Newly Diagnosed Hubby Age 46 Surgery Nov. 17th

Hi,

Mrs. Carpenter in high indignation said:

>"Greg is quite the character. Sometimes I feel like he just wants me for my Bong that I don't have! "<

She doesn't usually get this sniffy!

OK Bubbles so it is POT - Pre Operative Tension! Totally understandable but less than a day to go and Mr. Woody the Carpenter will have been sanded down, de knotted, umberrellad and be on his way home with Cath.

Don't panic the procedure is almost the same as the one you watched with a bit of hot wire ploughing and a quick session of meat welding!

Since there is absolutely no expectation, on the part of the original designers, for anyone to start lighting bonfires in the bladder they didn't fit a suitable fire alarm system so in real terms it doesn't actually hurt - that much.

I have had the operation in theatre on a walk in walk out no anaesthetic basis, which I would rather have if possible - but if there are more than two sites or it is on the prostate or near the neck of the bladder that isn't possible as the flexi won't work folding back on itself so they have to have the rigid, which contra its name will bend right back on itself.

The epi. usually takes 2- 4 hours to wear off.

Good luck tomorrow for you both.

regards,
Greg L-W.

Hi Deb
Thanks for the info. We are in central Massachusetts. The hospital where I work is staffed with Brigham and Women's physicians. My husband receives his treatment also where I work.

My hospital (notice I talk like I am the CEO) has not any outbreaks of HA MRSA. Another hospital in our area had an outbreak in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) which is heartbreaking considering most preemies already have to fight to live. The outbreak was never publicized which I think sucks. People should have been informed and had a choice to deliver their baby there or not. My theory on why MRSA is still not widely recognized is because when the hospitals have or had outbreaks that it was kept hush hush. Hence information was not shared as to the best and most effective way to treat it.

In the ER we have seen most MRSA infections in prisoners, the less fortunate and residents of shelters. The next group is the elderly. It is almost impossible to place an elderly patient who has MRSA in their urinary tract. So sad. Men who are in a similar line of work as my husband who spend alot of time on their knees are next. As we know it is very hard to tell our men to moisturize their knees but it was a lesson learned for us....(Aquaphor by Eucerin is great)........great stocking stuffer for your rugged man!

Greg is quite the character. Sometimes I feel like he just wants me for my Bong that I don't have!

Hi Bubbles,

I'm off for a CTScan of chest etc. today - nothing threatening just one of those peace of mind checks that my team let me get away with!

Well Mr. Carpenter and the bong babe only have ONE day to wait - so blow one for me

Look - whatever you do - if he does come home with Cath just let them quietly sleep together don't try to kick her out 8-) (there isn't an emoticon with crossed eyes :-* )

Just make sure you have carpet on the kitchen floor in future to avoid the umberrella saleman! :-[

Have you got the Champagne on ice for the day after Cath leaves? I do hope so 8-)

Good luck to both of you and of course Cath

Regards,
Greg L-W.

Hi Bubbles;

Glad that Greg and Company are keeping your spirits up. I did some checking for you on the team connected with Dana-Farber and its affiliated hospitals that know alot about bladder cancer. The lead dude that you will want your hubby's doctor to refer you to is listed below my note to you here. The Dana-Farber Institute is mostly for research purposes. Most of the patient care is done by its affilated hopsitals, like Brigham and Women's Hospital. Hope this helps. If your husband's doctor is not quick with the referral you can try to get an appointment on your own, but it makes things move faster if your local doc writes and/or calls to ask for help on a second opinion.

I am still curious where you guys live. Though I understand that Staph now can be acquired outside of health care centers we also need to make sure that the medical centers that we chose for our loved one's care are as clean as possible. I have a friend that was in the Portsmouth Medical Center in New Hampshire and he got a wicked Staph infection after hip replacment. He was one of three patients that all got the same thing post op. Some hospitals have a hard time getting rid of a bug that is endemic to the place. I mention this so that you consider not just the care from your doc that you receive but also the location. We are thinking of you and yours.

Deb


Jerome Paul Richie, MD
Brigham and Women's Hospital: Chief, Division of Urology

Center/Program
Genitourinary Cancer

Contact Information
Jerome Paul Richie, MD
Brigham and Women's Hospital
45 Francis St.
Boston, MA 02115
Office phone: (617) 732-6325
Fax: (617) 566-3475
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Preferred contact method: office phone

Biography / Background
Board Certification
Urology, 1977

Medical School
University of Texas Medical School at Galveston

Dear Rosie

I now understand the logic of your watchful waiting physically, of course it makes a lot of sense.
How do you deal emotionally with this situation always looming in the back of your mind?
That must be very hard.

Thanks for your concern Bubbles, It does depend on the skill of the medical team conducting the cystscopy and I can say, I am just fine the cystocopy caused no pain nor post problems. I have decided on the option of watchful waiting monitoring not only because of the reasons stated in the link provided by Wendy but because my recur is at my left ureter orifice. If immediate fulgerization were an option during a cystoscopy, I would choose that. In my case, thorough fulgerization of that area is precluded even after a TURB because of the risk of scarring that would block the opening to the left ureter orifice. This is the opinion expressed by 4 urologists I have personally seen as well as read in researching tumors at the ureter orifice location. To me, the risk of further damage to my bladder, ureter and the risks posed by repeated trips to the operating room, anesthesia and surgery itself makes this choice of watchful waiting logical for me.