Still here for many more dinners

Very nice it was to have dinner not in hospital but on board Nb Valerie. Of course it could have been so different with all my future dinner dates being heavenly!!. I count myself lucky to be married to a very intelligent and loving  lady who all along has watched my back, researched my condition, and been on the look out for side effects such as deadly Sepsis. Thanks for my life Jaq!

The three lots of anti biotics I was given soon gave not just the Sepsis but also the Cystitis bugs that were also swimming around my urinary system notice of eviction. So strong were these drugs that within four hours of the first course my appetite returned and staff rallied round to find me sandwiches, yogurt, jelly and rice pudding as the evening meal had long been served. The doctor said this was all quite normal and down to purely the strength of the drugs that had to match the urgency of my situation.

My stay this time was thankfully just a few days and started off in the Acute Admissions Unit assessment ward.  This was followed by a stay in another ward and my final night following a lot of late night emergency admissions was in a day unit that was quickly brought into night service for homeward bound patients. Like a game of pass the parcel. Big difference here four floors below the surgical ward was the standard of care was fantastic ALL the time.
The day unit I spent my last night in dealt with catheters for cardiac patients on a day visit basis but bed shortages on the main wards meant it being staffed overnight by two nursing staff, on overtime,looking after just two patients. Best night sleep I`ve had in hospital, dark and quiet.

The following morning our breakfast was served and after a bedside wash (I`m confined to bed/chair owing to lowish blood pressure) it was time to await the doctor and my discharge. By now there is a full day staff on as day patients arrive for their cardiac procedures and I am informed I am booked to have some Urology tests in the Radiology dept.
After initial panic and re-assurance it did not involve needles I did manage to find out it did involve the men`s toy dept and that a local anaesthetic would be used. Looking out the window I decided tying the sheets together to escape was not a good idea in my very weak condition.
Along came the porter and from a wheelchair I had my first look at the hospital from a sitting up position. Up to now my only description would have been the ceilings viewed from a bed as I have been transferred flat on my back. Below is the parts of this link that are relevant to my two tests.

Retrograde urethrogram is another radiology test to evaluate urethral strictures. This test basically entails placing a small urinary catheter in the last part of the urethra (closest to the tip of the penis). Approximately 10 cc of an iodine contrast material is slowly injected in the urethra via the catheter. Then, radiographic pictures are taken under fluoroscopy to assess any obstruction or impairment to the flow of the contrast material that can suggest urethral stricture. This test provides useful information about the location, extent, and size of any narrowing in the urethra as well as the shape of any possible abnormalities.
Anterograde cystourethrogram is a similar test but can only be done if there is a suprapubic catheter in place (a urinary catheter placed in the bladder through the skin in the lower abdomen). Iodine contrast is then injected into the bladder via the catheter and its flow out of the urethra is radiographed under fluoroscopy.

Anaesthetic or not men this makes your eyes water and while it goes on your manhood is fixed in a frame to keep it straight. Still stiff upper lip- Mmmm perhaps not the right words to use but you can imagine how I feel with just me and the doctor outnumbered by the female staff in the room 4to2  I just tell myself it doesn`t hurt. It was interesting watching on screen as the contrast solution flowed around my waterworks. No side effects other than a little blood during first pee.

Waiting for the results of these tests made my eventual discharge be very late afternoon but the results were clear. I have a Urology appointment December 2nd so perhaps more will be revealed then.
All this Urology business is because during the surgery a catheter could not be placed in the urethra as is standard practice. I still have the one into my bladder via my abdomen. I can still pee as normal or via the catheter and in fact am instructed to use both.