This is what happened yesterday ...
There was a small communications breakdown between the doctors and the nursing staff on Friday, with the result that I was decatheterized early on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the onset of diarrhoea and maybe some other problem meant that I was not passing the amount fluid that had been expected during the day, indeed instead of losing fluid I was gaining it. So they decided to recatheterize me right away ... except that I was vey low on platelets, and so we needed to order some and infuse them before the procedure. The platelets duly arrived, and ...
... although the catheterisation procedure went well, there was in fact a problem that was not obvious to detect, but resulted in a greatly reduced fluid drain. I was starting to feel more and more unwell at this stage, and somewhat concerned since fluid reduction has been the goal for a few days now.
Furthermore, as the evening wore on, the problem became worse, as my bladder, and indeed the rest of me, started filling up with fluid. To make matters worse, the diarrhoea kicked in big time, and I was requiring attention every 15 minutes. It was a long evening.
We tried many things to solve the drainage problem, whilst my discomfort and bloat grew. Things were getting a little desperate, when in a eureka moment the nurse realised what the problem must be, and managed to clear the blockage. The waters literally burst through, making a very spectacular mess in the room (a litre of water is a lot of fluid). The nurses were concerned I would look and think I was bleeding out! I just lay there ... the feeling of relief my friends, cannot be overstated!
In what seemed like an amazingly short time, the nurses had cleaned the room, literally around me, and the doctors decided I should have a full course of blood product infusions (similar to before the intrathecal) to stabilise things, and then have the catheter reinserted, to allow my body to catch up and get back on track. It took a long time for the blood to be infused (just the sheer quantity), but finally at about 4:30am, a new catheter was inserted, and it has been draining away all day without stopping as far as I know. The catheter was inserted by a urology surgeon no less! A very nice chap.
Today (Sunday), I have spent most of the day sleeping. Rose came to visit, but she slept as badly as I did and also slept whilst here - this new room I am in is a lot bigger and has a sofa. The doctors called and pronounced everything to be progressing well. My bad leg is still red and swollen, but certainly less than before. The doctors are sure the antibiotics, and my own white cells (!) will soon see the back of it
To keep the diarrhoea under control, they are now administering all my antibiotics IV. It seems to be working so far, at least reduced to an annoyance rather than a life-sapping force!
As I have explained, all week I have been injected with stem cell stimulant because my chemotherapy cycle is finished. I am pleased to say that my blood counts have all been increasing, and yesterday my neutrophils recovered to "normal" - I am no longer neutropenic!
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