To whom it may concern,

First, I hope that I am able to describe my symptoms well to you, despite the fact that I am not native in English.

I am a 46-year old man. My length is 1,82 meter and my weight is today around 93-94 kilograms. In fact, I have lost about 7-8 kilograms during the last month or so due to (heavy) training. My BMI has dropped from about 30 to slightly above 28.

To be more precise about my training, I have exercised about 4-5 days a week the last 2,5 months. Mostly, I have been swimming in the outdoor pool (1 hour, or even more) and running the treadmill (also 1 hour each time, but a few times as long as 1,75 hours). I trained a lot when I was younger, so I am used with exercising a lot, even if I have not done this for at least 5 years.

To help reduce my weight, I have eaten Alli (orlistat) at a regular basis the last 2,5 months. I have never smoked tobacco and I drink very rarely alcohol.

The fall 2008 (when I came to the U.S. for one year) I got symptoms that correspond quite well with prostatitis; pain in my testicles, my back, the pelvic floor, the groins, more frequent urination, etc. I saw a physician. I had these symptoms for a number of months. I do not exactly remember for how long period. The symptoms have returned thereafter, but it was quite a long time since last time (except this fall).

The fall 2011 I got mild pain in the lower part of my stomach. A urine stick showed presence of blood, but the blood was not visible for the eye and I felt no problems urinating. They looked at my bladder (if I recall correctly) with ultrasound, they did enteroscopy of my large intestine, I took a PSA-test (for the second time in my life), but everything was fine. No signs of sickness. After half a year, the soft pain slowly vanished. I never received a diagnosis.

This fall (when I came again to the U.S. for one year) the prostatitis symptoms have returned, even though I believe that they are milder than they were 5 years ago. It started with a mild pain in my lower back as the only symptom (i.e., a sort of tiredness in my back). I therefore believed that my pain was because of my training in combination with having a big belly. (At the moment, my back is fine.)

One thing that is different now, which also is the reason I write to you, is that I saw a few drops of urine with blood inside (light red) when I urinated directly after having running at the treadmill last Sunday. I could see that it was a little blood in the urine before it slowly ran down into the water. The amount of urine was very small; maybe 0,1-0,2 deciliter, but absolutely not more. I had drinking quite a lot of alcohol during Saturday evening (during Saturday early evening, I was exercising for 2 hours; cycling and ski-machine, 1 hour each) and I had not drinking so much water before I trained, which also explains that the 1 hour running at the treadmill was heavy for me. About 15 minutes prior to urinating, I felt some burning pain (even though the word pain is a bit strong) in my penis.

I also feel this soft pain in my penis now, even though the urine looks fine (transparent or light yellow) and have done so this week. Monday and Tuesday, I have urinated extremely little, even though I felt the need to pee. On Monday, I stopped taking Alli because I have learned that you can get blood in the urine of Alli, though it is a very rare symptom. My urine has occasionally been (quite) dark the last month or so. When I first saw dark urine, I also had the burning pain in my penis prior to urinating.

What is your general impression of my description? The thing is that I am worried that I have cancer. For example, that I have bladder cancer or prostate cancer. (I am often worried that I have cancer, even though cancer is not a typical disease in my family. In fact, I do not think that any of my close relatives have had cancer.) I am aware of the fact that your impression from my description of my symptoms not at all is a substitute for seeing a physician.

Kindly, M