Glad to know that and keep up good spirits. We are all easy to get down and its good to know others do care.
Well, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 8:30AM. I don't know if this is just gonna be a talk, or if the guy is gonna do a cystoscopy. I tend to doubt it, since they fit me in the "soonest slot" after I sent my anthology of their screw-ups...I don't think there will be time scheduled. Either way, I don't care...the sooner we get this show on the road the sooner I'll be back to semi-normal. My main concern (and I'm gonna tell him this) is the "we don't deflate no catheter balloons" stuff that patients are subjected to. That's a big black cloud over my head.
Sending prayers and hopes that all goes well with the doctor visit tomorrow, @John Brunner , and that they are able to resolve this issue for you, and in the least painful way possible, as well as soon.
Thanks, Yvonne. I'm 95% sure it's urethral strictures, and 100% convinced it's prostate cancer until they tell me differently
Well John we are sure hoping your diagnosis is wrong and your fine, as usual you're in our prayers. Let us know. Hubby and my daughter both praying for you too. I ask my daughter to pray for us all the time she is the most God trusting person I know.
Good luck tomorrow, John. I hope you can sleep tonight and will get good news when you see the doc. We'll be waiting to hear how it goes.
Thanks, Beth. After 2 weeks of being catheterized, I expect nothing other than an examination path forward.
Getting old really blows, doesn't it? I got diagnosed with lymphedema today in my cancer side arm (where they removed all the lymph nodes.) I'm so freakin' bummed and I want to have a tantrum. If I didn't like my doctor so much I'd have punched him in the nose.
Man, I'm so sorry to hear that. It's insane. From what little I've read of your posts, there is no predicting where that's gonna go. The sword always dangles overhead, huh? I'm not anticipating anything real bad, but there's still likely an intrusive repair procedure required, after the intrusive investigations. Self-cathing is not gonna be the panacea I'm looking for because all of this peeing into bags has reminded me of the volume I pass. Back in the mid 90s, a urologist had me do a 24 hour urine collection so he could send it out to be analyzed. I was back in his office a half a day later to pick up a second jug because I already filled the first one. (No, I am not diabetic.) I'm monitoring the overnight bag I use, and it's consistently at 1 litre, just from the overnight no-fluid-intake shift. So the idea of self-cathing in the AM and then again in the PM as some kind of assist that's gonna make a difference is just fooling myself. I'm gonna be taking a can of Lysol into public restrooms wherever I go so I don't give myself an infection. Disposing of the catheter is a moral bridge I've yet to arrive at. My initial thought is to open the door of the ladies room and toss it in...it will get lost with all the other stuff. I've not talked to my doctor about the self-cathing thing yet, since I've been in a kick-the-can-down-the-road/I'll-tolerate-the-symptoms mode...and I forgot about how much volume I pass. It's no wonder I'm always in the bathroom, since my base-line retention reduces available capacity. The other stupid thing about my horrible life-timing is I quit eating sweets after meals a couple of months ago. And now I got urinary symptoms that might be prostate cancer (although I really thing it's a urethral stricture.) So I have no idea which has caused me to drop the 10# I just noticed I've lost. One last bitch: the valve on my catheter bag is shot. I'll empty the bag, shake it 8 ways from Sunday to make sure it's empty, hook everything back up, and it leaks on me after I take 10 steps as though it retains a little bit somewhere. Last night I was watching TV and the bag was collecting urine as it's supposed to, when I felt wetness on my leg. The valve gave way all on its own and dumped about 250ml on me...and I had not moved an inch. I tried finding a replacement bag today without making the two hour round trip drive to my urologist in Richmond, but to no avail. (UVA Health Systems right up the road would not help me out, even though I am still their patient via my GP.) I'll get a fresh one tomorrow. In the meantime, I went into my garage last night and made this: It's a piece of tubing that fits snug over the end of the valve, collecting seepage and preventing major spillages. I sealed the end with my new Harbor Freight heat gun and my bench vise. I guess this is as good a maiden voyage for that heat gun as anything else might be. *sigh*
Maybe they would give you a pare bag and valve if you still have a Foley and a leg bag so you can change it without having to make the trip. Is there a "sophisticated" drug store or medical supplier closer than your clinic where you could perhaps get a spare if they don't provide one? I believe you said your PSA was less than 1.0, so that is a good sign that the prostate CA is less likely. Good luck with it all.