Tuesday, September 1, 2020 – POSTED: Thursday, September 3, 2020
I slept soundly from sometime between 10:30 am and 1:30 am. I got up to urinate. I’d go back to bed and wake up in an hour having to go again. This went on until I gave up trying to go to sleep as the pain medication that made me feel drunk wore off about 4:00 PM.
I got up and put on the kettle for oatmeal. I figured if I couldn’t sleep, I’d get started on this post and take care of come other things I can do with the house quiet.
Narcotic Pain Meds
I took a percocet before bed, which helped me fall back asleep the first few times I woke up. I’m a lightweight so I’m having wild dreams that I forget when I wake up. I feel like I’m in slow motion. I feel like I’m drunk, like I’ve had 4+ beers or 4+ shots.
As long as I feel rested, the high will be worth. It. I don’t like feeling this way.
My Dad used to call pain meds like this, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” A double dose of this would meet that bar. I don’t like what narcotics do to my bowels. I took two senokot before bed to offset it. I’m not taking more unless I’m in a lot of pain.
Other Social Media
I’m debating doing a YouTube channel for this blog. I’ve got a podcast & video for my RPG blog that I can do w/o interruption.
Shopping
I needed more disposable underwear and pads. My bladder control is getting slowly better. I leak when a laugh, sneeze, or bend over. It’s all a matter of keeping at my pelvic floor exercises until my muscles develop muscle memory. It’s basically like being a toddler learning how to hold it til they get to the toilet, and sleeping through the night and staying dry. I’m wearing what are pull-ups for adults.
This part will take longer than I want. Of course, I want it now. I think it’s going as well as it is because I’ve done pelvic floor exercise motions most of my life.
Walking
I got in about a mile doing shopping and another errand. Once my granddaughter helped me carry my stuff in the house, we walked around the block. It’s not that hot, but the humidity if up, and I was sweating, so we’ll try more walking this evening when it cools down. I hope to do at least a mile a day.
Debating a YouTube Channel
I’m debating on the idea of making a YouTube channel for the blog. I know I don’t have the time to do a regular video, but can do the occasional video on topics that align with the blog.
Quest For Continence
Right now, bladder control requires conscious effort. The biggest challenge is to prevent the stream starting BEFORE I’ve had a chance to aim.
I’ve managed to pee on my gym shorts, and I can’t hold my urine to sit down for a BM. To stay dry, I have to take off my shorts, pants or whatever lower piece of clothing. I then stand to urinate so I can sit down for a bowel movement.
Bending over, sneezing, and laughing are all challenges to maintain bladder control.
The challenge is to remain patient while I continue the exercises I was given to work towards muscle memory. That could take anywhere from days to weeks. Being diligent in the exercises will establish a pattern for the muscles that should guide them to muscle memory to do the job automatically as it was before surgery.
Why All The Issues With Bladder Control
My surgery was a prostatectomy and bladder reconstruction. The bottom of the bladder that sits above the prostate is removed. This includes some or all of the bladder sphincter muscles that are responsible for bladder control The muscles of the pelvic floor are lifted to fill the space the bladder once occupied.
The pelvic floor muscles have to be re-trained to do a new job to help keep you dry. The amount of time varies by individual. For some, they are dry as soon as the catheter is removed. This is what it should be like for everyone if one merely has a catheter and no part of the bladder sphincter is removed. For most it falls between 6 weeks and 18 months.
I’m hoping for about 6 weeks, but I will take it as it comes, one step at a time.
Exhausted
Due to so many nights of poor sleep I was falling asleep in my office chair, so I lay down for a nap. It was a couple hours. I was still tired, but the roughest of edges of my tiredness was gone. I need to stay awake so I can sleep tonight. If I can just sleep through the night and get 6 or 7 hours of sleep, I will feel rested.
Getting Ready For Bed
The urologist said to keep a clean, dry bandage on my incisions that are weeping. One is for the drain tube and it’s never had a scab. One incision on the right is just above the waist and it started weeping, so I have two to change. I wash my hands before taking off the old bandages, and before applying the new ones. I wipe the incisions with an alcohol wipe to clean it before putting on the gauze. Last night I used on alcohol wipe on the wrong incision. Yes, I wiped the totally dry scab of a different incision.
Men's Health in My Perspective 