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Pre-op Completed today

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Posted 8/12/2009 4:24 PM (GMT 0)
Went to St. Francis Hospital here in Greenville, SC this morning and went through the pre-op procedure.  Piece of cake this time, only took 2 hours.  Last time it was 6 hours.  They did have  to do a new EKG test on my heart.  They said it looked as strong as a young mans heart.  Least something works right.  The nurse managed to get three tubes of blood on one needle, sure beats yesterdays one tube for three needles, lol.

So, I am good to go for next Tuesdays corrective laser surgery.  Had nightmares about it last night, but guess thats the subconcious speaking to me.

David in SC

Posted 8/12/2009 7:22 PM (GMT 0)
Greetings, David.  Just left you a note on another thread.  Glad the preop went well and we'll continue to pray that this corrective surgery will be just what you need to get things back on track.  David

Posted 8/12/2009 7:40 PM (GMT 0)
David,

I have followed your long saga with concern but I continue to be impressed with your always positive attitude. I pray that you come through this procedure successfully as well as through the future treatments and are able to put it all behind you before too long.

Thank you for all you do on this forum.

John
Posted 8/12/2009 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks David CPA, and thanks John, not sure I am all that brave or positive, just a tough old buzzard thats not smart enough to give it up.
lol. Like our old cartoon friend Popeye use to say, "I can't stands no more." But I wake up the next day and start all over again.

David in SC
Posted 8/13/2009 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
Finally something went right for you Dave. I hope the surgery will be even easier on you. You deserve a break. Best of luck next week.
Posted 8/13/2009 6:27 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks ED. Last night and today so far, the bladder spasms aren't as frequent or as severe, and I have been racing around all over doing errands today. Told my wife, the 2 days this week I was having it so bad, I was on tylenol only instead of my normal advi. yesterday and today ive been back on advil. seems obvious that the advil works better at calming things down and bringing down swelling, plus, i felt no pain relief from the tylenol. just my observation.

david in sc
Posted 8/13/2009 7:04 PM (GMT 0)
David, I see from your signature block that you had catheters in for 66 days after your original open RP surgery. I, too, needed catheters beyond the "normal" two weeks after surgery. At the time, what did your urologist say was the problem? Mine told me that my sphincter was not releasing and that I simply needed patience for it to get coordinated with my bladder. Now that I'm catheter-free for three weeks, I'm concerned I will eventually be facing some of the same blockage problems that you are now having. Best wishes for successful surgery next week.
Posted 8/13/2009 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
" was on tylenol only instead of my normal advi. yesterday and today ive been back on advil. seems obvious that the advil works better at calming things down and bringing down swelling, plus, i felt no pain relief from the tylenol. just my observation"

I am not surprised as Tylenol (acetaminophen), is not a NSAID drug and does not reduce inflammation. NSAI drugs such as Advil and Motrin (ibuprofen) or Aleve (naproxen) work by also reducing inflamation and swelling.
Posted 8/13/2009 7:43 PM (GMT 0)
the hopsital sent a letter saying to stop taking advil, aspirin, etc 10 days before the procedure, when when i was at the preop, they said i could take the advil until sunday night. not going to be a major if any bleeding episode as its being done by laser.

thanks for the info
Posted 8/13/2009 7:48 PM (GMT 0)
David,
T minus 100 hours or so. You've got this whole forum rooting for you.
May you be wearing Depends Wednesday morning.
Jeff
Posted 8/13/2009 7:51 PM (GMT 0)
jeff, thanks for the glee club, but there will be a cath number 7 when i wake up, he said for one to two weeks to alow healing and swelling to go down. glad i kept some of my real depends pads and pull ups from month ago, didnt think i would ever need them but too expensive to toss. i may or may not need anything, jury is out on that. hope my dr/surgeon gets some the night before so he will be in a good carving mood.

david in sc "king of catheters"
Posted 8/14/2009 10:01 AM (GMT 0)
David,
I hadn't thought about the need for another catheter. Clearly, you are the undisputed King. There isn't a guy here who wouldn't carry your bag for you. Hopefully you will be able to relax a bit after this surgery with as little leg bag time as possible. Give it all a rest.
On the bright side (it's my job) when you're having intimate relations with Cathy #7 at least you're not leaving a wet spot wherever you go. There is something to be said for not leaving a piddle puddle on every chair. (Good thing my wife doesn't have one of those UV lights from CSI.)
Good luck.
Jeff
Posted 8/14/2009 12:40 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff, definitely going to be on that next cath, and it will be a larger diameter one like after my last corrective surgery. they do that to keep the new opened space opened fully while it heals, and it gives a chance to get any chunks and gunk out of me. the last time, it was a very painful week, any walking or bending caused pain, i couldnt wait for it to removed. i am hoping somehow that it wont be as bad, but i have to plan for the worse.

3 days after the procedure, i am suppose to accompany my wife to her employers banquet awards fiesta in Clemson, SC. Its an over night affair. Dont know if I will be in dancing form, but I owe her so very much for my well being. If nothing else, I will show up, eat, mingle, and since we have a room reserved, I can always grace out and get comfortable in the room while she parties on. She drinks, I don't, so I will be the designated straight cath driver.

David in SC

PS Jeff, how are you really doing? Looking at your signature, you are 2 weeks on the recovery side. Your attitude sounds greaat, but how are you really feeling?
Posted 8/14/2009 1:41 PM (GMT 0)
David,
To be honest I do find the piddling and diddling to be very frustrating. I'm 56! Too old and too young to be in diapers. Last night was the first time I went to bed wearing big boy underwear - with guard of course. I'm aggressively trying all sorts of thing to beat this. I limited fluids (bad idea - I know) so I could go out in public and still be undercover. I'm home alone today so I decided to flood myself with lots of drinks, wear only underwear and just go outside and pee on the weeds every ten minutes if I have to. I figure that will help me learn what muscle do what again. Like potty training my sons: "What a good boy!"

I have a notebook page that I've labelled with the date on each line. I keep track of the itme I change my Guard and Diaper. On the right side of the page I total it up I call it my Kimberly score: G5+D2 =7. I have been watching that number fluctuate for the past 5 days and if I squint my eyes real tight I think I can see a downward trend. At this rate I will stop contributing to Kimberly Clark's retirement plan in 2012. I had hoped that I'd be done with this in a month. So basically I'm a little frustrated but well within specifications.
As you can tell I'm a pretty positive kind of guy and a full blooded engineer. I am fortunate that I can find humor in most anything (like goodlife) and I am really fortunate to have found a great bunch of guys like you with super advice.

I haven't even started to think about the other issue yet. I'm not sure how I should plot that issue. If my wife finds out I'm keeping track of that she might pull a Lorena Bobbit on me.
(Thanks for asking)
Jeff
Posted 8/14/2009 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff, I drive my wife nuts with all the things I track. She calls me "The Count". When we switched gas grilles recently, I even track how many meals I am getting out of the tank of propane. As a long term professional number cruncher, its in my dna, I have to track and count things, the devi is in the detail. And the devil is the detail.

Sounds like you are on a fairly normal track for going dry. Of course its frustrating and embararrssing at time, we are grown men use to holding our whizz for hours if needed, and then letting it go like a fire hose. I used depends pull ups for a whole month at night after i was 100% dry, just because i was obsessed that i didnt want to have an accident and wet the bed. goofy on my part, but i slept better. whatever works for you, thats what you should do. keagals, not to discourage anyone, i tried them on and off for a day, got obsessed about tracking my attempts, and gave em up. my dr said if you do them too often ,its counter productive because you are tiring out the very muscles that you are trying to strengthen. each to their own.

david in sc
Posted 8/14/2009 2:51 PM (GMT 0)
David,
Do you write the date on the tank? I do. I have an excel program where I track how much heating oil I use for each day and correlate it to the Heating degree day. We all know what kind of gas mileage our cars get. Well, I know exactly how many HDD/gallon I use to heat my house. Every home should have that kind of number. I can tell how much is saved by taping the front door closed for example. I can even tell if my wife bumped the T-stat up one degree.

When my Kimberly score goes to D0+P1 =1 (one pad per day) I will be satisfied. Wait! Let me run the Excel trend analysis.... Yep! 2011...
Jeff
I'm going to drink another glass of water now.
Posted 8/14/2009 3:31 PM (GMT 0)
"Hope my dr/surgeon gets some the night before so he will be in a good carving mood."

LOL! I had to laugh over this.
But you know, I think there is a lot of truth to that. I get cranky when it's been a while, and I'm sure my work suffers to some degree.
Posted 8/14/2009 3:45 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff, dont ever hold back on water and liquids, thats a common approach when one is wet, but its very bad for the body and is counterproductive in the long run.

squirm, more importantly, hope my doctor remembers that its my weiner they are going to scope again, and its me we are talking about when the laser starts to zap. fortunately, i will be in that deep dark bliss of purgatory after they put me under. i am no fool, i realize there is risk here, he can either be the hero and cure these blockages for good, or he can goof and leave me incontinent for good, quite a range there.

david in sc
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