Dear Pastor,

First and foremost, I would like to say, God Bless you. Second, I want to let you know how much I love your column. I always read your column with an open and eager mind. I have a lot of respect and love for you, sir.

I am writing because I am bothered and worried about my health. I am a 28-year-old black incarcerated in the United States. I am from a Jamaican background and very proud of it. My problem is with the health department here in prison where I am held. I have been incarcerated for five years and four months. I will be going home 2017, the latest.

Homosexuality is a thing. I do not indulge so I masturbate to release my sexual tension. My problem is that I have been using petroleum jelly, or products that have petroleum in them. I have been complaining for months about pains in my abdomen and chest. My left testicle was in pain and the old Caucasian male doctor here told me that it was normal among men my age.

I don't trust these people because they are strange. I know they disapprove of my race. Also, my urine had an abnormal smell once but it smells OK now.

Pastor, I didn't know that petroleum jelly is a pollutant, which can promote the formation of free radicals in the body, and have destructive molecules that can damage your body cells that may lead to CVD, as well as cancer and other diseases. I have been having sharp pain, from time to time, in my abdomen but nothing too harsh.

I work out a lot to stay fit, so when I sweat my scrotum smells funny, as if chemical is coming out of my pores from the sage of the petroleum.

I feel a sharp pain in my head in different areas every once in a while. Sir, I have been worried about this for months, losing sleep at nights because I am still young and afraid I may not be able to get children.

I have been studying health issues, especially now that my life is in the hands of people who really hate me and others like me. I need to know if the free radicals could kill my sperm cells and prevent me from fathering children. Why do I hear ticking noises in my head, does that mean something is going on in my brain? Could I still boost my immune system to fight off invaders/free radicals? How could I get some attention where I could prove my situation, then file a lawsuit against the health department here?

Thank you for your time, Pastor. I wish the very best.

A.R.

Dear A.R.,

You are asking me questions of which I am not qualified to give you the correct answers. It seems to me the doctor who has been seeing you in prison should refer you to a specialist, but he would have to be convinced that it is necessary for you to see him/her.

The questions that you have asked should be directed to him. You need to tell him you have been using petroleum jelly to masturbate and about the pains you are feeling.

If he refuses to listen, you should write the prison authorities and complain to them. You should not be afraid to do so.

Pastor