At first glance you’d say I’m crazy. You see I spent a good portion of the last week confined to bed at Baptist/Boca Regional with not just single or double pneumonia, but a nasty case of triple lobar pneumonia. How is that lucky you might ask? For the third time in my life, an amazingly conscientious physician didn’t take the easy way out and dismiss my symptoms when initial testing suggested no pneumonia. Luckily, he decided that the overwhelming lab evidence superseded a non-symptomatic chest x-ray and ordered a CT scan just to be sure. And lo and behold the CT scan showed pneumonia in three lobes of my lungs. Needless to say, he quickly started me on IV antibiotics and said I needed to stay a while. And I’m happy to report, I’m home now and “fully operational.” (Although Carol still insists, I just wanted to get out of walking Loki during the rainy season.)

About 30 years ago a similar incident happened to me with my primary care physician when Carol and I were living in Pensacola Beach. A routine annual physical, including bloodwork, showed a barely elevated PSA for my “youthful” 42 years. In the early 90s, other physicians might have missed this red flag, but my GP (that’s what we used to call PCPs) thought a prostate biopsy was indicated and my prostate cancer was diagnosed early and quickly removed by a pioneering surgeon in St. Louis.

And then (are you still with me?) about eight years ago, a great South Florida physician decided that an asymptomatic something in my bladder should be biopsied. My lurking bladder cancer also was quickly removed, and five years of very conscientious testing have left me cancer free as of today. I sincerely thank these diligent physicians for their insight and their willingness to always go the extra mile. Because I am here to attest that without them, I wouldn’t be walking any extra miles at all.

In short as of today, I may have scored a triple (pneumonia), but I am one lucky SOB.

Charles Felix – charles@southfloridahospitalnews.com