Good on you, mart !
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Hi Mart just read this and it sounds as though all went well and they cleaned out all the bad stuff. Will you also need chemo or anything after all this or will you be allowed to heal and recover? Great that you are back home already! Wishing you a successful recovery and hope it’s not too sore.
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Samples of the tumours have been sent for analysis to see if it is bladder cancer or a progression of the prostate cancer. I think it’s not known if any further treatment will be necessary until those results are in. I have an upcoming CT scan on the 1st of October and a face to face appointment with the Urology Consultant and the Bladder Nurse on the 7th. I’ll get to know more then. In the meantime it’s just a matter of ‘keep taking the tablets, keep calm and carry on’.
I feel OK. 
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Nephrostomy dressing change day today. The first one since the tube was changed last Wednesday. I’ve no doubt Mrs mart will handle it well. The doctor said that although a stitch into the skin is necessary, it has been placed away a little further away from the hole. This should mean the plaster wrapped around the plastic tube that holds the stitch won’t pull into my back as the last one tended to. We’ll see once the dressing is off.
Shower first, then the dressing. A big waterproof dressing is put on top of the whole (hole ) lot to keep the water out. No baths ever but showering is OK.
Very little bleeding from the bladder now. It will be a week tomorrow since the tumours were removed from it.
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Good news that the bleeding is much reduced.
How are you feeling in yourself Mart? When do you get the results of the histopathology?
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I feel Fine thanks.
I get to talk about the findings on the 7th of next month. This will be after the result of the CT scan is in. This is being done on the 1st. I’m not sure if Urology liaises with Oncology but I think they do. I was told there will be a meeting of consultants before the 7th. I guess consultant’s’ means the departments will talk to each other.
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Fine with a capital F is great! 
It’s quite a while to wait but gives you time to heal and I guess they want to assess once you’ve recovered and any swelling has gone down.
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Suffering pain at night. It’s from inside the bladder to all along the Urethra, a rather embarrassing place to talk about but I’ve long ago lost dignity anyway and just think about the practicalities of things to do with what I have.
Strong pain killers are necessary. The groan-worthy pain starts shortly after using a catheter and lasts a few hours. Mrs mart wants to phone 111 but I say no. What could the hospital do? The only immediate course would be an ultrasound scan …and then what?
I know the instruments used in the op went in from the Urethra and the tumours in the bladder were very big ones. I’d think some bruising/injury would be caused even though no outside indications are present. Strange how the pain has only been occurring over the last few nights when the op was well over two weeks ago.
A CT scan is due next Wednesday. That should show whether all is well or not. Until then, I’ll take a couple of pain killers about half an hour before catheterisation. No pain this morning.
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Are you sure it’s not an infection from the catheter?
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I don’t think so. It’s usually possible to tell if an infection is present by the state of the passed water. That looks OK and has no odour.
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No pain this morning sounds promising.
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Thanks Annie I hadn’t thought about an infection, which is always a possibility when using intermittent catheterisation. Another indication that it isn’t is that the pain does go away after a couple of hours. I suppose it wouldn’t if an infection was present.
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@mart I hope the CT scan next Wednesday will give you clear answers. Please take care and don’t hesitate to seek help if the pain worsens.
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Thanks Pimmy I’m more learning how to live with a situation that has been stable for many years (since losing one of my kidneys) but has now kicked off again. I changed the procedures a bit yesterday and last night was pretty much OK. The consultant face to face meeting on the 13th of next month will let me know the state of play. Tumour biopsies and scan results will be in by then.
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I’m wondering whether it could be post-op scar tissue pain that is stretching and contracting when you sleep and then wake, but adapts as the day goes on as part of the ongoing healing process. I guess that’s a complication of any surgery but particularly an organ that is constantly used. Hopefully it will get better over time.
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Yes I need to remember that although there is no outward sign of the op, it’s all happening inside the void.
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@mart after you adjusted things. I truly hope the coming days are kind to you and bring you more ease. I’ll be thinking of you as you wait for the 13th, and I hope the results give you clarity and some peace of mind.
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It was quite a day yesterday. Not me this time but Mrs mart. I mentioned in the ‘Good morning’ thread yesterday that she was having difficulty breathing. Last Thursday’s treatment seemed to have done some good but It got worse around Sunday lunchtime. The cough was almost constant for 10 minutes. This isn’t just any old cough. The loudness and ‘raspiness’ of it has to be heard to know how bad it is. A head turner for those who have never heard it before. I was almost at the point of phoning either 999 or 111 (as recommended by the doctor) but it subsided in the end and we both decided we could wait until the pre-arranged doctors appointment yesterday afternoon.
The doctor was worried about the lack of improvement. The prescribed medications weren’t working as she had expected. The upshot was that she phoned for an ambulance to take her from the surgery to A&E. Logistically a problem because Mrs mart was in her power wheelchair. She was stretchered into the ambulance. I quickly had to come up with how to handle the wheelchair situation.
The best way was from me to sit in it and drive it out of the consulting room and up the ramp of our WAV. I’m no expert at driving power wheelchair but there we were. Mrs mart being stretchered out past all of the people in the waiting room, closely followed by me, sitting in and driving the wheelchair and accompanied the doctor. I manged to drive the chair up the ramp fairly well. Anybody watching would have seen an apparent wheelchair user, leap out of the chair and get the ramp down etc. I locked the car with the wheelchair now inside, got into the ambulance and went with Mrs mart to the hospital.
She was in an awful condition struggling to breathe and coughing almost constantly. Emotionally upset too and I stayed for some hours telling her I could handle everything and not to worry. I hated to leave her but I felt I really needed to get the car and the wheelchair home from the now closed surgery. Both very important items, especially the chair.
It was past the time that any busses were running but we have some good friends and neighbours we can call on. My friend came to get me and take me to the car so I could drive it home. My round at the pub next time I think.
I kind of suspected that something more than GP attention would be needed and so it was. In view of that, I should have gone a bit more prepared on my own behalf. Only one catheter with us so I could empty my atonic bladder if necessary. That was another reason for needing to get back home. Had it not been for that and the car/chair situation. I would have stayed at the hospital until chucked out. A good job I was there because Mrs mart couldn’t talk to the doctors to answer questions about herself. Some things that I was unsure of had to be written down on paper for the doctor to read.
I got a text from Mrs mart in the night. She said the cough had eased a bit but still breathless. I’ll be phoning and talking later. She will answer by text messaging.
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So sorry to hear that Mart and it’s times like this that i wished I lived nearer and could have helped. I hope Mrs Mart is feeling better soon and can come home.
Take care mate and look after yourself because Mrs Mart will need lots of love and help when she comes home.
Man hug…
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Thanks - She is on the ward now. I’ll be going there this afternoon. I hope to find she is a bit more comfortable than she was yesterday.
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