22. May, 2003 - gone nuts?
- Jim has some sad news and wanted to share it with everyone while he still has the balls to do it. The news is that he appears to have Testicular Cancer (final diagnosis pending). For certain there’s a tumor in one of his testicles and it will probably be removed. For those of you who know him (and even those who don’t) be aware that it’s highly treatable.
For all you males out there–here’s info on how to do a Testicular self examination, though it might be fun to have your wife or girlfriend do it (if, unlike Jim, you have such a thing). [jim]
- When Jim told me about his news, one of the first things I thought of were prosthetics, since I’d heard the story of The Man Who Wanted ‘Canine Cojones’ a year or so ago.
- Since prosthetic testicles for humans have been outlawed by the FDA (see the previous story), here’s a rundown on the ones for dogs called Neuticles. Their website is down, but the Internet Archive has the backup. There was also a story I read recently about someone adding in a radio-tracker so you could find your lost doggie, but I can’t find the story again.
- On a more serious note, I’ve noticed recently that the crowd I hang out with is starting to get (or at least act) old. A couple weeks ago at the bar (we still haven’t shed that youthful habit), we were talking, and the topic of conversation turned to everyone’s various ailments. One gal was having a sore back. Two of the guys have sleeping disorders that require they wear things that shoot air into their faces while they sleep and one’s got hepatitis C. I’ve got bad knees, almost certainly made worse by sitting on my butt too much and carrying around 50 pounds more than I should. While we’re only halfway into an average lifespan or so, things are starting to break down, and it’s a sobering realization. But even worse was being surrounded by 20-somethings and realizing we were sitting around talking about our infirmities, which made me feel older than any of the physical problems. The conversation didn’t really get back to normal bar-fare the rest of the night, and it was one of the least satisfying evenings out in quite a while.
Copyright 2008, Dave Polaschek.
Last updated on Thu, 22 May 2003 08:40:18.