It Just Can't Be That Simple
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
On Going Tubeless
Monday morning I had my urinary catheter removed. A glorious moment on the road to recovery!
As part of the process, the urologist needs to do an equipment check. So step one is to fill the bladder. He injected about 200CC of liquid in my bladder. Lets just say that reverse flow is an interesting sensation. Next he removed the catheter & had me urinate out the liquid while demonstrating that I could "manage" my stream - which I did. Reflecting back on the moment, I felt like a child with a new toy.
Leakage wise Monday afternoon was discouraging. By the time I got home, my diaper was full. Every time I moved I could feel a leak. Once home, I switched to pads. I went through 4-5 of those. I pretty much quit drinking liquids around 5 & had no accident over night. Yesterday was much better. I went through 3 pads. One of those was soaked during a 2 mile walk. Last night was also dry even though I was not as restrictive with evening liquids. Bottom line is that continence is improving rapidly. Hopefully that will continue. As for the other thing, no signs of life yet.
On Monday I removed the rest of my steri-strips. The far left incision also looks ugly. But it's not nearly bad as the one shown in the pictures. The urologist gave me a prescription for a stronger anti-biotic - Cipro. It now looks like the first site is finally improving. All the remaining sites are healed with the scabs falling away.
The swelling is pretty much gone. The bruise is about half gone - no more yellow, just purple. I still have a fair amount of soreness. It's not painful, just a dull aching type sensation in the region where the defective tissue used to reside.
Since Monday I've been purposefully urinating frequently - less pressure = less leakage. I'm starting to feel confident so today I'm going to see if I can control a full bladder. Either it going to work or it's going to be a spray fest! ¶ 20.12.06 0 comments
As part of the process, the urologist needs to do an equipment check. So step one is to fill the bladder. He injected about 200CC of liquid in my bladder. Lets just say that reverse flow is an interesting sensation. Next he removed the catheter & had me urinate out the liquid while demonstrating that I could "manage" my stream - which I did. Reflecting back on the moment, I felt like a child with a new toy.
Leakage wise Monday afternoon was discouraging. By the time I got home, my diaper was full. Every time I moved I could feel a leak. Once home, I switched to pads. I went through 4-5 of those. I pretty much quit drinking liquids around 5 & had no accident over night. Yesterday was much better. I went through 3 pads. One of those was soaked during a 2 mile walk. Last night was also dry even though I was not as restrictive with evening liquids. Bottom line is that continence is improving rapidly. Hopefully that will continue. As for the other thing, no signs of life yet.
On Monday I removed the rest of my steri-strips. The far left incision also looks ugly. But it's not nearly bad as the one shown in the pictures. The urologist gave me a prescription for a stronger anti-biotic - Cipro. It now looks like the first site is finally improving. All the remaining sites are healed with the scabs falling away.
The swelling is pretty much gone. The bruise is about half gone - no more yellow, just purple. I still have a fair amount of soreness. It's not painful, just a dull aching type sensation in the region where the defective tissue used to reside.
Since Monday I've been purposefully urinating frequently - less pressure = less leakage. I'm starting to feel confident so today I'm going to see if I can control a full bladder. Either it going to work or it's going to be a spray fest! ¶ 20.12.06 0 comments
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Ohhhh that smell
And by the third day, the smell of urine begins to permeate one's essence.
In other words, man was not meant to wear urine soaked diapers.
Since my catheter is now leaking regularly, it is next to impossible to keep completely dry. I take this as a sign that I could have had the catheter removed Friday. So by Monday, I better not have problems with my urethra swelling shut. I've paid my dues!! ¶ 16.12.06 0 comments
In other words, man was not meant to wear urine soaked diapers.
Since my catheter is now leaking regularly, it is next to impossible to keep completely dry. I take this as a sign that I could have had the catheter removed Friday. So by Monday, I better not have problems with my urethra swelling shut. I've paid my dues!! ¶ 16.12.06 0 comments
Thursday, December 14, 2006
The Damage Done
On 12/4 I had a robotic assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
Here are some pictures taken on Sunday 12/10.
The surgery was not bad. Of course I was unconscious the whole time. The recovery was a whole different matter. My body had trouble getting started purging the CO2 gas they use to inflate the abdomen. So I went through 2 days of extremely bad "gas cramps". I'm on morphine grimacing with each one & my surgeon is standing there telling me "you really shouldn't be in any pain".
Well he was right. On the second evening after the surgery the gas started to purge. It started with couple of violent upchucks and then a few good farts. Mind you by the time this happened I had left the hospital & was in a hotel room. The pain was so intense I was about 30 minutes from heading for the emergency room. Once the purging started I was in little pain. My rumbling tummy was still uncomfortable. But I had no sharp pains unless I tried to do something stupid like sit-up using my abs.
I haven't had any narcotic pain killers since I left the hospital. Except for a couple of headaches, I quit taking ibuprofen on the 5th day after surgery.
Around day 6 I had one incision site start to get infected. A little topical antiseptic & a prescription of antibiotics put the kibosh on that idea.
Here it is 11 days post op & I feel great. No more fatigue or dizzy spells & at worse my gut only feels like I did too many crunches. The swelling is slowly diminishing. The bruise is another matter. I think it will be around for another week or two or three. Funny that the right side has significantly more swelling & bruising. The doctor had some reason but I don't remember what he said.
I'm still left with a urinary catheter. It's a constant source of mild irritation and occasionally a sharp pain of two. It's not bad if I stay still. Prone is better than standing is better than sitting. Walking can be a trial. Plan is that maybe tomorrow it will be removed. Then I can work on "regaining control of my stream".
The best thing about the whole thing is the post op pathology report. It containes phrases like negative margins and localized cancer cells. So all indicators say I should be prostate cancer free. We'll see. My first PSA test is scheduled for January 23rd. ¶ 14.12.06 2 comments
Here are some pictures taken on Sunday 12/10.
The surgery was not bad. Of course I was unconscious the whole time. The recovery was a whole different matter. My body had trouble getting started purging the CO2 gas they use to inflate the abdomen. So I went through 2 days of extremely bad "gas cramps". I'm on morphine grimacing with each one & my surgeon is standing there telling me "you really shouldn't be in any pain".
Well he was right. On the second evening after the surgery the gas started to purge. It started with couple of violent upchucks and then a few good farts. Mind you by the time this happened I had left the hospital & was in a hotel room. The pain was so intense I was about 30 minutes from heading for the emergency room. Once the purging started I was in little pain. My rumbling tummy was still uncomfortable. But I had no sharp pains unless I tried to do something stupid like sit-up using my abs.
I haven't had any narcotic pain killers since I left the hospital. Except for a couple of headaches, I quit taking ibuprofen on the 5th day after surgery.
Around day 6 I had one incision site start to get infected. A little topical antiseptic & a prescription of antibiotics put the kibosh on that idea.
Here it is 11 days post op & I feel great. No more fatigue or dizzy spells & at worse my gut only feels like I did too many crunches. The swelling is slowly diminishing. The bruise is another matter. I think it will be around for another week or two or three. Funny that the right side has significantly more swelling & bruising. The doctor had some reason but I don't remember what he said.
I'm still left with a urinary catheter. It's a constant source of mild irritation and occasionally a sharp pain of two. It's not bad if I stay still. Prone is better than standing is better than sitting. Walking can be a trial. Plan is that maybe tomorrow it will be removed. Then I can work on "regaining control of my stream".
The best thing about the whole thing is the post op pathology report. It containes phrases like negative margins and localized cancer cells. So all indicators say I should be prostate cancer free. We'll see. My first PSA test is scheduled for January 23rd. ¶ 14.12.06 2 comments
