Monday, 15 September, 1997 16:12

OK, I had the IVP this morning, and everything looked fine, according to Dr. Walls, the radiologist, except for a little BPH (benign prostatic hypertrophy) so I guess that I have to wait for the PSA results, which will be available on Tuesday. PSA is a blood test that indicates the presence of prostate cancer... I don't know what the PSA stands for... well, I did at one time, but I forgot.

After I had the IVP done, I came home, called Karen and went to sleep. When I got up, there was a message on the machine from work. The other night tech had something come up, and they want me to work tomorrow night. Being the patsy that I am, I agreed. More OT, gotta help.

Tonight Karen and I are broadening our social horizons, we're going out with Steve and his wife Mary. I have only met Mary briefly once, and Karen has not met either of them. It should be a fun evening, just getting out with another couple who is kidless. Actually, they have four (or maybe five) cats, so they're not really kidless, in a looser sense of the word...

I feel an awful lot better about my health right now; it is a relief not to have to worry but about one thing, instead of a multitude. At this point, the chances of my affliction being BPH or just simply prostatitis are about 50/50. If I do have prostatic cancer, I can handle that OK, I believe. Survival stats are pretty good with proper treatment and early detection, and this could be pretty early detection. Contrary to what usually happens, my testicles may have kept me out of trouble; the reverse was often true in my younger days.

Well, since my time off is being cut short, I am going to have to go fishing in the morning. I have been putting it off in favor of working around the house; that is pretty uncharacteristic of me, and a pattern that I must not allow to develop. So I will get up in the morning before daybreak and go out, stay until about 12:00 or so, then come home and sleep; then back to the old grind.

I really shouldn't call it the old grind; people might get the wrong idea, and think that I don't love my job. Well, love might not be the right word; I find it to be interesting and exciting sometimes. Will that work?

More tomorrow...