Overcoming Fears of a Prostate Biopy

This blog appeared Oct 6th 2016 in Prostate Cancer News Today at this link:
Overcoming Biopsy Fears

After my urologist felt “a suspicious lump” and scheduled me for a prostate biopsy, anxiety and fear became  my constant companions. There were two primary sources of my fear. The first involved my fear of the procedure. The second involved the fear of receiving my biopsy results.

Knowing next to nothing about a prostate biopsy, I did what is second nature when needing information. I went online and searched “preparing for a prostate biopsy,” and received more than 150,000 Google hits. My eyes glazed over. The amount of information was overwhelming.

I allowed my fears to determine the questions that needed answers. I’ve come to believe that anyone who is told they need a prostate biopsy should receive a list of Frequently Asked Questions. Here’s my list of questions; hopefully, the answers will reduce your fears as it did mine.

How is a prostate biopsy performed? A transrectal biopsy is the most common method used. A  thin needle is inserted through the rectum, into the prostate. Several thin cylindrical “cores” of prostate tissue are removed and examined for prostate cancer.

Is the procedure painful? The experience of pain is highly subjective. You should know if or how your urologist plans to reduce your pain. If you’re told there’s no need to reduce the pain, it’s my suggestion you insist on pain relief. With pain relief,  I’d say my pain level was at six on a scale with 10 being the most painful. Thankfully, the test doesn’t take very long.

What are the ways to reduce the pain? My urologist injected lidocaine, which is a numbing drug, into my prostate to reduce the pain. The good news is the injection worked. The bad news is the injection to reduce your pain is mildly painful.

What are the risks of a prostate biopsy? You’ll receive and sign a form detailing the risks of a biopsy. The most common risks cited are bleeding at the biopsy site, rectal bleeding, or infection. You may see blood in your urine. Your semen may be blood-colored for a week or so. Temporary impotence is not listed as a risk, but I was in the minority of men who experienced temporary impotence, lasting approximately two weeks, after my biopsy.

Can a prostate biopsy rule out cancer? Yes, but a negative biopsy is not necessarily a guarantee of being cancer-free. According to researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University Cancer Center, up to 25 percent of prostate biopsies give a false negative.

What do I need to know in order to understand my biopsy result?  Your Gleason score is a measure of how aggressive your tumor is likely to be. It is made by a pathologist looking at the cancer under the microscope.

Receiving the answers to your questions and concerns before your biopsy is the best way to prepare and reduce your fears about this procedure.

Just My Imagination Running Away With Me

This blog appeared here on Sept 21st 2016 In Prostate Cancer News Today: Here's the link

Just My Imagination

Receiving the news I needed a biopsy was the first time in my life that I had to deal with the possibility I had a life-threatening disease. For a doctor, telling someone they need a biopsy is a regular occurrence. For the patient receiving that news, it’s both traumatic and life changing.

When you receive the news you need a biopsy, it’s highly unlikely the medical system will acknowledge or address the emotional needs of the person receiving this news. I was totally unprepared to cope with the possibility I had prostate cancer. I left the doctor’s office in a daze. I couldn’t believe it was possible to have a potentially life-threatening disease, without any symptoms or warning.

On my first night, my imagination turned against me. I spent a good deal of my sleepless hours reliving how everyone I knew who was diagnosed with cancer had died. I had a host of people to remember, both personally and professionally. As a medical social worker, I witnessed people die from cancer in a hospital setting. Most of these deaths occurred before the hospice movement. In pre-hospice days, most doctors would not provide adequate pain control. In those days, the primary medical objective was to avoid creating drug dependency, rather than eliminate pain.

I suspect that’s the reason every cancer death I could recall involved people who suffered a great deal before they died. I replayed their suffering multiple times. After wallowing in those gruesome images, I inserted myself into the story. I imagined it wouldn’t be long before I’d be one of those people in chronic pain, dying from prostate cancer.

Unfortunately, most of the people I knew who’d been diagnosed with cancer had died within a year of receiving their diagnosis. From my perspective, a diagnosis of prostate cancer was the equivalent of a death sentence. So I began to imagine everything I’d miss out on. Three of the most painful losses I experienced that night were:

*Not living long enough to walk my daughter down the aisle

*Not living long enough to be a grandparent

*Not living long enough to enjoy retirement with my wife

I was convinced I’d die before any of these events occurred. By the time morning arrived, I was convinced my survival depended on my receiving a rapid diagnosis and treatment. I believed the only way to delay dying from prostate cancer depended on my ability to find a urologist who could get me in for a biopsy in less than 30 days. Even if it meant I’d need to travel to another city. I would have flown to the moon, if necessary, to cut down on my waiting time. Convinced my life depended on receiving a diagnosis and treatment as quickly as possible, I began the task of finding a urologist who would perform my biopsy in less than 30 days.

I’d entered into a race against time to diagnose and treat a silent enemy capable of killing me.

Why I Left & Why I came back

A few months ago, I was approached by BioNews Services. I was asked to blog about prostate cancer. I had mixed feelings about their offer.

The Pro's
1. They offered to pay me for each blog. Not a lot, but it is nice to be paid for your work.
2. They offered me greater exposure. The number of people who read my blogs on this site reach to         the double digits. On occasion I'll reach a three digit number.  On their site, all my blogs reach
    several hundred people. For me it's more rewarding to reach several hundred people rather than           twenty.
3. They spruce up my blogs with graphics and a more appealing and professional look than I could         give them.

The Con's
1. My original agreement was that I couldn't post any of my blogs here. (Which explains my absence)
2. They determined the length of the blog. In other words my word count was limited. Which meant I
     have to sacrifice details in order to keep the word count down.

For me the pro's outweighed the cons.  I currently blog for BioNews Services.

Recently they changed the agreement and allowed me to share my blogs on my personal blog. So I'm going to link my blog here, so those who want to follow me here can do so. It's a pleasure to be back!

Where do men get support coping with erectile dysfunction?

It's been estimated that erectile dysfunction is involved in the breakup of 25% of marriages that fail. One of the most frustrating things for partners to cope with is the anger and defensiveness of men who refuse to seek help. In addition to refusing to seek help, most men withdraw both emotionally and physically with their partner.

I'm asking men who are coping with ED to share what (if any) forms of help they've tried:
1. Consultation with a Physician
2. Talking with their partner
3. Joining an online ED forum
4. Attending an ED support group
5. Seeking advice, support & information from a friend or family member
6. Reading articles about ED online
7. Reading a book(s) about ED
8. Going at it alone without doing anything

If you've had a positive experience(s) seeking information, help or support please share the source and the results of that help.

If you've had a negative experience share that, and what you've done since that time.

If going at it alone has caused both you and your partner nothing but misery check out the book my wife and I wrote:
Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Erectile Dysfunction and Penile Implants

Don't Allow Erectile Dysfunction to Ruin Your Life

Men are stubborn creatures. When coping with erectile dysfunction their natural instinct is a flight or fight response. They'll withdraw from their partner. They'll get angry or defensive when their partner makes sexual advances or talks about the need to get help. If you are one of those stubborn men or a partner to one of those men, I have great news. You can receive effective help in the privacy of your on home.
Don't take my word for this, here's what an an Amazon reader said:

"The authors are professional in their field and their book shows it. Very well written, concise, informative, laced throughout with psychological, therapeutic and spiritual guidance, (Everything...) is a masterful journal, a handbook with extensive research, Q&A chapter endings, a lifeline for ED patients, and their partners, emotionally devastated by a future of permanent impotency and the threat of broken relationships.....
This book is highly recommended. It deserves some kind of literary award...a must reading for ED sufferers overcome with stress, shame, humiliation with no relief in sight."

Do yourself a favor, treat yourself and your partner with respect. Check out this link, search inside the book at no charge, read the reviews, then buy the book.


The Gateway to help Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Erectile Dysfunction and Penile Implants

My New Blog Site

Blog will no longer be blogging at this site. Here's the link for my new site:

My new blog location.

I made this change so I could have the opportunity to reach more people. The move accomplished that goal. On this site, each blog averaged a few dozen hits. On the new site my blog has hundreds of hits.

After careful consideration I've decided to blog in BOTH locations.

Indie book reviews of Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Erectile Dysfunction and Penile Implants

Reviews for EVERYTHING YOU NEVER WANTED TO KNOW… by Rick Redner From Indie Readers

1. I really liked the outline and overall construct of this book from Rick & Brenda Redner. It was a practical read based on the author’s own life and personal and professional experiences and helps people to understand some ED issues better and hopefully help overcome challenges in dealing with erectile dysfunction, either personally or helping someone they may know who might suffer from it. I was surprised to learn many things about this topic, from the causes, to the fallouts (both physical and emotional) and was impressed that the book and overall tone was more ‘spiritual’ than I imagined it would be. I recommend it highly to anyone wanting to improve the value of their life if they feel surgery might be helpful for them, or even if they are just exploring options. It is a very engaging read because it’s not just lecturing or facts and figures (although there is plenty of useful info there too), but relatable stories and interesting scenarios where the authors breaks down their points and uses them in real situations that we can all easily understand and apply. I read the whole thing in one evening, and it was as eye-opening as it was informative. Oh and the editing/formatting was flawless. Great job! (5 stars)

2. No matter what you go through in life, it is always nice to know someone else has gone through it too, and can be extraordinarily helpful (and comforting) to hear of their journey and see what you can learn from it. I always go into books like this with a fair  bit of skepticism, wondering truly if there will be any new, insightful information brought to the table that isn’t some gimmick, total common knowledge (I call these the ‘duh!’ self-help books) or worse— an insult to my intelligence and common sense. So as I started reading “Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Erectile Dysfunction…” by Rick and Brenda Redner, I was fully prepared to see the same red flags, set the book down and call it a night. (I never claimed to be an open-minded guy). So imagine my surprise as I started in with the reading and was struck by how real and informative and just honest it all seemed. I was especially interested in the relationship aspect and how it is a team effort – what affects you affects your partner as well. This isn’t just a ‘male’ issue. Also, there are so many different avenues to explore, and I appreciate how the authors lay out different scenarios and break down the pros and cons. The interactive questions were helpful as well, and while I won’t claim that everything in this book applied for me, I was impressed (to my surprise) with how down to earth and relevant it was. The information here will help many people if they listen to what the author is saying, and I can see urologists ‘prescribing’ this to their patients to read! (5 stars)

3. After reading this book by Rick and Brenda Redner, I thought the best aspect of it was how it does such a great job of tackling a ‘taboo’ or ‘sensitive’ subject matter head on, tells it like it is, and helps to reduce (or even eliminate) and shame or fear or embarrassment one might feel if they suffer from any sort of ED. Clear and coherent chapters focus on different angles of handling the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of ED and recognizing how to best assess one’s own situation and steps on how to change it for the better.  I thought the whole book was excellently written and quite inspiring, and I liked that it actually gives some solid solutions that can make a huge difference in people’s lives. I was engaged the whole way through and felt the whole thing from the formatting to the editing to the information was very professional and delivers a valuable message. Recommend. (5 stars)

4. This is the first book I’ve read on this subject so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but even though this isn’t something I currently deal with in my life, I’m grateful that I learned more about this topic and have a deeper understanding for what millions of people go through, and perhaps it is a reality I myself will face one day too in a relationship. But this is a very good book to help understand about how others cope with erectile dysfunction, and the ins and outs, ups and downs (pardon the pun) of implants, and in that way we can relate it to ourselves and realize that we can do it.  Like I said, this isn’t my normal type of book, but I thought there might be something useful I could learn anyways and I was so right! It is inspiring and well-researched (with handy glossary, bibliography and index at the end). The authors have a natural writing voice that makes what they are saying very easy to grasp… and it is actually interesting stuff (not dry or boring or like a text book or something…) Recommend for adults only. (4 stars)

5. I found the articulate and engaging narrative style to be quite interesting and down-to-earth. I liked how the authors Rick and Brenda Redner uses their vast and well-researched (from personal experience as well as scientific)knowledge ‘story-style’ to make their points and relate ideas in ways that we all can fully and easily grasp. Very useful, well-written, and well put together. An important book with a clearly defined and easy to follow premise that can definitely help people who experience ED and either wish to understand it better, explore their options, or simply learn from someone who has experienced it, and what path they took to improve their situation. It is clear that the authors know what they are talking about, and fortunately are excellent writers as well. I have found that many times reading medical self-help books can either be frustrating because the author is too ‘highbrow’ and esoteric, or they just don’t present the material in a way that I feel I can relate to (or its condescending). I really appreciated the authors’ simple and direct approach and the clear steps and solutions they describe. While it may not be applicable to all, everyone can learn something and walk away with more knowledge than before. (4-5 stars)

6. This is a wonderful, very well-written and highly informative book! I have read several books on medical issues (physical and mental) and sometimes I get the sense that most are just recycling old information. This book it seems like I read a lot of new ideas presented in a way that makes a great deal of sense, even if might be perceived as somewhat ‘controversial’.  There should be no shame or stigma in erectile dysfunction, yet all too often it can be made a joke, or something that causes great distress emotionally and sexually. The content was professionally prepared, yet still friendly and intimate-feeling, and laid out in a coherent way that is easy to follow, but is meticulously researched and supported with solid evidence, scientific and anecdotal. Rick and Brenda Redner uses facts as well as real-life examples to share their perspectives on ED and ideas for solutions. Fast paced, informative, and easy to read, I recommend this book to anyone (adults) who are going through this struggle in their life or know someone who is. Each chapter gives valuable information, examples and sound advice to the readers, and is presented professionally from the first page to the last. (5 stars)

If you are coping with erectile dysfunction and/or want more information about penile
implants, check out this book
Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Erectile Dysfunction & Penile Implants