For one of the first times in a long time, I found myself sleeping in way longer than I wanted or expected.

I woke up for my 8:00 AM dose of antibiotics and crawled back into bed after taking them.  Then next thing I know, the clock read 11:10 AM.  Yikes!  I certainly didn’t intend for that to happen, but I guess I needed some extra sleep.  I certainly don’t want to get on THAT schedule the closer I get to returning to work.  (Keeping an optimistic attitude about the drain output volume!)

Speaking of output volume, it’s remained at 30 ml every 12 hours for the last three cycles.  That’s good.  For a while before that, it was creeping back up to 40 ml.  Looking at the bag right now (5:30 PM), I’d guess that the 10:00 PM (or end of Super Bowl) reading will come in at or below 30 ml. 

I’ll hold off sending my readings to the surgeon until after the 10 AM reading tomorrow morning.  That way, he can call me back later in the afternoon and perhaps he’ll have the PSA test results by then.  We’ll see.

I’ll have to admit that it’s much better to have just one drain instead of the two.  It’s a lot easier to sleep and get around the house.  The other thing that really helps is that he removed the original dressing that was over both of the drains.  Not having that any longer feels a lot better, too.  Plus, I don’t have to tape a Ziploc bag over my belly in order to take a shower now.

Well, time to clean up the kitchen after an early dinner in advance of tonight’s Big Game.  I can’t say that I’m rooting for one team over the other, but my Midwestern roots will probably have me pulling more for the Packers than the Steelers.  (Sorry, CX readers!)

Today was a calmer day than yesterday, emotionally.  I accepted the fact that I have to keep this tube coming out of me for a while longer, and have been able to navigate better without trying to rip it out of me as I did yesterday.

I haven’t detected any issues because of the one drain being removed.  The hole seems to be healing nicely already.  The output of the other remains about where it was yesterday and the day before.

It was a snowy day–a good day to curl up with some magazines that friends and the mail dropped off.  Some are travel magazines, and I’m looking forward to the day where I can feel confident enough to plan my next vacation.  To where?  Who knows. 

So that’s it for this snowy Saturday.

Steer clear of me right now.  You’ve been warned!

Let’s just say that the visit to the surgeon didn’t quite go as I would have liked.  In short, he removed the right drain but left the left one in place because the drainage output was still a tad too high.

It does feel good to be rid of the one tube and bag, but I’ll have to admit that I’m not thrilled about having the other one still in me.  It’s such a pain in the ass to maneuver with (I hooked the hose not once but twice on doorknobs today and cursed like a sailor–loud and long).

The plan?  Keep monitoring the output through the weekend and into early next week.  When he sees numbers that he likes, he’ll bring me back in to have the drainage tube removed.

I did ask, “What if the volumes don’t go down?”  The first part of his response was that time is on our side; I just need to be patient.  But the second part was something along the lines of, “I’ve never had to go back into someone, but…”  So it’s a possibility that, if this doesn’t diminish on its own, that I may have to go back in for a follow-up surgery to correct the problem.  That would suck.

One other thing that he did do during the visit was draw blood for my first post-surgery PSA test.  Again, if the results come back at zero or nearly so, that’s a strong indicator that I’m cancer-free.  If they’re higher, then that’s a whole new ball game.

This PSA test was originally scheduled for next Thursday, but he thought he would do it while I was there.  I suppose I could learn the results as early as late Monday or Tuesday.

I will admit that it does feel better to be rid of one hose and the large dressing they had over both.  It does make going to the bathroom a little easier.

Heck, I’ve had tubes coming out of my body for 28 of the last 33 days.

I did drive myself to Cincinnati for the appointment.  The drive went well and it was good to be out of the house again.  I stopped by Kroger and CVS on the way home to stock up on some groceries and renew my prescription. 

The day started with a call from the surgeon checking on the drainage output.  He was satisfied enough to tell me to come in tomorrow, Friday, to have the drains removed.  Needless to say, I’m pretty excited about that.  I just hope that nothing happens after they’re out that causes any problems.

It was a pretty quiet day around the house.  I was able to throw another load of laundry in the wash, clean up the kitchen and bathrooms a little, and repeat my lazy cat impersonation, sitting in the sunny window watching the snow on my driveway melt for about an hour.  Exciting, eh?

You would think that with all this time on my hands, I’d be coming up with some profound, philosophical thoughts about this whole experience, but I got nothing.  Maybe when we get the first PSA results next week.

We escaped the brunt of the storm here yesterday and last night.  Lots of wind and somewhere around a quarter to half inch of ice from the freezing rain.  Fortunately, only the cable TV went out for a bit last night, and not the power.  Things are much calmer here today, although it is snowing at the moment.  I don’t think we’re expecting much accumulation.

I haven’t heard from the surgeon yet today, and I didn’t expect that I would given that he was scheduled to be in surgery all day long.

I did speak to one of the admin assistants in the office about extending my leave, and she said she’d make sure to leave him a message to contact me tomorrow.

I’ll fax him my latest readings around 10:30 PM tonight so that he’ll have them first thing in the morning.

I had a couple of coworkers pop in for separate visits this afternoon, and it was good to interact with someone other than through a keyboard.  I’ll have to admit, though, that by the end of the second visit, my voice was cracking. I guess I’m not used to talking to anyone for an extended period of time.  I’ll have to start singing to myself as I walk around the house.

It’s been a quiet day of just watching the weather and waiting for the main event to arrive.

Last night gave us a nice coating of ice here; the street in front of my house glistens with its coating of ice that hasn’t been touched by the city yet.  We’re on the borderline for a major ice event this evening, too.  Those to the north and west could wind up with nearly an inch of ice; those to the south and east will likely just get rain.  Who knows what we’ll get.

I sent my latest drainage readings to the surgeon this morning about 10:30, but haven’t heard from him yet.  We’ll see what he wants to do. 

I’ll have to remember to talk with him about extending my medical leave/short term disability.  It’s set to expire on Monday, and I’m not sure that I’ll be ready to return to work then.

So that’s it.  Keep the ice away and the lights on, please!

The morning started with a phone call from the surgeon.  We reviewed the drain output log that I had faxed him last night, and he was still reluctant to pull the drains given the output levels.  He’d like to see the output in the 30-50 ml per day range, and right now, I’m running in the 60 ml per day range.  Of course, that’s much better than the 135 ml per day on my first day home from the hospital (Round 2).

He was encouraged that the trend continues downward and wanted me to call him tomorrow with today’s numbers.  Of course, with the weather situation as it is, there’s probably no way that I would be able to run to Cincinnati tomorrow if he gave the green light to pull them out.

He’s in surgery all day Wednesday, but thought it might be possible for me to meet him at the hospital to remove the drains if the numbers looked good.  Realistically, I’m thinking the earliest these may come out now is Thursday.

I understand why he’s being so cautious–and I support that–but, still, it’s a disappointment to know that I have to run around with this extra plumbing for several more days.

After talking with the surgeon, I decided to take inventory of all that I have here in anticipation of the storm.  I decided to make a Kroger run for two reasons.  First, to stock up for the storm and, second, to see if I’d be okay driving with the drains in place.  (I was wanting to see if I’ll need someone to drive me to the appointment to have them removed, or if I could do it myself.  I’d feel comfortable driving myself.)

It was only the second time that I’ve been out of the house on my own since 3 January.  Talk about cabin fever!

I stocked up on the essentials–bread, juice, batteries and my latest “essential,” Depends guards. 

This storm could be a real doozy.  The Weather Channel is showing that Indianapolis can get up to an inch of ice starting tonight and into tomorrow, and that will wreak havoc on the city and power system.  Cincinnati, on the other hand, is expecting more rain and some freezing rain, with perhaps a 1/4 inch of ice accumulation in the morning.  I’m hoping that we get more of what Cincinnati will get instead of what Indy will get.

Still, I have filled a 3-gallon camping jug with water; brought my sleeping bag in and set it beside the gas log set in my fireplace; charged a battery operated camping latern; and have positioned plenty of candles and flashlights around the house.  If we do have a power outtage, I should be okay as long as it’s rather short-lived.

The last few days have been pretty good in terms of my incontinence.  I did notice, however, that as I walked through the parking lot and grocery store that there were a few more minor squirts than I expected. 

I guess walking 60 or so feet around the house doesn’t tax my bladder enough when compared to several hundred feet in the grocery store.  It’s time to walk several times a day in the house for half an hour or so to build up that muscle control.

The other thing I need to work on are stairs because the drains are a little tender when I go up or down them.  I really haven’t done that since coming home.

This morning the sun was out for the first time in a while, and I sat in the living room, basking in the warmth of the sun’s rays like a lazy old cat.  I stayed there until the sun moved to the point where its rays could no longer reach me.

That was the highlight of my day.

The drains continue to annoy me.  I’m so hoping that they’ll be able to come out tomorrow.  The right one got blocked again this afternoon, so I had to clear it to get the flow moving again.  I’ll be sure to mention that to the surgeon when I talk to him in the morning.

The forecast calls for snow/sleet Monday night, turning to freezing rain late Monday/Tuesday morning (with a 1/4″ of ice possible), rain Tuesday afternoon, followed by snow on Wednesday.  I really hope these things come out tomorrow!

So that’s it.  I imitated a cat today.  Woo-hoo.

For a while today, I thought I was back in the hospital with the number of incontinence mishaps that I’ve had between last night and today.

Shortly after midnight, I made a run for the bathroom and didn’t quite make it.  I’m not sure what happened to my guard, either.  It must have shifted because it didn’t catch much of the urine that escaped.  Another mess to clean up.

During the day today, I’ve had two other minor mishaps, but significant enough to warrant a new pair of underwear in each case.  Must be a full moon or something.  I thought about returning to the full-blown Depends diapers, but put that idea on hold for now.  Maybe tonight when I go to bed.

The exit points for the drains are becoming increasingly sensitive.  There just is no good way to route the hoses, so I have to bring them up out the waistband of my underwear, and each time I have to pee, I have to very carefully and gently rearrange things while making sure that I’m not tugging on the drain excessively.  I really hope that they can come out on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Speaking of drains, I noticed that the tube feeding the right bag was filled with fluid, but there was virtually nothing in the bag.  I did a quick little troubleshooting and repair (using tools drown in alcohol), and now the flow has been reestablished.

With all the runs to the bathroom last night, I’ll have to admit that I didn’t sleep all that well and took a little nap this afternoon.  After that, I began working on my taxes.  Fun.

So that’s it for this Saturday.

Another quiet day around the house, which is a good thing.

The drains continue to do their jobs, and the flow from each is steadily decreasing (just look at the trendlines on my charts to be sure).  Hopefully, when I fax the charts to the surgeon on Sunday night, he’ll see them first thing Monday morning and call me to bring me in to have them removed on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.  (It took me about an hour to configure my computer to fax documents yesterday.)

While I was in updating my drainage flow chart, I thought I’d create another one to see how long I can go between voiding my bladder.  I’d like to see that number go up over the next week so that I can be more effective when I return to work.  That means I’m trying to hold things a little longer without jeopardizing a major accident.

One other silly exercise that I’m doing is that when I do get the urge to run to the bathroom, I’m making several laps around the house to simulate the distance between my office and the men’s room at work.  I want to make sure that I can make the distance without having an accident if I get a sudden urge.  So far, only a couple of minor leaks as I walked.

I’m remaining religious about taking my antibiotics and they, along with the drains, are doing the trick.  My temperature has remained normal since gettng out of the hospital.

Now that I’ve worked my way through a lot of the food that was brought over, I’m beginning to get back into a more regular and new pattern of eating.  One that includes much more fresh fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, less red meat, and less animal fat. 

I only want to go through this cancer crap once, and if improving my diet helps prevent something like colon cancer (closely related to prostate cancer), then I’m going to make the change.

Does that mean that I’m forgoing the Pollo Loco at Acapulco’s for ever and ever?  No.  I just want to be more sensible as I go forward.

So that’s it for this cold, overcast Friday.