Thursday, September 3, 2020 – POSTED: Saturday, September 5, 2020
I woke up 3 times, once after 3 hours and the pad was wet, so I took it out and took my chances with just the disposable underwear. The other two times I awoke, were after two hours. I lightly dozed after the last time returning to bed, and got up as it was about two hours after the last time.
Bladder Control
My bladder did well last night. I’m waking up before I’m soaked. I know it just takes time, but it is noticeable when things seem to have suddenly improved. I’m keeping the same disposable underwear until after a shower. I went through a lot of pads and underwear yesterday. Enough that I should probably get another package of each.
This is very encouraging. I am going to see how long one paid of disposable underwear and a pad get me. I am feeling more confident about it as I see improvement each day.
Abdominal Bloating
I passed a lot of gas overnight. Being able the lay on either side really helps things move. I’ve basically been weaned off diet cola, so when I have had some, it just really makes me pee, making control a challenge. The lack of it has also helped reduce my abdominal bloating. This morning turning sideways in the mirror, my abdomen is almost back to normal. It’s nearly flat when I stand up straight. However, I still have an obvious spare tire when I sit down.
Energy Level
I feel much more tired than I did yesterday morning. I hit maximum capacity for activity yesterday. I should not do that much. I’m not hurting. I still took precautionary acetaminophen before bed. I’ll skip running to the big name store today and just stick close to home. I definitely should take a nap.
Pain Level
Other than general tenderness near my incisions, my pain level is low to none.
However, by about 10:00 am I was feeling discomfort inside where the prostate was removed and my bladder reconstructed. I took acetaminophen to deal with it.
I’m down to maybe taking acetaminophen once or twice during the day and then at night before bed. I take this as a great sign.
Bandages, Bruises, & Incisions
I took a shower today and took off my bandages first. The one for the surgical drain tube was still dry, so I can finally stop covering it. The lack of tape on my left abdomen should help the itching stop.
However, the other weeping wound is still weeping, so I put a dry bandage on it. The bruising around that site is fading and may be gone sometime during the weekend.
The bruising on my left arm is much more faded than yesterday. It has that yellow tint to it. It too may be gone over the weekend.
The wounds that are dry and scabbed over have scabs that look like they’re in the final stages and the edges are close to falling off. I want to be careful and not knock them off before they come off by themselves to avoid scaring.
The back of my right hand is still tender from the primary IV. I feel the swollen vein. It feels tough.
When I was getting ready for a shower, since I just emptied my bladder, and have a bit better control, I took a look and the bottom side of my penis along the urethra looks like it’s been bruised from the catheter. At the tip, the underside is still red from the catheter. I’m sure that will heal up and also lead to more control in a few days, now that there’s not a foreign object irritating it.
No Energy
I was low on energy so I ate lunch. That helped, but I need sleep, so I’m going to take a nap.
The nap helped, but I’m still slow motion. I’m not sleeping as long as I need to. I sleep hard once I’m asleep, but I’m not able to get quantity. I guess having an automatic drain with the catheter must have made my bladder shrink, so in addition to re-training my muscles to regain bladder control, I have to work on the quantity I can comfortably hold.
I really don’t want to go back to work after Labor Day. I’ve got some personal days I can use, but I want to keep them for just in case. I know I can do my job, I just hope it isn’t too crazy. I’m the senior tech on the team, and I fear they dumped a bunch on me. I’ll go to my boss if they did and he can deal with it. It’s coming up on our busy time of year and now is when we get ready for it. I hope things are proceeding well with that.
Bills
I think it’s funny that the first bill on the web portal for the doctors was for about $5.00 I think it might be for my COVID-19 test, but it’s not clear to me what it’s for. I’m waiting until I get paper bills so I can keep it all straight and avoid double payments.
Evening
I’m still low energy. It’s coming up on 10:00 PM. I think I’m going to go to bed. I’m hoping for longer periods of sleep. I really need a full night’s sleep to be fully rested. I’m still doing pelvic floor exercises, but I still leak.
I changed my last remaining bandage and it is still bleeding. It looks like I might need to get it checked out. I’ll see how it looks tomorrow. I used several alcohol wipes to get most of the residual glue from the tape off my abdomen. I hope that helps it itch less.
The drain tube incision is looking good.
I’ve been up and down the stairs over 30 times today, and walked over a mile just inside the house. So I’m getting around, just slow.
Here’s hoping for a more sleep tonight.
Men's Health in My Perspective 