Giving Little Away.

Hi. It's me again.


As I am unable to go to far today, because I have to keep my eye on Keith. Boredom has set in for both of us , so I have been surfing the net for answers. I do however realise that I should not take what I read to literal because all cases are different. But it does make me see that doctors really don't tell us much. They only seem to tell us what they want us to know.
So as we have a GP's appointment booked for Monday, I am going to make a list of things I now want to know, these will include:


What is my husbands PSA count?
Because this has never been discussed. Prostate cells produce a small amount of a protein that is known as prostate specific antigen (PSA). An elevated PSA does not automatically mean a man has prostate cancer. Conditions other than cancer, including an infection or a benign enlargement of the prostate, can result in higher-than-normal PSA levels. This would also include Prostatitis, which is what he was told he has with Prostatic Extensions. At no time have we been told if his level is normal.


Prostate Massage was this the right action?
Now I know that self diagnosis is never really the thing to do. But alarm bells ring when you read things like this.
In recent trials, prostate massage was not shown to improve outcomes compared to antibiotics alone. As a consequence of these findings, prostate massage is not used in the treatment of any medical disorder today, and prostate massage should never be performed on patients with acute prostatitis, because the infection can spread elsewhere in the body if massage is performed. Now Keith has been told he has Chronic Prostatitis, so why did they do it on him?


Geesh I have more questions than answers now. But when doctors tell you nothing, you need answers from somewhere. I find it frustrating that when you husband/partner etc comes out of a procedure, there is never a doctor around to answer your questions. The nurses are just left to pack you off home, with a letter for the GP. In this day and age, I do not think this is acceptable. I was chatting to a friend, who went in for a hernia repair and gall bladder removal and the doctors could not have been more accomadating. Not only that, they said if she was at all worried, she could ring the treatment centre and ask for advice or even go back in. We were told if he had any worries we had to contact our GP or NHS Direct. There seems to be patchy service across the country when it comes to the NHS.