symptoms will undergo a thorough work-up to determine the underlying cause of the symptoms.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2165 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 4:57:59 PM
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Eh, Wanda! Good you wen' remind us! Also, healthy diet, sleep, physical activity and plenny music!
I fell asleep during a colonoscopy, boring! No comments, please! Retro, I sense you thinking! |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 8:36:24 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by thumbstruck
I fell asleep during a colonoscopy, boring! No comments, please! Retro, I sense you thinking!
Ummm...sorry, can't resist.
It's my understanding that they prefer you fall asleep during, fwiw, that's why they shoot you full of Benadryl.
I turned 50 this month - guess what's in store for me this year? I've had upper endos for several years, but this time will be the first lower. I'm gonna ask 'em to do them simultaneously, so the cameras can greet each other in the middle.
As for prostate checks, well...those didn't wait for 50. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 9:19:38 PM
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They didn't shoot me full of benadryl for colonoscopy -0- the gave me good pills plus IV's of valium. Gives you a dreamy, cozy feeling and before you know it, it is done and over. Colonscopy preparation is definitely a bummer, though. It is worth it, though. My mother died at age 53 from colon cancers. She was a nurse. She knew the symptoms but pushed them to the back of her mind to show the dad-blamed doctors and they couldn't boss her around and send her home because her pre-test prep was not clean enough. It takes intestiinal polyps about 10 yers to grow into cancer. Therefore, every three years is a good time frame to get tested once anyone hits 50. It should just be one of those things you do. Women get routinely tested for cervical cancer by getting a Pap smear. The prostate testing is really not so bad when you think of the consequences.
Braddah Ed - you are off the hook for now. But, I have a long memory. . . . I'm glad yours came out "clean as a whistle". I bet you weren't whistling when you were drinking that "stuff".
Gregg- you let the cat out of the bag on your birthday ending in a big ZERO -- Momi didn't even snitch on you. What a woman! |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 04/21/2008 9:20:06 PM |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2008 : 08:32:59 AM
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Wanda,
My Dad has/had Colon cancer. At the time, it was not a pretty story. Although after chemo, radiation, and surgery, he has been cancer free for four years and is almost back to normal activities.
At his request and "nudge", for my 50th, I went and had the good doctors at Kaiser do the double whammy -- "Barium Enema" and "Colonoscopy". I can laugh it it now, the worst part was the gunk they give you to "clean the pipes" before the "events". When I was the Engineering Officer of the Watch on my old 1200psi Destroyer, we used to routinely do a "bottom blow" to remove the accumulated sediment at the bottom of the steam drum. That is what it felt like. After that the BE&C were child's play.  |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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Ben
Lokahi
USA
122 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2008 : 10:37:59 AM
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Good news about your dad, Mikaele!
I had a good friend who only found out he had it during a routine physical - no symptoms. He was not so lucky, though he was unbelievably brave about it.
I don't know what kind of happy juice I had in my IV, but I was completely out! Best sleep in a long time. Found one benign polyp, but a quick 8< snip 8< and no worries.
Some tips for those who use the NuLitely for cleanout to make it really no big deal: 1) Don't use the flavorings - they don't hide anything and you'll just hate that taste afterward; 2) Use a straw placed as far back in your mouth as possible - minimizes how much you taste (and even that wasn't all that horrible); and 3) Take a tiny little sip of cranberry juice just before and just after your 8 oz of the clean-out - cleanses the palate as it were.
I had expected to start feeling very full after my 4th glass or so, but that never happened. I was able to keep right on my 10 minute schedule ('sept once when I was otherwise occupied).
From one who was reluctant, this advice: Just do it. The worst part was the empty belly but even that was only for a day, and there are people who spend most of their lives hungry, so who am I to whine about a single day's discomfort? |
MÄlama pono
Ben |
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Auntie Maria
Ha`aha`a
USA
1918 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2008 : 12:15:58 PM
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My husband (Bob) is a prostate cancer survivor -- and his experience can be a wake-up call for you men.
Despite regular annual physicals (including the "turn your head and cough"!), our family physician detected nothing and never ordered a PSA blood test for him. Bob had none of the symptoms already listed by Wanda.
Then his employer offered free, extensive annual physical exams for all their management personnel and their spouses. But we had to use the medical staff selected by the employer. No problem -- it was free, so why not? The doc who examined Bob was calmly alarmed with the results of the "turn your head and cough" digital exam, referred Bob to a urologist immediately, who (after a PSA blood test, and two biopsy sessions within one week) referred Bob to a specialist at Stanford -- who had Bob in surgery less than a week later.
No need to go into all the details -- suffice it to say he successfully passed all 12 of the exams required over the past six years and is now officially cancer-free.
Get that PSA test annually, guys! It saved my husband's life. |
Auntie Maria
===================
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2008 : 2:12:47 PM
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Auntie Maria -- it is wonderful news to hear that Bob is cancer free. I am sure it was a long, hard road for him.
But, to my bruddahs out there - this shows you that prostate cancer discovered early on does not mean an automatic death sentence. It is preety curable if you do the right things. Please.
And don't do things to abuse your body, like I did. Eat good food, a wholesome diet low in fat, low in salt, with plenty of colors. No smoking. Do some type of cardio workout at least 1/2 an hour three days a week. Just go for a walk, or push the kids on the swing, go swimming. Need a wee bit more exercising than strumming your stringed instrument. Now, if you play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard (no chiisai chimpo), that might count.
Malama kou kino. Preventative maintenance is much easier than remedial maintenance, whether it is your house, your car or your body. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2008 : 11:20:13 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
Auntie Maria -- it is wonderful news to hear that Bob is cancer free. I am sure it was a long, hard road for him.
But, to my bruddahs out there - this shows you that prostate cancer discovered early on does not mean an automatic death sentence. It is preety curable if you do the right things. Please.
And don't do things to abuse your body, like I did. Eat good food, a wholesome diet low in fat, low in salt, with plenty of colors. No smoking. Do some type of cardio workout at least 1/2 an hour three days a week. Just go for a walk, or push the kids on the swing, go swimming. Need a wee bit more exercising than strumming your stringed instrument. Now, if you play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard (no chiisai chimpo), that might count.
Malama kou kino. Preventative maintenance is much easier than remedial maintenance, whether it is your house, your car or your body.
I don't know how I missed this thread, but I have to tell y'all that I am an 11 year survivor of prostate cancer. That, in addition to my fall, means this cat has only 8 lives left! I was diagnosed early, thanks to heads-up action from my doctor. I had 6 weeks of external raditation and then seed implants. It was easy for me to figure out the half life of the iodine - my implants went in on Cinco de Mayo, and the half life was July 4! My PSA's had started to climb, and my doctor sent me to a very good urologist. Get 'em checked, guys! I also get a colonoscopy every other year. Wanda is right - they traquilized me and I: 1) don't rememeber much and 2) felt preety good from the drugs. The alternative is too grim to contemplate, if you like being alive. |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2008 : 6:43:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Retro
I turned 50 this month - guess what's in store for me this year? I've had upper endos for several years, but this time will be the first lower. I'm gonna ask 'em to do them simultaneously, so the cameras can greet each other in the middle.
...and now you all know how I celebrated 08/08/08.  |
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PoiDog
Lokahi
245 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2008 : 10:52:49 AM
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Dude...Everything comes out the day before. Everything.
When I had mine done, I seemed to be having a dream, "WTF is punching me in the stomach?" Then I woke up during the procedure. Then I went back to la-la land.
Funny thing is, when I was in recovery, I asked the nurse about waking up. Nobody would give me a straight answer...they all kind of avoided the question. But there was this residual/after effect feeling of having been punched in the stomach a few times. Bastids...
Oh this is about prostate cancer....been there, done that too...Yeah, guys, get yer PSA checked. |
Aloha,
da Poi Dog |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2008 : 11:15:02 AM
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Good for you, Gregg. Poor Momi, though.
I remember first one I had, even though I was all "relaxed" with intravenous valium, I was talking to them about how I inspected landing gear cylinders with a lighted borescope, sorta like they were using on me. This last time, I lay on the table and next thing I knew, it was pau. This is something I get to look forward to this fall, once again.
Az y hahd. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2008 : 2:24:06 PM
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The diet on preparation day made me dislike apple juice and white grape juice. Especially the white grape juice. Makes me want to barf just thinking of it.
Poi Dog - they really do not anesthetize you, only sedate you, which really, really relaxes you so you don't really care what they are doing to you. You may sleep through it and maybe not. Lots of times, as the device has to turn the corners, it hurts as they are shoving it around and you may be jolted out of the cozy, comfy slumber. So it was probably not a dream, it was probably reality. Some folks can stay awake through it. I know one guy who watched the progress on the computer screen. Me, I'd druther sleep or zone out or whatevah.
But all for a good reason. Living with the temporary discomfort is way better than the potential problems if you never get checked. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2008 : 03:41:44 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
The diet on preparation day made me dislike apple juice and white grape juice. Especially the white grape juice. Makes me want to barf just thinking of it.
Poi Dog - they really do not anesthetize you, only sedate you, which really, really relaxes you so you don't really care what they are doing to you. You may sleep through it and maybe not. Lots of times, as the device has to turn the corners, it hurts as they are shoving it around and you may be jolted out of the cozy, comfy slumber. So it was probably not a dream, it was probably reality. Some folks can stay awake through it. I know one guy who watched the progress on the computer screen. Me, I'd druther sleep or zone out or whatevah.
But all for a good reason. Living with the temporary discomfort is way better than the potential problems if you never get checked.
y'know, it's good to get yourself cleaned out every once in a while - ni kidding! |
keaka |
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guitarded
Ha`aha`a
USA
1799 Posts |
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