At 50, I noticed something. I got checked out. 15 years later, I still come back every year.

Alex Rinaldoni is 65 years old. At 50, he noticed something subtle but persistent—a loss of pressure when urinating. Most men would have dismissed it as normal aging and moved on.

Not Alex. He made an appointment with Dr. Richard Sioufi, a board-certified urologist at the Sioufi Urology Clinic in Montreal, for a complete checkup. Everything went back to normal. And 13 years later, he still comes back every year. Here is his story—and the conversation he's had with his doctor all these years.

ALEX RINALDONI — PATIENT, 65 YEARS OLD

"At 50, I noticed a loss of pressure when urinating . I almost didn't say anything—I thought it was just age. What made you take this symptom seriously when I came for a consultation?"

DR. SIOUFI — UROLOGIST

Because it's never "just age"—even when it seems like it. A reduced urinary stream is one of the symptoms men most often downplay, and it's also one of the most clinically significant. By age 50, this type of change can reflect early signs of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) , early bladder changes, or, occasionally, something that warrants further investigation. Coming for a consultation was exactly the right decision. The goal of an initial evaluation isn't to find a problem—it's to establish a baseline and rule out what isn't. You can't manage what you haven't measured.

ALEX RINALDONI — PATIENT, 65 YEARS OLD

"You ordered three tests: PSA, ultrasound, and cytology . I remember thinking it was a lot for a symptom I almost didn't mention. Can you explain why each one was important?"

DR. SIOUFI — UROLOGIST

Because they each answer a different question, which is precisely the point. The PSA test is a monitoring marker—it tells us if the prostate is producing a protein at a level that warrants further investigation. Ultrasound gives us an anatomical image: the size of the prostate, its structure, and any areas that appear abnormal. And urine cytology examines cells from the bladder—it's a way to detect bladder changes that neither PSA nor ultrasound would show. Together, they provide a complete picture. Each one taken separately would have left blind spots. All three combined have allowed us to confidently tell you what is and isn't a problem.

ALEX RINALDONI — PATIENT, 65 YEARS OLD

"Everything went back to normal. My first reaction was relief—then I wondered if I had overreacted. Had I overreacted?"

DR. SIOUFI — UROLOGIST

Absolutely not—and I want to directly challenge that way of seeing things. A normal result isn't a sign that you've overdone it. It's the best possible result when you're doing things correctly. But more importantly, this normal result has become something invaluable: your baseline. Without it, the figures we've been tracking for the past 13 years would have no point of comparison. We'd have no way of knowing if a current PSA is normal for you specifically, or if it represents a significant change from your starting point. The baseline established at age 50 is the foundation of everything we've done since.

ALEX RINALDONI — PATIENT, 64 YEARS OLD

"Thirteen years of annual follow-up. I come, we do the tests, we review the results. What does this longitudinal data tell you that a single test could never reveal?"

DR. SIOUFI — UROLOGIST

Everything. A single test is a snapshot. Thirteen years of annual tests is a film. What I see in your data over time is something no single result can show: the velocity of change, the pattern, the trend. Your PSA at age 50 , compared to your PSA today, tells me far more than either of those isolated numbers. We can see if something is accelerating, stabilizing, or remaining completely flat. We can detect a significant change years before it appears as an abnormal value in a single test. That's the clinical power of regular monitoring—and that's why I always tell my patients that the most important test isn't the first one. It's the one you keep doing every year.

ALEX RINALDONI — PATIENT, 65 YEARS OLD

"What do you say to men who feel perfectly fine and think they have no reason to get tested?"

DR. SIOUFI — UROLOGIST

I tell them that feeling well isn't the same as being clear of any problems—and that the conditions we're screening for are precisely those that don't show early signs. The early stages of prostate changes, bladder problems, and other urological conditions are often completely silent. By the time symptoms appear and become bothersome, the window for the simplest possible management may have closed. The symptom Alex had noticed—a subtle drop in pressure—is actually quite noticeable within the range of possible signs. Many men come in with nothing to report, and we find things that warrant monitoring. The examination is quick. The peace of mind lasts a year.

ALEX RINALDONI — PATIENT, 65 YEARS OLD

"What would you say to the 49-year-old version of me — the one who almost didn't answer the phone?"

DR. SIOUFI — UROLOGIST

I would tell him: the call you almost didn't make is the one that mattered the most. Not because anything alarming was found—it wasn't. But because you gave yourself 13 years of clarity, data, and peace of mind that you wouldn't have had otherwise. Every man who comes in at 50 for his first comprehensive checkup is giving his future self a gift. The consultation takes an afternoon. The confidence it builds lasts a lifetime. And for the men reading this who are somewhere between 49 and that first appointment—it's a sign to pick up the phone.

Make an appointment at the Sioufi Urology Clinic

Are you over 50 and have never had a prostate exam? Or has more than a year passed since your last exam? Consult Dr. Sioufi — no medical referral, no waiting list, in a confidential and professional setting in Montreal or Châteauguay.

Montreal (Westmount) | Châteauguay | sioufiurologie.com/nous-joindre