IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Motherhood prepares you for many things, One of those things is that cry in the middle of the night, I wet the bed. So up I get to take care of that problem. I hear him saying "I can take care of it." I, of course, ignore that. The very first part of the vows I took said "in sickness and health", I think sickness covers this. Turning the lights I hear the cry I was NOT expecting,"the catheter came out".

 Pat has an indwelling catheter held in place with stitches not a balloon like a normal one is. I feel the panic start inside me. I know I have to remain calm. With normal catheters there is really no problem to replace them. You get a cath tray out with sterile gloves and proceed to insert a new one into the stoma (hole cut in his suprapubic area into the bladder). It needs to done pretty quickly as they can close up sometimes as soon as in 10 minutes! I knew that his would not be put back in in less than that time as his has to be sewn in. The closest hospital is 25 minutes away and not in plan. Only way to use it is in life and death situation, this emergency does not cover that. The hospital we have to go to is 45 minutes from home.

I get dressed and then help him get dressed and off we go. He is taken back to a room at once, paperwork to be done later. The hospital was fast and efficient. Of course they did not tell me anything I did not already know, that it would be morning before anything really could be done. I settled in for what I knew would be a long and sleepless night. Pat was given his pain meds so I knew he would sleep somewhat. Hard to really sleep when you have to use a urinal every 15-30 minutes. His bladder holds at best 50 cc's due to damage from the cancer.


Good news is, they did not have to cut a new stoma! Next comes an agonizing few days for him as his body recovers from the trauma of having his catheter yanked out and a new one put in.

leftovers

Yesterday I looked at my leftover pork loin roast and  could not decide what to do. Inspired! I sliced it up, layered an 8"x8" dish with the sliced pieces then poured apple cider over it. Not enough to cover all of it, maybe a cup. I then halved gold potatoes( I do not buy white potatoes anymore. I find the gold potatoes have a far better taste than white or red potatoes) and placed them on top to one side of the dish. Next I put frozen kitchen cut flat green beans on the other side. Covered with foil and stuck it in oven for 90 minutes at 325°F. Tender, good, I will make it again.

New day 1

September 13. 2016 is when time starts over again. We got the biopsy results today from the cystoscopy. It was positive for low grade non evasive bladder cancer. It was completely removed and treated. 

I was so hoping that it would not be. It would have been nice to at least go once without a negative report. 

November is CT scan and another cystoscopy and kidney stent change.

Cystoscopy

Cystoscopy (say "sis-TAW-skuh-pee") is a test that allows your doctor to look at the inside of your bladder  and urethra. It's done using a thin, lighted tube called a cystoscope . 

Normally this is a procedure that is done in the office surgical suite. Pat had one done Tuesday at the hospital under general anesthesia. Due to the tiny size of the inside of his bladder the doctor did not feel that he could tolerate it. He also has a very low of tolerance for pain now. 

A biopsy was taken. Now the waiting game.

No Peek Chicken

No Peek Chicken

1 box Uncle Ben’s Long Grain Wild Rice (original recipe)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can water
(You can add another can of water for moister rice.)
Chicken breasts or tenders

How to make it :

In a greased 9 x 13 pan, mix the box of rice, cans of celery and mushroom soup and
one can of water.  I always add the extra can of water because I like moist rice.
Arrange the raw chicken on top of the rice mixture….
Cover and seal with foil……
Bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours and “Don’t Peek!”
Your house will smell amazing!