Roy Exum
I am thrilled we are making such progress with breast cancer, with diabetes, with cystic fibrosis and cervical cancer, but we need to focus elsewhere this morning. I’m talking about D.T. – “down there.” Somewhere in the big equation we have overlooked what’s politely called “men’s health,” what is clinically called urology, and, to a guy who is now 66 years old, is called a “must.”
I’m a huge believer, for many reasons, in preventive medicine. But I’d rather jaywalk on a busy street than go to the urologist for fear I’ll be handled, poked and prodded.
Last week I summoned the nerve to be seen by my guy – Amir Singh of Academic Urologists at Erlanger – and every fear I had was negated. Instead I left with the resolve to write about what men never talk about -- D.T.
I have more friends than I can count who are overcoming prostrate cancer. I have other friends who very quietly get me in the corner to ask if any of my doctor friends might have some samples of “those purple pills.” And I know of two right now who suffer from “dripping,” who literally wear Depends diapers rather than suffer the indignity of seeing a doctor who can easily fix it.
Listen to me. If it was your ear you’d call some medico tomorrow. If it was your foot you’d gladly hobble into the emergency room but, boy, if it’s “bobo,” you ain’t moving off the sofa. Please! You demand your wife get regular pap smears and yearly mammograms, but when it comes to your D.T., there isn’t enough of a police force or Army Reservists in Chattanooga to get you where you need to be.
Dr. Signh, along with the genius Argil Wheelock, my pal Anand Shridharani and some more super sub-specialists, are making Chattanooga a “destination location” for urological problems. Really. Get this, in 2007 Academic Urologists at Erlanger Hospital saw 20 or 25 patients a week and did around 40 or 50 surgical procedures a year. In 2014 the group saw between 450 and 500 patients a week and did 4,000 surgical procedures. Why? Because today’s much-advanced medicine and modern procedures really work.
The reason? Dr. Singh was lured here from the National Institute of Health. Argil, who is brilliant, was enticed to come back to private practice and Norman Galen, a beautiful human being who was probably the foremost expert in pelvic floor reconstruction in New Orleans, lost it all in Hurricane Katrina. With the addition of the nationally-renowed Dr. Galen, Colin Goudelocke came to lend his expertise in incontinence and Paul Zmaj brought his brilliance in pediatric urology. But all of these things can be conquered.
“The key is that all of us are board-certified urologists but each has a different sub-specialty. And everything together works for the whole,” the delightful surgeon who can quite literally do origami art with his robotic surgical devices explained.
“Listen, not many years ago when a woman had breast cancer a total mastectomy was all we had. Today we use a lumpectomy and there is more in the arsenal today than you can believe. Several years ago the answer to prostate cancer was total removal but today,” he promised, “that is the final step.”
Erlanger is right now one of 33 accredited urological centers, by virtue of a flourishing promise within the UT College of Medicine, to be approved for a revolutionary medical device that will be awarded next year. “Soon I will be going to Munich to learn about this technique I’ll guarantee you will save the lives of hundreds of men. This is absolutely the cutting edge of health and healing,” said Dr. Singh, “and that’s why we have an amazing number of people from bigger cities coming to Erlanger for what we know and what we do.”
Sadly, too many men let their pride, their vanity and – yes – their fears overrule their common sense. “I’m scared I’ve got cancer,” they fret to themselves, when in fact it is probably benign prostate hyperplasia – my illness du jour. There is a wonderful drug called Jayln that will so easily get you right back where you need to be. It is very common in guys in their mid-60s, and I have no problem being “common” at all if there is a quick answer and an easy cure. But every patient must seek it.
“Let me tell you something that few people readily admit – there is hardly a family in Chattanooga that will not face urological issues,” Dr. Singh told me. “Maybe it is pelvic floor problems, or incontinence, or a prostate that it so swollen it is painful to urinate, but these problems can be corrected. We do it every day. We’ve been so fortunate with our results we have outgrown our office space … and we are addressing that … As a matter of fact, we are adding another very good urologist this fall, and now have three residents that will soon be four. Most of all, we are providing a quality of life like never before.”
On Oct. 8, Amand Shidhararani will give a free seminar at Erlanger on Gunbarrel (Erlanger East) on Erectile Dysfunction (gasp!) and Male Stress Urinary Incontinence (read: bladder leakage). Give ‘em a fake name – use mine if you want to – and take your spouse to hear how this guy can change your life. This is no ad – I talk to too many scared people who need to simply confront their giants and slay them. Call 877-433-2873 for reservations for “Mr. and Mrs. Exum” if you are that nervous. All I ask is you find out what Amand has to say – and it is no cost, no obligation.
Finally there is this: If you suspect your wife is struggling with a D.T. issue, I’d love it if you would print a copy of this column and secretly place it in her underwear drawer with this written at the top, “I love you – take a moment to read this.” If you suspect your husband is inwardly worrying about erectile dysfunction or incontinence, write “I love you – take a moment to read this” on the top of a print-out and leave it in his underwear drawer.
This is low-hanging fruit – no pun intended -- and it can literally change your life once you put pride, vanity and fear to bed. If your D.T. is happy – trust me on this -- everybody is happy.
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And who ever said there are some things I should never write about?
royexum@aol.com