A Weight off my Mind
How are you feeling right now?
I am feeling really relieved right now. Yesterday I went for an appointment at the hospital regarding my prostate. My previous blood test had shown enough of a spike for my Doctor to refer me for possible early cancer. I had been for a second blood test to check my PSA at the beginning of the month and yesterday I got my result. My PSA had gone down by a whole point! Now I know, and the consultant reminded me, that the PSA is nothing more than an indication of your cancer risk, but after an examination he said that the prostate felt fine and that he would see me in six months after another blood test.
I have been carrying this in the back of my mind for quite a while so I was really pleased that I had my Pre-Sessional teaching to take my mind off things. I have really enjoyed the challenge of the last 8 weeks and I hope it’s going to be a regular summer gig for the next few years. The students have been brilliant, the lessons fascinating to prepare for, with loads of art and design concepts that I loved learning about and new ways of doing things. Everything that teaching should be and often isn’t.
Anyway, as a final thought, we men are often very bad at looking after our health. Go and get those tests, particularly PSA and blood pressure, and if something may be amiss it will be spotted and acted upon. Yes, it’s a worry, yes the examination is uncomfortable, although not especially so, but the alternative is far worse.
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David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 
Years ago your GP would get you in for an MOT once you passed 40. I enquired about that 7 years ago when i wasn’t feeling right for a couple of weeks, and they said “oh we leave that up to patients now”, which i think is a sorry state of affairs.(Turned out i was pre-diabetic.) So many people won’t ring their GP nowadays, due to the difficulty in getting an appointment. I left my hernia for 4 or 5 months before getting it looked at, because it wasn’t causing me any grief. They should go back to sending reminders out to people to get a check up, it would nip so many problems in the bud.
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Totally agree. My wife makes sure I stay on top of things. Without her I would definitely let them slide.
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You do the right thing and are an example to us all by taking a reasoned yet proactive approach here. Men seem to be incapable of following a healthy lifestyle yet somehow also manage to be hypochondriacs who never bother visiting a doctor.
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you’re absolutely right, health checks are so important. Thank you for sharing this reminder and encouraging others to take care of themselves. Wishing you continued good health and happiness.
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Thank you, I really appreciate your good wishes. 😊😊
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