Posted 7/6/2017 2:32 AM (GMT 0)
As of today, July 5, 2017, it has been 57 days since I underwent my LDBT on May 9. I am having a very tough go of it with side effects and I am quite discouraged.
I had the procedure done at a very highly-rated hospital by a very reknowned RO. I had to travel a long distance to get the treatment done at that institution. I knew that in-person follow-up visits and follow-up consultations were going to be impossible. But since I had read, and had been told, that complications and side effects from LDBT were extremely rare or of a minor nature, I did not worry about the logistics at all.
The first 10 days were a breeze, with my only having to put up with minor issues like a little burning when urinating and several bowel movements per day with soft stools (which led to a flare up of my hemorrhoid problems). No big deals were those issues early on and I was confident I was going to have an easy time of it.
The next 20 days became progressively worse. I was completely housebound, having to be within a short walk of one of my two bathrooms at all times. The reason for this was that once the slightest urge to pee began, I had to get to a toilet as quickly as possible because the pain of my holding my pee was totally unbearable. I know that may sound like an exaggeration or wimp's poor excuse, but, believe me when I say that the pain of holding my pee was absolutely intolerable. During this time, I only went outside the house a few times to start the engine of my Chevy Silverado so that the battery would not go dead on me because of inactivity. Still, I was upbeat, because despite the extreme urgency and burning pain of peeing, I would have a reasonably good stream and was able to empty my bladder efficiently.
The next 14 days were horrendous. The times between each urge to urinate became shorter and shorter, the pain when urinating became greater and greater, and the urine stream became weaker and thinner. Each day was worse than the last. I tried walking. I tried Uristat(pyridium), I tried Cystex, NSAIDS, Tylenol, double doses of Flomax, and even some RapaFlo. Nothing relieved me. It just kept getting worse. I started to keep a log of my urinations to hopefully see improvements with the remedies that I was trying. All that did was make me more worried because no improvements were noticed.
Near the end of that 14 day period, I was very painfully urinating 31 times a day, with hardly any stream, sleeping 3 or 4 hours a night, even with 0.50mg of Xanax. To make matters worse, I had to urinate sitting down on the toilet because whenever any urine stream would come out, loose, soft stools would come out at the same time. My hemorrhoids had now become humongous and quite painful.
On the night of June 23, 45 days after the LDBT procedure, my ability to urinate finally came to an end. I woke up my wife at 1:00AM and she drove me to the emergency center of a local hospital 15 minutes from our home. Needless to say I was in excruciating pain and discomfort. Once they put in the Foley Catheter, I was relieved immediately.
For the next 11 days, I lived life with the catheter, an encumbrance and an annoyance, but, at least, it relieved me of my urinary urgency and pain, and resolved my loose stools (my hemorrhoids have subsided). In fact, I was feeling so much better that today, Day 57, I went to a urologist to see how I would do if the catheter was removed.
I failed the test miserably. After they filled my bladder with some sterile solution, they removed the catheter and I drank a couple of glasses of water.
Could not pee!!!..... I tried many times. I felt like peeing but only tiny droplets would come out. After about 3 hours the telltale pain and discomfort of a bladder wanting to burst started. I asked for an immediate insertion of a new Foley Catheter. Once the catheter was inserted I immediately felt relief.
Now I am back at home living this life of having the catheter like a "ball and chain", denying me of my independence to do many of the things I love to do.
I have an appointment with a urologist on July 13 and with an RO on July 17. Both were referred to me by the RO who did the LDBT and they both practice at a hospital, affiliated with that out of town hospital where the LDBT was done. The affiliated hospital is about an hour's drive from our home.
Needless to say, I am distraught, down in the dumps, depressed, miserable, and pessimistic. (and all my life, I have been known to be an optimistic and upbeat person....ha, ha, so much for that)
I thought carefully about whether or not to post this very somber chronicle of my side effects from LDBT. I did not want to unfairly cast a bad light on the procedure and scare anyone thinking about having it done. But I finally decided to post it for the sake of informing my brothers here in the forum, that LDBT is not necessarily side-effect "light".
I will try to keep you all updated on my progress and fervently pray that in my next post I will be able to bring you all some good news.
Eventually,
Everybody Wins