PHARKOUGH!

Urology nurse…

The catheter came out on Monday.  No pain but an interesting sensation nevertheless.  New dressings for my belly punctures.  Then a flow test.  Drink a litre and wait.  I got impatient and drank 2 more cups of water,  That worked!  200ML flowing well.  So I was allowed home.

Now…no-one warned me to wait till I passed the rest of the water!  Resistance was painful and inevitably futile!  Pad worked well…twice on the way home!

Picked up a great CD at the urologists.  Peter Tilbrook (ex Masters Apprentices) now The Party Cats…Let’s Go To The Movies.  Track 2 is called The Prostate Blues Song and relates his story along the same path I have just been.  Funny as!  It’s 50’s & 60’s music…great stuff.

Also I left the urologists with a 3 week prescription for Cialis.  This drug enhances blood flow to the penis.  Apparently research has found it is better to be proactive with this.  No waiting for erectile dysfunction to become apparent…get in early with stimulating the blood flow.

Before I see the surgeon again in about 4 weeks I will have another PSA blood test.  A zero reading for that will confirm the cancer has not spread beyond my prostate.

At home and I was not enjoying this relearning flow control thing!  Last time I did this I was what…2 years old?  Anyway no more major dramas just small ones…again the pads worked well.

More walking…a bit further each day.  Also worked from home…gotta love that connectivity!  Good distraction anyway.  But I was surprised how much it took out of me.  It’s just sitting in front of a computer isn’t it?

Physio…

Friday I went back to see physio Di Semmler.  She was happy with my progress.

I was cautioned for trying a bit too hard with the flow control (pelvic floor) muscles…I was tiring them out by the end of each day.  She gave me some tips on teaching myself to condition my bladder to longer times between going to empty it…talk to it, walk half way to the toilet & wait.  After all it has just had a week and a half of not filling up while the catheter was in.

Next milestone is to try driving middle of next week.  I can drive the 4WD so long as I don’t use my arms and upper torso to pull and/or twist my way up into the seat.  Sliding out is easy enough.  No driving vehicles without power steering.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 22:08 and is filed under Prostate Cancer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.