Review of Prostate Wimp

The following review appeared in Readers' Favourites, and is by Java Davies

Like many people, I'm sure, I thought that all prostate issues were due to cancer. Reading Diary of a Prostate Wimp by Mike Crowl showed me other types of prostate issues. Mike Crowl wasn't kidding about this being a diary. It's a combination of diary entries on his blog, entries from other men suffering from prostate issues, and letters to God, whom Mike refers to as "Dad," in the style of Jesus referring to God as Dad in Aramaic. While the title of this compilation is Diary of a Prostate Wimp, these men carried themselves with strength and humor for the most part, with some fear and doubt thrown in the mix on occasion.

At the very beginning, Mike Crowl warns people that the squeamish shouldn't attempt this book, and the warning is well advised. Mike doesn't flinch when discussing the pain of catheterization and its side effects of peeing on himself in public when the catheter dislodged, having irritation at the penis tip where the catheter can rub, discomforts along the sexual front, exhaustion, leaving home for a vacation, and even weight gain from the inability to exercise regularly. Mike also talks about different levels in the quality of medical care, and the lack of information from the doctors when you don't know what to ask. Frequent visits to doctors and clinics made me wonder what the healthcare system is like in New Zealand. According to Wikipedia, it's a combination of private and public provision, depending upon the illness or injury.

I was intrigued by the frequent references to Celia, Mrs. Crowl. She and the rest of the family seemed to be very supportive during the long months of catheterization, the prostate scraping surgery, and the slow recovery. Throughout, the author talks about the things he misses and can't wait to get back to. I was rooting for his eventual, successful recovery. If the reader, or someone the reader knows, is suffering from prostate issues, I recommend this book.

A footnote to this review: Davies is correct in that the NZ Health system is a combination of public and private. Due to increasing delays in getting treatment through the public system, many people now opt to pay for health insurance, in order to be able to be treated more speedily in the private sector. Ironically the doctors often work in both areas. Still, for all its failings, the health system in New Zealand is still better than in many places in the world. 

Improving professionalism

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4, verse 22, Jesus says For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. (NIV translation).

It's interesting to read Seth Godin's most recent blog post (Why you might choose to be in favour of transparency) in the light of this, and how he views what happens from a marketing angle when things that are normally hidden (things that should be out in the light) are revealed to the public.

I haven't found some of Seth's recent stuff very interesting, for some reason - he's had a bit too much of a marketing angle on things and he's more interesting when he states his creative opinions - so it's pleasing to see him onto something with a bit more substance here this morning.

Basically he's pointing out that when companies, or practitioners (pig farmers and doctors, in this case) hide stuff and then someone reveals it, the professionalism improves, and even though we sometimes have to pay more for the 'product', we can be more sure that the product is actually up to standard.

There are some connections here with the Peter Jansen (a sensitive claims clinician with ACC) situation where he was going to sue a sexual abuse victim who'd written about him on her blog. Thankfully, he's backed down (perhaps under pressure from the ACC Minister), since even though this was a private legal action on his behalf, it surely had some ethical gray areas because the situation related to his position with the ACC, rather than to something outside his profession. But the outcome, hopefully, is that the ACC professionalism will improve as a result of this brouhaha (haven't been able to use that word for a while).