DAY 52: Cystoscope and Catheter #4

Just got back from my dr/s visit, took 2 1/2 hours.  After the emergency room cath was put in, he said he would not put me through that again.  He did a lengthy cystoscope exam on me.  I was not prepared for that, his office once again, screwed up and failed to follow his instructions to me ahead of time.  He did use a flex scope, he said he would never use a rigid one on a male, sometimes they do on women, because they don't have to go as far and its a straight shot.  They numbed my penis first don there, didn't hurt as much as felt strange.  He went all the way to the bladder, and as he expected, there is some kind of flap or extra material where the urethra and the bladder were rejoined.  I am suppose to have an appointment in Greenville this time, this Friday, where he will either heavily sedate me or put me under he said, and go back in with a scope with tools hooked up to a screen instead of an eye piece.  He said either with a balloon or metal devices, they can stretch open the area of contention and see what is going on better, and right then and there decide if he can snip a piece here or there to get a good flow.  He did warn me, it will be a balancing act, that he knows I can't stay on a cath forever, but if he's not careful on the next step, i could end up being perm. incontinent real easy, and that was his fear when he ran into problems with my surgery.  He spent a lot of time with me, and put my mind to rest about a few things.  I just wasn't prepared to had this done this morning, but it is progress.  BTW, cath #4 is still larger in diameter then the previous 3, he said by increasing it each time, it helps the opening stay large enough when the cath is out.  He said the ER crew should have never used the coude cath on me, that weird tip is for me that still have prostate in place, and that they could have seriously injured me inserting it.  After it was out, he took it out of the trash and showed me why.  I am home resting, more shook up then hurt, as I did this appt. alone thinking it was just going to be a talking one.

David in SC

James, I am happy just to have a game plan, my dr. is very cautious and an open book with me, he knows I like it that way. Been on the cath so long now, it no longer depresses me, just slows me down a bit, getting to know all the ins and outs of being on one if any ever needs to no. Getting to be an expert in the variations of leg bags and night bags, lol. What a skill.

David in SC

Thanks for the kind words, Rich. From your signature, looks like you are doing great, very happy for you. I am sure I will be looking back at my own lack of progress. Just want to move forward with my recovery, from a surgical vantage, dr. said I have healed very fast and very well.

David

yeah living, least it was progress in the right direction I feel, just a little scary since it wasn't a planned event and the fact that I was alone. Must admit, when I was in the scope room, feet up in the air, waiting for the numbing jell to take affect, I was alone and scared, and for obvious reasons, vulnerable to say the least. My dignity went out the door a long time ago. lol.

david

Hello DJ,

In the end, happy I made some progress in the right direction. I can't lie, my weiner, scrotum, haunches, all very sore from today's procedure. But had quality one to one time with my doctor, he never tried to hurry me or my endless questions or concerned, despite having a very full lobby. No, Greenville is only 10 miles from my house, and his main office there is usually a 20 minute drive. His office here in Easley, a satelitte affair, is 4 blocks from my house. He said if he does the bigger procedure where I will be put under, he wants to do it at his main office, in case he needs something special.

I have had 3 types of leg bags, this new one is my fave, the emtpying end of the bag has a little lever that you just lift up to empty, and close to close, it has an elastic strap with buttons to attach, not hard for me. The previous one, had a simple plastic cap that just pulled off when you needed to empty, if you dropped the cap in the toliet, you would have to fish it out, it also had latex straps that really pinched the hairs on my leg, the other type, had horrible velcro straps that kept coming loose no matter what, and a twist nozzle on the exit end that took me two hands to open and close. So you can see, there are differences.

When I take a shower, I always have the big bag with the long hose on, I leave the bag outside of the shower curtain on the floor, and carefully move around the shower. They make a nifty shower plug,where you plug off the cath while you shower, then you put the bag back on, no need to worry about water leaking under the shower curtain, but I never bothered to ask for one or to buy one.

It's not exactly legal or even polite I suppose, but I have emptied the leg bag with ease in the grass or even in a parking lot if the need required, feel like some old hound dog taking a piss!

Hope you are feeling good today.

David in SC

So what happens at City of Hope if they get into a man and find out it's beyond the scope of robotics? I believe what you are saying they say, do they just close up the person and abort and reschedule somewhere else with an open. I am sure you would qualify for your robotic, but I think I would ask outright, what if something goes wrong. According to my dr/surgeon, it's not always cut and dry on the robotic stuff, they can only know so much ahead of time as we all have learned. The pre-surgery pathology is at best, a good estimate of what they will be dealing with, but until they get inside you, they don't know for sure. Just my take on it.

David in SC

DJ, obviously a moot point now, but for people still deciding right now, just something to think about, and another thing to put on the "let's ask the doctor/surgeon" question list. I wish I knew even half of what I have learned from this site now, as I did at the time I was first dx with PC, I probably would have had a lot more questions to ask. I made a lot of decisions from reading Dr. Walsh's infamous book on the subject.

David in SC

kw, i have read of the horror stories of the rigid ones, my doctor says he never uses on a male patient, so I flinch thinking you went through that. ouch.

david in sc