Blood and Wine

This is a diary of events surrounding the discovery that I have haematuria, blood in the pee, first noted sometime towards the end of February, 2008. (See Archive)

Initially, having undergone all 'standard' non-invasive procedures, bladder cancer was not be ruled out as I did not submit to a cystoscopy examination.

My efforts since have largely been on discovering any bladder anomalies and minimising the symptoms. A cytology examination that discovered a small group of epithelial cells in a urine test is the now the focal point. The results were described as highly suspicious of 'Transitional Cell Carcinoma'

This year I did a few stick tests after I've had twinges, but no results, although the sticks are a bit dated??

On the twinges, they happen when I get stressed. Having been a stressy personal all my life, (nay killing spree) I'm not that aware that I'm stressed until I get the twinges.

So I usually ease off when I feel them, but still am concerned that a) I get so stressed and don't mange to avoid those situations and b) as to what the twinges are in terms of nerves and chemicals etc.

Ok for 2011 into the final Mayan year.

Prostate test causing unnecessary distress

The UK National Screening Committee says after weighing all the evidence, screening for this male cancer using a blood test called PSA is not advisable, saying its potential harms would outweigh any benefits.

PSA screening has been contentious because of concerns about over-diagnosis.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer deaths in men in the UK. Each year in the UK about 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 10,000 die from the disease.

This advice is based on the latest research evidence, and informed by a range of groups including healthcare professionals and patient representatives

John Neate, chief executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, says: " ... the evidence points to the potential risk of over diagnosis and over treatment through large scale PSA testing ..."

A raised PSA (prostate specific antigen) level may mean a man has prostate cancer. However, other conditions which are not cancer, such as a benign enlargement of the prostate or a urinary infection, can also cause higher PSA levels in the blood.

Likewise, a normal PSA test result does not guarantee that a man does not have a tumour. It can miss cancer and provide false reassurance.

Because of these limitations, experts estimate that 48 men would undergo treatment in order to save one life based on PSA testing.

Making the announcement, the screening committee director Dr Anne Mackie said: "I am confident that this is the right decision".

See BBC News: Prostate test 'causes distress'

I've had a few twinges now and then and on all but one occasion I acted to remove the stress that brought it on. However I have only tested twice this year, both in March and didn't find any anomalies but note that the pH is very low. 5/5.5

April 18th Working lots, carrying too much, still trying to avoid stress Feel twinges fairly often so did a stick test. No haem and pH of 6
April 24th As above with More twinges. pH 6.5
June 17th Been feeling fine, but did a stick test anyway. No change from last test.
July 24th With fever ~ dehydrated a bit so did a stick test. No haem marker, but bilirubin? and nitrites were showing up.

23th September
After bit of heavy lifting I've had twinges for a few days and tested to find a few very small and light spots.
7th September
As there hasn't been much to show in the haem tests, I rarely do them. So there will be no daily updates to the graph. This doesn't mean it has all gone away but that it more worrying looking for a problem every day than ????. Once I have relaxed more from the earlier regime I shall consider what monitoring to do.
1st August
There has been a few twinges over the last two weeks but I'm not testing daily due to the lowering counts that seem to be fairly consistent.
19 July
Still having a few twinges lately but next to no haematuria. A bit worrying and I haven't been working that hard due to the rain, which means more time sitting, eating, computing etc.
2nd July
Have had a few twinges lately but no haematuria.
17th June
Well I was hoping this would be a clear month, but alas it's not to be so. I had a few quite strong twingie moments yesterday and the day before and today there was a marker. Don't think I even tested yesterday? It also happened at Ru's. I drank a fair bit of wine during the last couple of weeks and little or no cleavers - so I'll make adjustments there.

This graph show the daily results of the haem tests for 2009 until Aug 31st

Half monthly averages with a 'Power'trend line.

Half monthly averages shown as square root of above to indicate area that could be the source of blood.with a 'Exponential'trend line.

More Graphs