Dear Friends,
You will note that it has been some months since my last post. My last post concerned where we were in our battle with cancer. It was written after six months of treatments and a whirlwind of medical activity. I chose to wait until additional time had passed and many more scans/etc had occurred before giving you any sort of medical update.
Since my last post I developed an infection in my lung that resulted from chemo actually destroying a tumor on the lung, leaving for lack of a better word...a hole in my lung. An infection developed resulting in a horrible daily cough, fluid build up on the lung, fever and in general just a continual horrible feeling. I could not walk fifty feet without losing my breath. I could not carry on a lengthy conversation as I would not be able to breathe. If you followed my caring bridge posts you know that I had surgery and an eight day stay in the hospital as a result of the infection. I am happy to report that the surgery was very successful and I am kind of back to a normal life and feeling great.
It is interesting though that during my hospital stay I was administered a catheter to assist me during surgery and recovery. I actually had the catheter for four days and I sensed that something was not right but the nurses kept telling me to look at the bag connected to the catheter and that it indeed was working. I never really contested that it was working but my contention was that it was very uncomfortable and something did not seem right. After four days I had a nurse who did not like me come by to remove the dastardly device and during extraction I think she did not deflate the balloon (they tell me this is very important) or she simply was not gentle as I came off the bed about two feet screaming out in pain as it was removed.
Being a novice at these sorts of things I did not realize that things were not quite right after the removal. I was very, very sore and always felt pain during urination. I began to express this discomfort but all the medical professionals told me that this was normal and that I would soon feel better. Well after a couple of weeks and much misery, I made an appointment with my primary care physician and he could not find any infection of the urinary tract etc. He did perform the test that men really enjoy (the digital exam of the prostate gland) and thankfully nothing was wrong. He also ran a PSA test and it too was negative. So in the midst of the pain and suffering, we were thankful that all was ok in regard to the prostate. My doctor then made an appointment for me with a urologist. This gave me much to think about for the next week as I recalled all the horror stories that I had heard all my life about urologists and the tools of their trade. At the same time I was suffering from severe fatigue as I had not had a full nights sleep in over six weeks. My bladder could not empty itself so I was up every two hours for six weeks and this was absolute misery.
My visit to the urologist confirmed that my bladder was not emptying and that we had to find out why. This led to the discussion of what I knew was coming....the test is called a cystoscopy. It is sort of like a colonoscopy except the orifice for entry of the urologists tools is much smaller that that of the gastroenterologist. Of course I thought of all the pain that I might suffer and I requested that twilight sedation be administered. The good doctor explained that they do not have this type of sedation available and that a local antestetic would be used. A lotion would be used that would deaden the area. If this truly worked I would think the area would be dead forever. I really did not feel confident in all this but I agreed to have the test the next week. Before departing the urologists office he insisted that we should check the prostate gland. I assured him that I had just had this test but he felt that he should make sure this area was ok. So we suffered this humility a second time in two weeks.
The week flew by and I am back in the doctors office and he has a wide array of tools available for the test. To make a scary story short....none of the tools could penetrate the restriction that was causing my problem. He assured me that he could break through but I would suffer great pain. He then scheduled me for the same procedure (the cystoscopy) at the hospital the next day. He said it would be the same procedure but that I would receive full sedation. I was thankful as I was never comfortable with the numbing lotion. The results of the tests were very good as my doctor agreed with my diagnosis of the catheter damage being the problem. I think I need to sue someone for this damage but I am so relieved to be back to normal that I have no malice in my heart. It is as if I have been given my freedom once again. As I told someone today....I am FREE...for I can PEE.
It has barely been twenty-four hours since the procedure and I am almost back to normal. The plumbing is once again working and I will never ever take for granted this vital function. I slept all night and in fact awoke at 6 AM this morning and was out of bed....a first for me since my surgery. I am feeling great and looking forward to maybe getting out on the golf course. As always I want to thank you for your faithful prayers for us as we know we would not have made it without you. I also wanted to tell my good friend Bob that while you attempted via various means to humble me that where you failed the medical community has succeeded. I am a humble man as every part of my body has now been examined. I truly am thankful to the docs and nurses for helping me through this latest adventure. I am feeling great today and am thankful for the time off my oncologist has given me. Sharon and I are going to make a trip pretty quickly to celebrate. Thanks again for your friendship.
