Cured Frustrated

   In my younger days, I had prostatitis, and went to the Philippines where Dr. Antonio Feliciano, Jr., MD, cured me. Today, I just don't know what to make of the whole situation. Perhaps I had a very rare form of prostatitis that is curable and responds to plain old common sense treatment of draining an affected area along with sensitivity testing and the rest of the world has some other type that is incurable. But I doubt that!

  From just talking to people and reading the prostatitis newsgroup of the same old stories of a temporary response to antibiotics, but it always returns. They just don't get it.

  I meet a lot of people through my work. I have a 50-year-old friend that lives near me. He has no computer and has never used the Internet. He told me the story of when he was a teenager he was with this girl he met and ever since has had testicular burning and lower back pain now going on for 30 years. [See EpididymitisFoundation.org]

  He has been to many doctors and has told me about the temporary response to antibiotics. Doctors insist there is nothing wrong with him. When I heard burning I mentioned to him chlamydia and prostatitis and to my surprise it was the first time he ever heard those words as no doctor of his ever mentioned them before. I told him my story and it made sense to him and gave him a printout from the prostatitis website [See Prostatitis.org]. He is thinking of going but worries what he will have to tell his wife (who has no symptoms) so is now leaning towards just living with it.

   Last year I was doing work for this psychologist that works at a mental institute. He told me he has prostatitis and has been on antibiotics for 25 years. I told him I also had it and was cured which he immediately yelled "IMPOSSIBLE! IT'S A CONDITION - THERE IS NO CURE!"

   I went on an on about why he was getting a temporary response to antibiotics and about my trip to Manila, figuring I was finally shedding some light on his problem after 25 years, and he would be grateful and of course being an educated man - a psychologist would easily grasp the concept but to my surprise he started yelling at me "THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU BEFORE YOU WENT!

  He claimed that’s why I was cured and I continued on and he repeated it again and told me it was all in my head and I started realizing what was happening and I just shut up. He came back a few months ago to have me do more work for him, and I asked him about his prostatitis and he responded with a harsh look saying he was on a new antibiotic and feeling just fine and so I completely dropped the subject because I was afraid I would upset him and I could lose him as a client. Anyway, this guy evaluates other people’s intelligence as his job - I'm sure glad he's not evaluating mine.

   I was talking to a pathologist while doing some work for him and he mentioned he had prostate cancer and had an RP at Sloan Kettering. His PSA came way down after the RP but now has skyrocketed. He is now very upset and regrets going to Sloan Kettering because the doctors there can't give him an explanation as to the sharp rise in the PSA and are now ignoring him.

  Haven't heard anything about basketball coach, Rick Pitino, and his press-reported severe urological pain. I guess he went back in the closet, suffering in silence.

  Recently I found myself of all places sitting in a urologist's office. I had to drive a friend with prostate cancer there for a checkup. The waiting room was quite large and I was surprised at all the young guys waiting. They couldn't have received much of an exam since many of them were only with the urologist for a few minutes and then out the door. I guess it just wasn't bad enough to do surgery yet – they just have to wait until it gets to that point, because urologists sit by and let the prostate deteriorate until surgery is needed, that’s there game.

  I just don't know what to make of it all, or what to do to help.

   I grant permission to Bradley Hennenfent, MD to post this essay on websites, use it in books, or use it in other media, as long as I am kept anonymous.