Mart totally off topic but I’ve only just realised that your avatar is the zodiac symbol for scorpio. I mention this because I saw the sign on someone’s neck tattoo the other day and I thought it looked familiar!
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Yes that’s M for Martin and I am a Scorpio. The name and the symbol just happened to coincide. 
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I’m Cancer and I’ve got crabs… 
Perhaps I should rephrase that…
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A crab by zodiac sign but I know you’re not a shellfish kind of person
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Just hanging around without the Nephrostomy dressing on but with just a bit of lint over the hole/tube. The trouble is that the skin gets mighty sore and itchy with having a plaster dressing on it month after month. There is a barrier applied to help with this but it still gets troublesome. I hope that leaving the dressing off for a few hours will help. Got to be careful not to pull on the tube though.
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Tut! 
- Hospital tomorrow. Blood test and a visit to a department where they can take a look at the Nephrostomy tube. There is what looks like ordinary plaster wrapped around the tube where it goes through the skin. This is so a stitch can go through it and into the skin to stop the tube coming out.
We think it’s too close to the skin because the plaster itself is trying to pull into the hole. It can be quite painful at times and it hampers movement. On the last tube (changed every 2-3 months) the stitch broke away. It was a lot more comfortable when that happened. It allowed a bit of movement but the tube still held in place by the dressing. We’ll see what they say tomorrow.
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That stitch must be very painful Mart, see if there is another way to anchor the tube.
Good luck…
Back from the hospital trip. Very good of the Urology staff to see me without an appointment. Only had to wait around half an hour before I was seen. The doctor was reluctant to remove the stitch, possibly because it would be a bit like another doctor’s work? He said it might be a bit risky having the securing stitch snipped. Anyway, he cleaned and redressed the hole with a temporary dressing.
The skin around the hole that had become inflamed and itchy because of having plaster stuck to it month after month is looking better for leaving the Skater ™ dressing off for a few days. The hole will probably feel better when the proper dressing is stopping the tube from moving around. That will be done tomorrow by Mrs mart.
A UTI is also suspected. I won’t go into why this is reckoned to be so but I’ve come away with some antibiotics. I have to be careful because the last infection had ‘sepsis’ in the wording of it. That’s one trouble with all this external plumbing stuff. It can be a source of infection.
Edit: Something from this morning. I went for a blood test prior to the above. My turn came up and I went into the room and sat down. As the phlebotomist was taking blood she said, “Ah the Sun is out at last”. I looked around the room that had lots of electric lights only as far as I knew. '“How do you know”? I asked. She looked over my shoulder and nodded upwards. “I looked out of the window” she said. Low and behold, there was one behind me. I said that I thought she knew because she had some sort of psychic powers. “No just the Window” she said. All those within earshot had a good laugh. I guess you had to be there but I’ve been giggling about it ever since.
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Glad it went well Mart…Antibiotics will sort you out before it gets too serious, Sepsis is something to be avoided…
Watch out for those windows…
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Nephrostomy dressing change day today. Got decide whether to use the Skater ™ dressing or just and ordinary one with the tube plastered down to stop it pulling/moving. The ordinary dressing has felt OK since it was put on a few days ago …and is a lot kinder to the skin. Not so pull-proof though. Decisions decisions It’s sometimes surprising what becomes important in life.
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Tomorrow I’m going for a whole body bone scan, This is carried out done in the Nuclear Medicine department. Some sort of radio active stuff is injected. Then I have to go away for three hours to give it time to spread throughout the system. On return, the scanning is done. It is quite a slow scan that takes about twenty to thirty minutes. It is to see if the cancer has spread to my bones and to see the state of the bones. The chemo pills I take every day can thin the bones as a side effect.
Once the injection has been done, it’s best not to go to near people. If I need the toilet at the hospital, I can only use the one designated for those having nuclear medicine treatment. I’ll probably go to the green just across the road from the hospital to pass away the hours between injection and scan, Take some lunch. After the entire procedure the advice is to drink plenty to flush the system.
The radiation isn’t a dangerous level and said to be not much more than the background radiation we all could be receiving during everyday life. Even so, precautions are advised.
The main concern at present is that the Nephrostomy tube in my back is well overdue for changing (done in the Radiology Department). Can’t seem to get an appointment for it. I will have a Cystoscopy is a week’s time so I’ll have another grumble about this at the time.
Sounds dire maybe but I actually still feel OK and can carry out everyday life much the same as ususal.
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Good luck Mart - I’ll have my fingers crossed for you 
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I wish you well, Mart !
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Me too Mart. I hope it all goes well, and they find no abnormalities…
You might light up in the dark for a few nights though…
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Maybe I’ll develop superpowers. Warm up a pie by just touching it.
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Oer … I’m on my way around then… superman. 
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Thank you everyone. All done with no ill effects. Just had to lie still under the scanner for 20 minutes hoping I didn’t cough or get an itch on my nose.
Two hours between the nuclear injection and the scan. Mrs mart was with me and we went and had lunch over on the green as planned. No birds dropping dead all around me, so the radiation can’t be that strong
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Great job, Mr Mart !!
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It’s good it’s out of the way …it’s nerve wracking having to wait for those procedures.
Fingers crossed for you mart.
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Most of my bones were detected as being idle. Confirms what Mrs mart has been saying for years.
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