So, a lot has happened since I posted on the 13th. The pain/discomfort in the incision above the belly button has continued to improve. The bump at the top of that incision is still there, but the GP took and look and said it’s nothing to worry about.
TWOC went ahead on the 18th as planned. For the last few days before TWOC, the catheter became very uncomfortable, with a fair bit of blood and urine escaping from around the catheter and urine in the catheter bag turning pink. The nurses at the hospital reassured me this is none of this is unusual at this stage after RALP.
The actual catheter removal was incredibly quick and totally painless. I was really surprised how well I was able to hold urine but filling and emptying the bladder 3 times took 3 hours, after which I went home catheter free, which was a huge relief.
My TWOC appointment was early in the morning with 1.5 hour journey on public transport, so I had to get up ay 5:30am. By the following day, I was exhausted and by the evening of the following day, I had a slight temperature of 37.6 degrees. However, it came down with paracetamol. Over the next couple of days (which fell over a weekend) at times temperature was normal other times between 37.5 and 38. I also feel very tired and slightly achy. I was also getting quite a lot a blood spotting in the pad and some discomfort on urinating (not severe).
By Sunday afternoon, my temperature was totally normal and has been ever since. I spoke to the urology cancer nurse on the Monday morning and she was a bit concerned about the recent low fever and advised me to visit my GP to check for infection. The GP did a dipstick urine test, which was inconclusive. There was a possibility of infection but not certain. He put me on 7 days of antibiotics just in case.
I’ve been on the antibiotics for 2 days now. I still feel well and have no temperature. I think the blood spotting in the pad may be slightly better today and perhaps the discomfort on urination as well. Provided things don’t get worse and my temperature doesn’t rise, the nurse advised me to continue with the antibiotics and will review again with me on Monday, by which time the 7 day course will be completed. I hope by then the bleeding will have resolved as I’ll be 20 days post-op.
On the day of TWOC they sent urine to be cultured. The result came back today and it’s clear. Two days ago, the GP also sent urine to be cultured, so hopefully those results will come back at the end of this week.
I haven’t even started pelvic floor exercises yet (due to start in 2 days time) but am already surprised how good my bladder control is. Sure, there are some leaks but nothing like as much as I had imagined.
I’ll probably post another update next week. Hopefully, with a lot less to report that this time!