Home from Corrective Surgery #6, Hello Catheters #18 & #19

vam - thanks, hoping this time it will help

alf, my brit friend, thanks, i probably have spent more one on one time with a uro then most men here combined, been seeing him monthly at least, since august of 2008. he's very in tune with my problems, pains, and needs. a rare combination.

jeff - so dehydrated because i had to fast, including water, from midnight till the op at 230, I am use to drinking min. of 3 liters of water a day to keep my cath happy

aimzee - my wife is still wonderful after 36 years, and has a great reputation as a nurse, she's the caring kind of nurse, not the i am in it for the money kind

thanks, and a special hug to you Sephie, you are a sweetheart, remind john of that from time to time, lol. i think the most the dr would want to postpone a more radical surgical approach would be one year post radiation, which would be November. He is still hoping for a natural healing, but it would be a miracle at this point.

rob, thanks for you words.

a few guys here have experienced a handful of spasms in their early healings, no way to explain to some one, that I have had easily over 4,000 and each one hurts as much as the first. Never gets any easier. The spasms with 2 caths in place are 10 on the pain chart without question

sheldon, my friend, big thanks to you, you always have the right words to say, appreciate that in you

steve, thanks, survival is mind over matter, i am refusing to let PC to beat me, keep getting knocked over, but still wanting to stay in the fight.

david in sc

Dave,

You are truly an inspiration to us all. Get well soon and know that we're thinking of you today.

steve

David, your post of "you are not going to let PC beat you" reminded me of a phrase someone told me last week. It was "suffering is inevitable, misery is optional". You definitely have been suffering but you are not letting it destroy you ability to keep on living.

thank you rob and sheldon, trust me, there is misery in the pain zone, would be lying to try to say differently. even on the meds today, pain level pretty high, just got to get through the next day or two. the longer the 2nd cath stays in, the more pain it will cause, but it needs to stay in as long as possible to give the surgical work at the bladder neck a chance to heal without extra swelling, the foley cath is keeping it open, so i need to tough it out as long as possible. doctor wants it there for 10 days, but knows that might not be possible. last time we did this trick, i made it 4 days before we had to remove it.

Thank you Jake, as long as I literally don't stand up or try to walk, and that's hard to do, I am under control, but the moment I stand, walk more than a few feet, i.e. to drain the cath bag, it brings on a wicked strong spasm, the two cath spasms are out of this world, will bring tears to your eyes before it passes. Can't wait till I am through the worse passage of this new recovery.

David, I am speechless by your troubles. You have a very healthy attitude that clearly serves you very well. I don't know what to say but some encouragement you gave me: if you are healed, then it will all be worth it. Prayers to a speedy recovery and a low low PSA reading this month.
Jeff

David:

Thanks for the update. You've gone far enough with the same old same old same old.

I hope you finally do meet personally with an expert who can evaluate you for the more radical procedure.

It hurts to see you in such dire straits!

Mel

mel, i detect the "the let's get a stab at david's uro/surgeon" in your remark again. i don't like when others criticize one's doctor, when they don't even have a clue of the care, time, and effort one's doctor puts with his patient. you might not have meant it that way, but that's how i took it. the doc is doing all he can to help with the pain, pain that he didn't cause. he openly talked about the advanced possibilities with my wife, while i was in recovery, including the possibility of the expert from duke, but added, the expert doesnt want to deal with me as long as i still have such strong post radiation damage. like a lot of "experts" and "brand name doctors", they want to cherry pick their patients so their numbers won't look bad. seen some of that here at HW over time with men that had the abilty/fortune to select top doctors. my dr is a man of deep compassion and nearly 30 years of experience and even though I live in a small state, his name is always on the top 5 list of uro//surgeons in my state.

edc, thank you. me, the wife, and the good doctor, we all want the nautural healing to be the answer, and i would be willling to suffer and wait it out more, months more, i could be convinced that it would happen. just a hard thing to do when its already been 8 months post radiation, and the pain regions are still as intense. i will be talking to dr on tuesday morning for starters, then he will see me this coming friday.
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Sunday Morning Update

It's amazing that I can be on double doses of loratab, taking a muscle relaxer, ditropan, and taking ambien - and still be awake all day and almost all last night. In that length of time, I slept from 5 AM this morning till 10 AM. That was it. Thankful for that, but not much sleep, its like all these sedating drugs are having the opposite effect, they are wiring me out. And trust me, I don't really want to be awake for 18 hours a day right now.

Within 5 minutes after getting out of bed, just emptying the leg bag, brought on spasm 1 of the day that knocked me for a loop, and started the whole cycle of pain again. so a light breakfast, a bunch of pills, and its off for another fun day.

My boys are suppose to be over later for a 4th cookout, and to mow my lawn since I cant. Trying to make the best out of bad situation. Sorry if I sound on edge, I am at the moment.

I hope you get well,you have beeing in pain for so long.

David:

My post to you said:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thanks for the update. You've gone far enough with the same old same old same old.

I hope you finally do meet personally with an expert who can evaluate you for the more radical procedure.

It hurts to see you in such dire straits!

Mel

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I reread it and stand by my comments. I am sure your doctors are very compassionate and quite competent.

I am not taking a shot at your doctor, but I am underscoring your point that a new approach is called for. I think you even agree that your doctor does not do the more radical surgery.

Anyway, I do NOT want to upset you. Understand that I share your frustration and I am saddened by the pain you endure. I would be unable to walk a mile in your shoes. I do not like doctor bashing either. In fact, you and I were in total agreement in terms of my criticism of Dr. Strum.

This is a support group. I certainly welcome the suggestions of others. I don't mean to be presumtuous in trying to suggest that you personally see an expert. Nevertheless, I see nothing wrong in my post.

Mel

Hey David,

I hope this latest surgery helps (and that you don't have to go the path of anything more radical) and I hope the pain meds will get you some much needed rest.

Think of you often.

PS: Looking for a place in the US that'll deliver some of those Swiss chocolates you like...have a lookout for the UPS truck soon

mike, so good to hear from you. been tempted to call you for real. good chocolates are always on my diet, helps me feel better, lol. let's talk soon and get caught up. keep expecting that pretty rv of yours to show up in my hard.

mel - my only concern would be with cancer center of america, where i had my radiation. i was the only person, my rad dr said, that they radiated without the benefit of a water filled bladder, while wearing the SP cath. I was concerned at the time, but she assured me that she compensated for that.

but then i seem to be one of the few here, that has experienced so much "burn" and "scattering" during and post radiation, so its hard for me not to connect the two. my own uro is of the same opinion, but then radiation is not his specialty.
don't worry mel, not mad a you or anyone else, just trying to deal with a tough recovery period this time. been a bit over 48 hours, still havent had much sleep, and prob averaging 2-3 spasms per hour, virtually every time i stand up, drink water, or empty my cath bag. ony mercy is when i am litterly lying down not moving at all.

thanks for caring, thats the important part

david most definitely sore in SC