After the failed surgery

I got a really good night’s sleep back at home, apart from the usual thing of waking up every time I rolled over to make sure the catheter tube was OK.

Back at the hospital I had a short wait until the doctor came on rounds. He said he’d told theĀ x-ray people to make me an appointment in a couple of weeks and discharged me. I returned home with a big bag of catheter and dressing supplies and went back to work after lunch.

The district nurse at my GP surgery called me at work during the afternoon to make an appointment to have my dressing changed. We can mostly handle that ourselves but it will a useful opportunity to get more supplies and maybe some advice on the best way to deal with the catheter.

One problem is showering. No matter how hard we try we can’t find a way of arranging the dressing so that water doesn’t run along the catheter tube and soak the inside of the dressing. That means I need to change it every time I shower and I end up only showering every other day.

The bladder spasms haven’t been as bad this time around, probably because I immediately asked for medication to prevent them. One positive sign has been that I’ve actually been able to pee a little bit, even though the suprapubic catheter isn’t letting pressure build up. That suggests that the inflammation in my urethra is going down already.