The upshot of all this then was as before, to continue with the watchful waiting; discontinue all but the minimal consumption of vitamin C and keep on taking the Allopurinol and Sodibic. I’ll have another review in November. That’s four months in which to assess the success or otherwise of the kidney stone treatment and also, to see what effect not having berry and fruit juices will have on my general health and the ongoing containment of my prostate issue.

I must admit that this aspect does give me some concern as I have great faith in the health and well-being benefits of berries and plant foods, sometimes referred to as super-foods.

I am confident that it was the diet factor that helped me avoid having heart surgery last year following my hospitalization with: a DVT in the left leg, ischemia and a blocked aorta. The hospital heart specialist’s prognosis earmarked me for further tests as an out-patient with a view to heart surgery. When the time came several months later - and with me in the meantime dedicating my diet to avoiding it - there was no need for surgery. The heart surgeon was pleasantly surprised and could only put it down to my own preemptive action. I will be most diligent in this regard over coming months.

If I am unable to dissolve the kidney stone naturally this time around the alternative is a rather expensive but minimally invasive procedure; to externally zap the stone with sound waves in order to pulverize it, Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). The invasive part,as I understand it, is the insertion of a dye into the kidney through the ureter to highlight the contour of the stone and just maybe; a catheter tube to provide a conduit for the stone fragments to exit easily.

Finally, here’s a point or two about my prostate. Regular readers will know that I don’t place much faith in PSA results. That’s mainly because it is almost impossible, without elaborate, expensive clinical analysis, to determine the origin, or source, of any given score. In fact, many in the medical profession now tend toward this proposition; placing more emphasis on the time line between readings, instead.

That said, I must admit to feeling somewhat elated when I see a reduction in my own PSA reading and perhaps, even a little concern when it goes up. Possibly because it is the only marker that tells us something even if we cannot be sure what that ‘something’ is. Crazy as that may sound.

Well, my current reading is 9.5, up marginally from 9.2 last December. Earlier scores were:
Apr 06…7.30. Aug 06…6.9. Dec 06…8.40. Feb 07…11.5. Oct 07…15.0.

Not what you might call consistent are they? But you can read into them what you will. To a younger man they might have meaning. At my age, 70 next week, PSA results have, to my way of thinking, are of little relevance.

Until the next post… Be happy! Stay Healthy!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 8:36 am and is filed under Kidney Stone, PSA, Update - 16 Dec 08 pt11.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.