Does Saving My Life Count?

Dr. Karl Dannehl has been my primary care doctor for many, many years. Because of a family history of prostate cancer, he has been closely monitoring my PSA levels over the years. At my physical in 2022, my PSA was still below "normal", and thus one would think no cause for alarm. However, Dr. Dannehl was uneasy because, while the 2022 PSA was below 4.0, it had still increased year over year more than he was happy with. He suggested a course of antibiotics in case it was an infection, but the PSA number remained the same or slightly higher (while still under 4.0). He recommended that I make an appointment with a urologist, which I did. This led to an MRI with suspicious results, and then to a biopsy that confirmed the presence of cancer. I elected surgery to remove the prostate. Because we caught it early (thanks to Dr. Dannehl), the post-surgery pathology report showed the cancer was confined to the gland, had not spread to any surrounding tissue or lymph nodes, and here almost exactly a year since surgery, PSA levels are reading "undetectable." Now, I am not naive. I know that cancer can return and perhaps it will in my case, and if so we will deal with that. But I will always be grateful to Dr. Dannehl for being so focused on this and giving me the best possible chance of having a long-term good result. If we had waited, I'm not sure where I would be right now. In the meantime, once a surprisingly brief and easy recovery (the surgeon he referred me to was excellent as well!), I'm back enjoying life and playing a lot of golf, which along with my family is my passion. A big "bucket list" golf trip planned this year as well as a "bucket list" family vacation a bit later in the year. I will always be grateful for Dr. Dannehl's professional diligence on this. I could give other examples. He is always available to me. I can get appointments when I need them. He spends quality time with me when we do have appointments. He is just a fine, fine doctor and a good guy to boot. But, it's hard to beat saving a fellow's life, or if that sounds too dramatic, at least being good enough at his job to jump on an anomalous lab result, get me to the right specialist and thus give me the best chance of spending a lot more quality time with my family (and playing a lot more golf!) He's the best.