My Story

My name is Mike Larkin and I own Electronic Technical Enterprises.  For the last 25 years or so, I have repaired industrial and commercial electronic equipment in western Oregon.  I currently live on the Oregon Coast, a beautiful area.

But lately my activities have been curtailed by a disease which was entirely avoidable.  But it occured so slowly that I did not seek treatment for it.  Now it may shorten my life by a number of years.  If any man reading this is helped to avoid it, it will be worth the effort in writing it.

I have kidney disease.  It is caused by my urethra having been obstructed by an enlarged prostate gland.  This caused my urine to back up into my kidneys and damage them.  The normal human body produces about 100ccs of urine each hour day and night.  This means that over the course a night of 8 hours, 800ccs are produced.  Over a long period of time, perhaps two years I gradually shrank in my ability to get it all out, getting down to only getting rid of 200ccs all night.  The same sort of imbalance was true duing the day.

It was discovered when I was seeking treatment for something else and  my blood pressure was very high. My doctor ran a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel which showed my kidneys were functioning at about 10% of normal.

To make a 4 month story short, I had a urinary catheter 24 hours a day for 3 months until I finally had surgery to remove my enlarged prostate.  It took about 6 weeks to recover from the surgery.  But I am left with about half normal kidney function.  It is enough to live healthly the rest of my life if I have no further problems.  But I don't have the margin most people do.

The Bottom Line

A surgery or earlier drug treatment was likely always going to be needed to clear up the obstruction.. But because it was not discovered and treeated earlier I have kidney disease which I would not have had before.  This is because I thought the prostate troubles which I knew I had were just annoying.

I am here to tell you they are potentially deadly.  If I had delayed going to the doctor even longer, I might not have been around to write this.

If you are a man with the usual prostate sysmptons, have your docitor check them out and make sure they keep on top of them.  A simple and inexpensive blood test included in the Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, a routine blood test, can tell whether your kidenys are affected and this whole downward spiral headed off.  At worst you would only have a surgery to clear up any obstruction.  It has its risks, but ignoring it can lead to a shorted lifespan.

Copyright 2010 Michael Larkin -- All rights reserved.  I will gernerally grant permission for non-commercial use upon application in writing.