PROSTATES

A cheery topic; however all guys of a certain age could do worse than focus on the topic, if only for a moment. My brother Alan in Durban tells me he has recently undergone the 'indignity' of a prostate examination and that his PSA is well within the not-to-worry category. I well recall my first introduction to the procedure known to the medics as a 'digital' examination. In my innocence I thought this was some state of the art procedure not disimilar to digital radio, digital TV or other communications systems. It was only when I lay sideways on the GP's couch with my knees tucked up in the foetal position, that it dawned on me that the digit concerned had nothing to do with electronic technology. The sound of a rubber glove being snapped onto the GP's fingers confirmed my suspicions and when he added that this won't hurt a bit I knew just what the digit was and precisely where it was going.

Apparently he looks for signs of enlargement of the prostate and whether the surface is rough or smooth which can indicate the presence of extraneous growth (cancer to you and me).
If you do find, as a staggering one in three of us do, that you have cancerous tissue in the prostate you will probably be given a brief course of CASADEX for about 2 weeks, then an abdominal injection of ZOLADEX which provides a slow-release drug over 3 months. Both of the drugs have the function of carrying out a chemical castration. The clue is in the first syllable of the first course. I had an off the scale PSA of 961 which dropped back to 1.9 within a short time of starting the course.
Fellow sufferers should be warned that the effectiveness is finite and new combinations of treatment or chemotheraphy are required. My PSA started to rise again after two years, so I now take both Zoladex and Casadex. Result is that I often feel like shit - chest pain, lethargy, remarkable drop in energy and a general listlessness. I now take the Casadex last thing at night so its worst effects hit me while I'm sleeping. I take a painkiller in the morning and the rest of the days are much better.
Any other poor whore similarly afflicted may like to ask me the odd question. Feel free. But it is only one man's experience