This is a little add-on to my forum post.
It really is very warm and lovely here today, as on most Christmases. I'm comparing it to last Christmas, which I spent in San Francisco with my daughter. It was cold, rainy, and generally miserable. Still, I'd take that Christmas over this one...even though I had to change into a summer nightgown because of the heat (from my winter one during the night when it dipped into the high 30s) - I'M IN A NIGHTGOWN!
That's because I came home from my outpatient procedure last Wednesday with a urine catheter still in!!!!!! This is the third time in ten years I've come home like this, and it doesn't get any better with practice! :D I finally got a diagnosis for all the recurrent UTIs and the incontinence: a rectovesical fistula, in other words, a hole between my bladder and the rectal "stump". Bad news, from what I am able to gather from WebMD and other sources. And since mine is probably due to radiation-damaged tissues, the prognosis is poor without major intervention (like surgery). The only folks with a worse prognosis are you Crohn's sufferers, and my heart goes out to you.
I'll be seeing the urologist on Tuesday for the actual low-down, (and hopefully get this nasty apparatus out) - but for now, instead of running with my doggie on the beach in this glorious weather, I'm stuck at home with this tube up my "pee-pee" and, of course, the colostomy. It may just be my hang-up, but going out with two bags is just too much!
One thing about having this catheter is it makes the colostomy feel like a breeze to care for! Indeed, there is always SOMETHING to be grateful for!
It really is very warm and lovely here today, as on most Christmases. I'm comparing it to last Christmas, which I spent in San Francisco with my daughter. It was cold, rainy, and generally miserable. Still, I'd take that Christmas over this one...even though I had to change into a summer nightgown because of the heat (from my winter one during the night when it dipped into the high 30s) - I'M IN A NIGHTGOWN!
That's because I came home from my outpatient procedure last Wednesday with a urine catheter still in!!!!!! This is the third time in ten years I've come home like this, and it doesn't get any better with practice! :D I finally got a diagnosis for all the recurrent UTIs and the incontinence: a rectovesical fistula, in other words, a hole between my bladder and the rectal "stump". Bad news, from what I am able to gather from WebMD and other sources. And since mine is probably due to radiation-damaged tissues, the prognosis is poor without major intervention (like surgery). The only folks with a worse prognosis are you Crohn's sufferers, and my heart goes out to you.
I'll be seeing the urologist on Tuesday for the actual low-down, (and hopefully get this nasty apparatus out) - but for now, instead of running with my doggie on the beach in this glorious weather, I'm stuck at home with this tube up my "pee-pee" and, of course, the colostomy. It may just be my hang-up, but going out with two bags is just too much!
One thing about having this catheter is it makes the colostomy feel like a breeze to care for! Indeed, there is always SOMETHING to be grateful for!
