AUS saga continues...

Thursday we returned to the urologist/surgeon. The Foley was removed again for four hours just like a week earlier and again I still couldn't pee, so it went back in, again. I am now on the third Foley and for longer than I was following the RP. Next week he wants to do a cystoscopy. I am NOT looking forward to that.

This time it was my old Uro that put in the Foley. It was the first time I had seen him since he referred me to the prosthetic surgeon two months ago for the AUS. The surgeon was in surgery at the time (that's what he does). It was good to see my old Uro again. He has a gentler touch inserting the Foley than does the surgeon.

I introduced him to my wife and briefly went over her story of lymphoma, which is now in remission but all transpired during my treatment for incontinence. And I told him that I had no disillusions of being pad free following the surgery, but had to do this to allow for SRT. It is ironic that the AUS surgery was brought about because of my lack of involuntary sphincter control, and now just the opposite has come about. I had told the surgeon that I've had trouble in the past with inability to void following extended anesthesia.

We returned home and I immediately ordered four more Statlocks. It's looking like this may last far longer than anticipated. Originally I was told pre-op that there would be no need for a Foley, but I suspect it came about because the surgery was delayed several hours and I had gone so long without fluids. Suddenly being expected to urinate just after coming out of anesthesia plus the massive amount of swelling of the tissues involved... add to that the surgeon had to do a post-op manipulation of my scrotum while I was awake to verify that the device had not been accidentally activated. "This will be unpleasant" was all he said. My wife said my lips turned white when I grimaced and gripped the bed rails as he squeezed my nuggets.

I am so thankful that I managed to get myself on an antidepressant a month earlier. I don't think I would have been able to cope with all this had I been in the same state of mind that I was last winter when we discovered my wife's lymphoma. As it is, I've been dealing with this cancer for over three years now.

In addition to the Statlocks, also decided it was time to finally order a medic alert bracelet. I got a two for one deal with a promo code... one dressy, the other more utilitarian. My Uro emphasized that I should only ever be cathed by a urologist, and so I phrased the engraving to reflect that. Also as our story will obviously be more protracted I decided it was time to chronicle our adventures, so I started a blog on the American Cancer Society website earlier this month. But some have said they had difficulty accessing it so I registered a domain name for CancerCoupleBlog.com. As this is my first attempt at maintaining an online presence the website is somewhat spartan and unglamorous, but serves its purpose. I am gradually migrating chapters from one site to the other, but find (as I have often found in the past) it's the simplest things that seem to be the most difficult to accomplish.
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Hang in there, RobLee. I've got a feeling you are going to catch a break soon!

Tony

Wish me luck guys, please! This morning I'm having a cystoscopy to hopefully figure out what's going on up in there. The Foley's been in for two weeks now. NOT looking forward to this procedure, but it's just another link in the chain. There is so much riding on this AUS... not being dry, but being able to go thru 38 sessions of SRT.

Post Edited (RobLee) : 5/30/2017 11:14:35 AM (GMT-6)

I hope you can get a good result this time. I bet you never planned on having so much to write about in your blog you are starting. Gook luck.

Rob
It is amazing all that you are going through. I feel guilty complaining about the little inconvenience of having a damp pad when I have a bad cold with lots of coughing. I hope the revision surgery does the trick for you and no more scrotum manipulation. That hurt just reading about it.
David

Rob, sorry to hear about all you have been through, hope that the 2nd times the charm and wishing you a speedy recovery

Actually I had my tablet with me, and I think I posted something early this morning while in a Dilaudid fog. The cystoscopy had revealed that my urethra was blistered from the Foleys so the surgeon opened me up again late last night and replaced the cuff with the next larger size. I'm back home now with a drain tube from my abdomen that will be removed Friday morning. He reassured me that the urethra will completely heal. Bottom line is I might have lost two weeks, but the SRT schedule had four weeks of slack built in. Just real sore between the legs right now and still a bit foggy. "Good news" is I'm incontinent again.

Another month about to end and I suddenly realize that I'm coming up on one year since my diagnosis, and this just seems to keep dragging on forever. Thanks for hanging in there with me.