Delaying my obituary

The news from Dr. Jon Rippentrop made my day. “Your psa, (for prostate specific antigen) is not detectable. Congratulations''!

Sixteen years ago my family physician watched my psa creep upward over a few annual physicals. Concerned, she referred me to urologist Rippentrop. A biopsy brought upsetting news. My prostate was cancerous, perhaps life threatening, and was emitting psa. I was given treatment options but quickly elected surgery.

Dr. Rippentrop, and his team, used the then-new da Vinci robotic surgical system at Unity Point to remove my prostate. Recovery was fairly easy and all was well until, a decade later, my psa again began creeping up. A series of radiation treatments in 2018 clobbered a tumor and knocked my psa to zilch.

I was lucky. Outstanding science and engineering, combined with skilled medical professionals, delayed the printing of my obituary. But it took one other thing to extend good health. Procrastination and doubt can be deadly. I didn’t dilly dally. Trusting medical advice and science I took aggressive action and decided to have surgery and, later, radiation.

My wife and I recently walked through a country cemetery reading weathered headstones. They revealed the tragic deaths of many children before the emergence of modern medicine, leaving parents heartbroken. Measles, smallpox, whooping cough, polio and other diseases once robbed the lives of millions of children. Few families were spared the tragic loss of a child. Revolutionary War General Henry Knox and his wife were not unusual. They had 13 children. Three reached adulthood.

Today’s vaccinations spare families the anguish of losing a child to diseases science has learned to prevent. Put another way, lacking science many of today’s healthy adults would never have made it to their teens.

Various vaccinations I received from childhood through recent COVID and flu shots, combined with successful cancer treatments, have, so far, kept my obit from seeing print. Thank you astute scientists and capable medical professionals.

I encourage everyone to get annual physicals and appropriate medical tests. Take action to prevent disease. Vaccinations prolong lives and prevent the family tragedies printed on so many old tombstones.

Rich Patterson lives in Cedar Rapids.