Sorry its taken me so long to write again, but we have been dealing with some major curveballs the past week or so.
Here is the update:
A couple of weeks ago my Urologist ordered a CT scan with no contrast because he was looking for kidney stones. He did not find any kidney stones, but found two growths, one on each kidney. He called me in for a visit, and checked my urine, my prostate, my privates, etc. All seemed normal. He said that the growth on my right kidney was a harmless cyst. The one on my left was a little more bothersome. He said it looked solid, and he wanted to have a closer look. But he added, "If I was a betting man, I would bet this was a cyst too, since you seem asymptomatic. I just want a closer look."
Then he asked me a strange question:
"How long has it been since you had an echo on your heart?" I said about a year or so, which is a normal wait in between echos. Why? He said he noticed something about my ascending aorta that my cardiologist should know about. (I had aortic valve replacement in 1991)-- anyway, I called my cardio and he ordered a CT scan. I was able to combine both CT scans for the same appointment.
I went in for the CT scan this past Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, my cardiologist called me with the bad news: My ascending aorta was dilated to 6cm and I need surgery, very quickly.
Still no word from the Urologist on the scan results from Friday, but I am comforted by his "betting man" analogy. Who knows what he will say.
At this point my main concern has become my heart.
In any case, he never mentioned seeing anything in my bladder from the first CT without contrast. He only focused on my kidneys. Today, my bleeding began again and so did my lower abdominal pain.
At 37, it officially feels like my body is falling apart.
I alerted the university that I will be leaving very soon for the open heart surgery.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words.