For the past few weeks, those who follow me on Facebook and Twitter have seen some very vague request for “prayers for a special intention.

On April 22, I had my first colonoscopy. I was very worried, not so much of the outcome, but the very procedure has me nervous. Well, that went fine! I had one polyp, but it was benign. Many people say the preparation is worse than the procedure. My only mistake in preparation was using grape juice with the Myralax. It was so sweet, I could barely swallow it.

When I went to my regular check-up, my doctor found that my PSA was up from the previous year. He referred me to a urologist who did a followup and scheduled me for a ultrasound prostate biopsy. The doctor suggested I could do it in office with a little local anesthesia. I refused. “I want to be knocked out.” Were my words to the doctor. So, on May 15th, I went to our local Catholic hospital where the procedure was done. I was in by 6 am and out by 10 am. No big deal, I was out for the whole thing. Except for some major soreness in the back end, there were no major problems.

The next morning, I woke up felling much better and helped my father plant a tree. During that time, I began to feel aches & pains in my back and a slight headache. I thought nothing of it and even wondered if I was getting the flu. After lunch, I returned to the parish so I could get some work done and an early nights sleep.

On my trip back to the church, my aches got much worse, and my headache was now pounding. I figured that I could take a few Tylenol and a hot shower would calm everything down. I took my temperature and it was up. After my shower, I took my temperature again and it was at 102.5. I was still set on early bedtime, so I was going to take Mickey out. While heading for the door, my doctor called to check on me. The first thing he told me is that the test is benign. I was really relieved. He wanted to know how I felt. I told him of the temp and could tell he was not happy. “If it doesn’t go down shortly, I want you to go to the ER at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. You may have an infection” were his closing words.

I called my parents and decided I better get to the ER. Mickey and I got in the car and headed to Providence. I got there at 9:20 pm and my parents were waiting in the parking lot outside the ER. After blood test, urinalysis and intravenous, we finally got home at 3:00 am. The next day, my secretary got me Mass coverage through Wednesday. I was very upset because that meant missing our parish 1st Holy Communion.

By Wednesday I felt much better and was ready to return to the church. Either that night of the next morning, I began feeling new pains in a different part of the body. On Thursday, my temperature returned, so like a good boy, I called the doctor’s office. I was immediately given an appointment for early this morning. The doctor confirmed my suspicion, I have testitis (Update 5/26/13 – I think it is actually called Epididymitis), caused by the biopsy. It seems that this bacteria was immune to the first two antibiotics.

Please keep the prayers coming. And know that I’m not waisting this suffering – I can feel a podcast coming on – Christian Suffering.

God bless!

So, I’m home again. Told to rest. If it doesn’t go with my new medication, I’ll be admitted.