Just an update from my post of a few days ago, ref prostate investigation.
The Dr told me to go have a blood test, then make an appointment to see her face to face.
Blood taken yesterday, made the appointment to see the Dr while I was there, first available.......... 5 weeks, 2 days.
Good job its nothing important! 🙄
If the bloods come back and something is wrong I’m sure you would get an earlier appointment.
That's what the nurse told me, then added that the follow up with the doctor is because the blood test doesn't always show a problem, even if there is.I know I can get an early one if I really need to, all the doctors in the health centre keep 2 spare appointments each day for emergencies.
This is poor, keep chasing. In 2020 I had an acquaintance with a strange looking blotch on their face. I said they should get it looked at by their GP. Their GP refused a face-to-face but asked them to email over a photograph.
12 weeks later the GP contacted her and asked her to come it. It was cancer, and now she's dead. I'm not sure why she didn't chase it during those 12 weeks, but it acts as a reminder to me that no-on cares more about your own health than you. Push, cajole and be awkward.
It's how things are in the NHS these days.Only this morning my OH had a call from her neurologist about an MS relapse she's having, he was furious that she's been waiting just over a year for a procedure to seal an open wound where a feeding peg was removed and it leaks nearly every day. He can't treat her relapse with steroids till the wound is sealed. The dept responsible are really dragging their heals.
My friend's 85 yr old husbandman has been waiting 2 yrs for a holter monitor- even though he's had several TIA attacks. She's phone numerous times. FInally a new GP got onto it, phoned cardio, played hell and he has it fitted tomorrow.
Sounds like our GPs but if the blood test is of any concern, trust me you'll get a phone call before the 5 weeks are up.
I think I'll be getting a call when I return the bladder diary I've been keeping for a couple of days. I'm surprised at the results myself.Definately something not right, it's a question of severity.
That's the problem with looking after someone else 24/7, I tend to neglect my own health a little.
If you don't look after yourself, how can you be well enough to look after someone else. Priorities! Best ofluck. The lack of communication these days is terrible. I only found out by sheer accident two days ago that my online records say that in March 2021 I was diagnosed with kidney failure. NO one bothered to ever mention it to me. Turne d out it w as two dodgy blood tests then everything w as normal. I don't have kidney failure but it was a horrific shock to read it.
Yes, it's my turn to get sorted now.The last year especially has been tough and pretty intense with nurses coming and going, all times of the day and night, but it's calmed down a little so it's the perfect time for me to get checked out.
I have a history of urology problems so can speak with some personal knowledge. An enlarged prostate is usually down to BPH (look it up) which is an increasing likelihood as men get older. Living with BPH is more an inconvenience than something sinister. However as men get older there is also an increasing likelihood of prostate cancer, with some men being more at risk than others e.g. a father or close blood relative with prostate cancer. One indicator that prostate cancer may be developing is a PSA test, which all men over 50 are entitled to under the NHS, but may have to ask for. PSA levels in your blood slowly increase as you get older, but if you have a high PSA level it may be cause for further investigation. I suggest you find out what your PSA blood test has shown, and if it is above accepted norms for your age seek an earlier review with your GP. But bear in mind that a high PSA level is not the only symptom of prostate cancer, so if you have any other symptoms like bleeding you need to flag them up sooner rather than later. That said you can have a low PSA reading and still have prostate cancer, which is what I have, although it is not thought too serious at this time meaning I am on the NHS active surveillance programme.
Thank you for your reply.I've recently come across BPH when checking out an old death cert from 1941, (a gt grandfather) and prostatic hypertrophy was listed under 2 other conditions, uraemia and urinary retention.
So I checked it all out and knew straight away what I am suffering with.
Talking with the doctor, only telling her of the symptoms, she immediately came to that conclusion and told me it's a common complaint in older men and probably will mean medication but there is a risk of cancer.
I've completed a bladder diary to give her tomorrow when I pass the centre. I'm sure I'll get an early call when she reads it.
At this point, I'm not worried about it.
As I said BPH is usually only an inconvenience. It can be helped by drugs like Tamsulosin, which is what I have taken for years, although an intervention may be needed if it worsens significantly. When it gets really advanced it can cause side effects like urine retention, and that in turn can cause progressive bladder enlargement. The danger there is two fold, that bladder muscles weaken and/or there is a risk of kidney damage. I put off having a TURP operation due to BPH which I now regret, although I am now back to 'normal' having had to have two TURP procedures within a year (the second I paid for) with much of the intervening time being catheterised. And my prostate cancer (more precisely a small % of abnormal cells) was diagnosed at the second TURP.
I just took a look at TURP, that looks like fun 😳I'm pretty much ready for whatever is thrown at me, including catheterisation if needed. The OH and I could compare bags as she's had one for 8 years.
On another note, I like your profile pic, I was a crew member for 17 years and retrieved/flew all over the UK and France. That brings back some great memories 👍
An intervention like a TURP is really the end of the line with BPH as far as I am aware. But the TURP procedure is not as bad as it sounds, although there may be some unwanted after-effects. However there are other ways of dealing with BPH in its later stages, and preventing urine retention (perhaps whilst awaiting surgery) like intermittent self catheterisation which again is not as bad as it sounds. And even an indwelling catheter is not all that bad when you get used to it (no need to wear a bag), although being catheterised brings with it the problem of recurrent UTIs as I found out, and life in general without a catheter is much better!
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Face to face appointment 
