I have been been doing much better in last two weeks...seeing much less mucus and haven't had any surprise leaking for more than two weeks. Then yesterday I was quite surprised to find myself leaking twice when it had not been that long since I had emptied. I also saw quite an increase in mucus but had not eaten anything dairy or new...except for one piece of chocolate with rum in it. Yum! My spouse tempted me with that. I have to indulge myself sometime. ;D
Anyway, usually I get some tightness, cramping like discomfort which tells me I need to visit the bathroom... and then I have a personal conversation with my stoma, Rosebud. And yes, I do talk to her, and my spouse thinks I am nuts but that's OK. Anyway, yesterday, even after emptying during the p.m. hours, I had enough discomfort to dig out the pain pills. Finally at 9 p.m., I went to bed and slept 12 hours! I never sleep that long..Rosie woke me up twice and I emptied.
Does anyone find that if you get too fatigued, that you leak more? Initially I had planned on returning to work in November but that hasn't worked out, and so now have moved my return date to mid January. The ways things are going, I'm wondering how long it takes for these bladders to settle down to some schedule or maybe some never do...and should that be the case for me, then I need to look at a medical retirement. I have a 90 minute commute each way and I know I'm not nearly ready to be gone from home 12 hours a day, 13 if I stop at the grocery store.
Also, do any of you ever have a sensation like you feel "raw" in the bladder? That was the only way I could describe the feeling to my doctor and of course, he couldn't relate. It seems I have it after I have emptied so maybe it's just the catheter irritating the bladder when it goes into those pockets. ??? Melodie