The Prostate Saga continues; getting a Prostate MRI, and having a most unexpected chance meeting!

 

MRI Machine

On Monday, July 07, 2025, I had my yearly checkup with my urologist, Dr.  M.  Since 2020, my yearly checkups with Dr. M are usually uneventful; I give a urine sample, and his technician measures what is left in my bladder (usually not very much, maybe 3-4 ounces, as compared to the 27 ounces I had backed up in my bladder when I was first diagnosed with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) back in the spring of 2020).  Then Dr. M and I talk briefly about my progress, my low Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test results and how I’m doing on my medications (good, thank you very much).  That’s usually about it, and I reschedule next year’s appointment. 

However, this time, since it has been five years since I had a prostate biopsy, and, since in my last biopsy, Dr. M did find about a millimeter of cancer, he suggested I should have another biopsy.  However, since I’m reluctant to have my prostate messed with, I suggested that maybe an MRI would be beneficial, and he said yes, no problem!  Now, my dear friend EP had a prostate MRI a few years back, and they indeed found prostate cancer, which was later successfully treated with radiation (EP’s PSA tests have been much lower since his radiation treatments, thank God!), so I had some idea that a prostate MRI would be the right thing to do.

So, with a couple of lab orders in hand, I scheduled a prostate MRI for Tuesday, July 15, 2025, at 3 PM in the afternoon.  I also stopped off at Quest Diagnostics in San Clemente for a blood test prior to the MRI.  Now, I have never had an MRI before, so this was a new experience for me.  The day of the MRI, I fasted pretty much all day prior to the MRI, and a couple of hours before, I was instructed to do a Fleet enema (details of which don’t need retelling here; the instructions are pretty clear…); not terribly bad, as long as you stay close to the toilet!  (Presumably the idea of the Fleet enema is to remove any air from the lower intestine…)  I arrived at the MRI facility in Irvine, CA, and, after a bunch of paperwork, I was taken to the back to get undressed and get ready.  Now, I have read about MRI machines, and how they may get a bit claustrophobic, but the MRI machine they used for the prostate MRI was open at both ends, so at least in my case, I never felt uncomfortable.  Also, this was no contrast/contrast MRI, so I did get an infusion line stuck in my in my right arm, which was no big deal.  Now, I was outfitted with two sets of hearing protection: one to be inserted right into the ear canal, and also over-the-ear hearing protection.  Good thing; I’ve never experienced such a racket for such a long time!  The MRI procedure (at least in my case) consisted of a 40-minute long series of really loud oscillating sounds; one of them made the whole MRI machine vibrate!  Nevertheless, after 40 minutes of trying to lay absolutely still (I even tried to take a nap, but it was impossible with the noise), I was done, and that was that!

Now, as I was done with my MRI and walking toward the little dressing room, here comes CF out of the dressing room, ready for an MRI!  At first I didn’t recognize her; now she has long black hair as opposed to the short blond hair she had “back then”, but after she said “Hi Peter, I’m CF” I recognized her (mind you, probably 20 years has passed since we saw each other in person).  Since she was going in for her checkup, we spent some 30 seconds exchanging pleasantries, and it was really nice to see her.  I first met CF when we were both going to Cal State Long Beach, where we were studying Chemical Engineering, probably in the spring of 1995.  CF was very bright and dedicated, and we took several classes together, and, if my memory serves me, we did the capstone project together.  Later, CF started working at Micro Therapeutics as a Quality Engineer; she probably started sometime in late 2002 – early 2003.  Again, if my memory serves me, she quit Micro Therapeutics before me, probably early spring 2004.  Since then, we have kept in touch via LinkedIn, checking in periodically, and CF has stayed in the medical device field, just like me.  So, it goes to show that you never know who you will run into, so make sure you don’t burn any bridges, and treat everybody with kindness and respect!     

Well, fast forward to July 21, 2025, and my results were available.  Suffice it to say, I’m very, very happy to report that everything came back either negative or normal, yea!  However, (and there is always a “however”), in order to protect themselves, at the end of the report there was the statement that “even with the negative/normal results, there is still a 10% chance that there could be cancer…”, which means that nothing is perfect, not even an MRI…  Nevertheless, at least I know that there hasn’t been any dramatic change since 2020, and I’ll continue to do my yearly checkup with Dr. M.  Incidentally, now he want’s me to do a PSA test every 6 months; as they say “aging is not for the faint of heart!”