Rex Morgan, M.D. and PCa

(This post is meant to be a light diversion. We all need a break sometimes. Enjoy.)

Is anyone here reading the "comic" strip Rex Morgan, M.D. ?
The story line is about a politician who is just diagnosed with PCa.

The panels today have Rex visiting the patient's home, sitting down with the husband and wife and explaining "His PSA or Prostate-Specific Antigen was quite high... so we tested again! The biopsy came back positive!"
The wife responds "You had a biopsy and didn't tell me? What were you thinking, Stewart?"

At first, I thought this might be a good chance to increase PCa awareness and help educate others. I figured the writer either had PCa or knew someone who was just diagnosed. But as I read this, it just gets more ridiculous by the panel. Does the writer have a clue?

How were you told you had a high PSA? My GP called me and said "Your PSA results came back at 22." I responded "Oh My! " He replied: "That is a perfectly reasonable response." Do anyone have a doctor come to the house, sit with the family and tell them the biopsy was positive?

Also, how could the guy have not told his wife about the biopsy? She didn't notice the prep work, the 4 gallons of Gatorade in the fridge, the hours in the bathroom? She didn't notice him walking like an old man, or the blood or the constipation? How did he hide the motor oil semen? Could any of you have hidden your biopsy from your spouse?

Maybe there was too much caffeine in my coffee this morning but it just hit me as ridiculous. _{(I realize life must be pretty good if something like this bothers me.)}

I can't wait to see Rex and June discussing pee pads and Trimix.

Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure.

Jeff (the leaking one)

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 8/12/2010 7:08:20 AM (GMT-6)

Clearly, this guy signed up for a health care plan not offered in my area. He got Rex Morgan to come to his house just to tell him the biopsy is positive. No data, nothing. Just "it's positive". And we wonder why the cost of health care is so high.

I went to the Uro's office 10 days after the biopsy. As I sat on the hard chair with my sore butt he rushed into the examining room, quickly said hello, pulled up the electronic records on the screen, read for 30-60 seconds and said "Positive in 7 out of 12 cores. You have cancer." I replied "I know. That's why I came to see you."

For those of you unfamiliar with Rex Morgan, M.D. , it is the slowest moving comic strip in the world. Weeks can go by and they still have not finished dinner.
The politician is safe. Even if he has G10 PCa it will progress slower than a G5 tumor in an 85 year old.

Jeff

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 8/8/2010 1:51:41 PM (GMT-6)

Are we taking comic strips seriously now?? Most are just thinly disguised cultural propaganda..With newspapers going broke, comics are usually the first thing they cut..

I never heard of Rex Morgan, but then, haven't read any comics in years. If PC is going to be used in some triviel way like you described, not going to do much to help out our cause.

David,
Click on the blue, highlighted hyperlink I included in my post 3 above yours. It will give you a laugh. I'm sure that's just how you and your wife were informed of this issue. Not!

Anyway, they are the comics after all. The writers are the writers are Wilson and Nolan not Strum and Walsh.

I don't know why I am torturing myself but I went back and looked when good 'ol Rex first mentioned PCA. He told his wife (in violation of HIPAA rules as I know them)
on July 8. "My first patient is the Mayor... I have to tell him he has PROSTATE CANCER!"

Now who is June going to tell?

Jeff

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 8/10/2010 6:48:20 AM (GMT-6)

I have a PowerPoint presentation I give on BPH, PCa, therapy choice, etc., and am following Rex and Stu et al. with great interest. When Rex first started talking about talking with the mayor ("It's always a conversation I DREAD!"), I began to suspect he wasn't going to present a very balanced picture of PCa today. So I wrote the artist and the writer expressing my concern. The artist thanked me for my "thoughtful and interesting" letter, but so far I haven't heard from the writer. He's got a terrific opportunity to give wives (who probably are more likely to read the strip) and their husbands great advice on how to deal with PCa (well) before and after, diagnosis, through the Rex Morgan avatar. I hope he doesn't blow it.

Mike

Tracked PSA over last 19 years
Diagnosed 9/2009 at sudden PSA rise to 4.6; Biopsy Gleason 6, Clinical T1c
Proton Beam Therapy March-April 2010
Now back to normal, everything works, no side effects.

Post Edited (AnotherDisplayName) : 8/8/2010 7:19:51 PM (GMT-6)

I like your storyline. Maybe he can get Mary Worth involved somehow.

mike

Someone who is clearly an aficionado of Rex Morgan, M.D. sent me a follow up email telling me the time dilation of that strip is 90:1. That certainly seems to hold true in this story line. Assuming a 90:1 ratio it means we will have to wait something like 45 years to find out if Stu fully recovers and runs off with the campaign worker, so don't hold your breath.

I hope I'm still around to find out.

Jeff

Hey Jeff -- wonder who's calling the mayor's wife in today's strip? Carlos?

We need to start a pool to see how long the "Prostate Cancer" series lasts. Does this forum support surveys?

Mike

Oh, you're right. I forgot about the "close, well-meaning friend". Gotta be her. I figure the phone call will last a couple of weeks, while Stu and Rex talk about something completely unrelated in the living room. Time expansion is now approaching 6,000:1.

Hell, I told everybody. Most didn't give a rat, but maybe that says how much I'm appreciated. I got a few cards and e-mails during my 2 months of treatment, but I didn't have the heart to tell them how much fun I was having. Only problem was the weather stunk, so beach and cycling outings were mostly cancelled. But, JAX turned out to be a pretty nice place, with lots of sports, arts, good restaurants, cultcha, etc., so I had a grand time. I wanted to stay another week after treatment, but my better half overruled that idea. There were several in my cohort who were carrying on normal business while they were there, using telephone, laptop, FAX, etc. One local walked in from the office every day, one couple commuted 4hr each way, another 1hr. Most were like me, though, retired, so it was just a forced vacation.

Going back for my 6-mo checkup in September, already got "reunion" activities scheduled with several buddies who were being treated the same time I was.

That's why I wrote the writer. He had a great opportunity to educate, and I think he's blowing it. Coupled with the recent flurry of publicity against PSA testing, the media is doing men in their 50s and later a great disservice. They won't get their PSA tested, so there'll be no baseline; if an MD recommends a biopsy, probably as a result of a lumpy DRE, they'll remember Stu saying how painful it was and put it off as long as possible, until they wind up with metastatic cancer. Then they get to enjoy the whole magilla -- surgery, radiation, chemo, hormones, bags, etc., if they're lucky. In fact, with a good baseline, timely biopsy by a doc who knows what he's doing, and proper treatment, the whole course of the disease can be painless and the outcome positive. I say if you've got to get cancer, prostate cancer is the one to get.

A cookie and my undying admiration. And we talk about the stock market for a while...

Today's adventure... There is no mention or picture of yesterday's ringing phone. We can only guess that she answered or didn't. (Unless time dilation has slowed to below zero and is now moving backwards.)

Rex says, "I promise we keep in you the loop on everything!"
Rose replies, "I know you will! Iced Tea, Stewart?

If Stewart really had PC, he'd answer just like 90% of us would, "No thanks, dear. It will just make me run to the bathroom."

Jeff (the leaking one)