I'm in the middle of a round of medical tests and it's wearing thin. Both taking time off of work and just the hassle of it all. The older I get, the more like my dad I get.....I don't like going to the doctor, if something's going on, I don't want to know and I don't think "they" can fix it most of the time anyway. Whatever happens, I'm probably fine, and if I'm not, oh well. Unfortunately I'm not willing to put up with the clash with Mrs. DeT that would entail.
While testing for something else unrelated, a radiologist recommended another imaging to get more info on something he thought he maybe saw. After an ultrasound more info was confirmed and a final CT was recommended and a referral back to urology, where he'll take the CT results and decide what to do. I have a mass on my right kidney, which is the concern. I also have a bunch of nodules on my thyroid, so now I have to go to endocrinology too.
My wife says the possible scenarios at this time for the kidney are 1) it's cancer--it has to come out (surgery), 2) it's benign, but vascular--it has to come out (surgery), 3) it's benign and basically just a bunch of fat tissue or something that might not hurt anything--it doesn't have to come out, or at least I have the reasonable option to leave it alone. She says re: the thyroid, it's probably nothing, but Endo needs to biopsy it anyway to be sure it's not cancer, in which case they'll just probably leave it alone and monitor for changes.
I don't hurt, my kidney function is great, my thyroid function is great, I would rather ignore it all until something changes, and as I said, I'm tired of testing and dr. appointments. But, my doc recommends against doing nothing, and as mentioned, my wife is kinda up my arse about this. Plus my mom is always wanting updates (I didn't tell her anything, the wife did that) and doesn't listen when I tell her it's probably nothing, and wants to know when she can tell dad and my sister, etc. I'm like "Um....whenever there's something to actually tell. There's just a big ball of nothing at the moment, and it's likely to stay nothing. There's no indications so far any of this is anything serious." But at any rate, I don't want them worried, I don't want them fussing over me, I don't want them calling me trying to talk about it. Lolz, ok, well, my dad will never call to "talk about it," or talk about much of anything, but still.
AND, I just had an old man surgery just three months ago, by which I mean I had to have a procedure done that is typically something only more elderly men have to deal with. That was a bunch of appointments, nearly a week off work, and it just puts me way out of the mood for any of this.
Yes, I'm grumpy about it. The constant appointments and the fussing by the wife/mom. Thus, I'm venting here. God forbid I ever actually get sick because I'm using all my accumulated sick time on these damn appointments.
With no wife to nag me into it, I'm avoiding all this. I know that if I go in and get a thorough exam, 3-4 things will be wrong/concerning, and I'll get to have a host of appointments and "maybes" and "probably nothings." Or I have like 3 different types of cancer. That's where I feel like most of us end up, anyway.
To have had only a high ankle sprain, an ear infection, and plantar faciitis in one foot is pretty good health for the last 25 years.
But I also still eat like a college student and don't exercise. So while my visual body has been fine, my internals are probably a mess.
Get all you've had looked at looked at closer. Might as well, you've dipped your toe in. Shit, it's 2025, and they can't do better than "there's a mass on your kidney?" Seems to me whatever found that is a waste of time and they should just start with whatever's next, for any kind of precision.
Anyway, I hope all is well.
