December 20
We are not surprised the medical folks encouraged Harry's rapid exit from the hospital. In his case, almost everything is better at home.. food, peace&quiet, view, company, and amenities. He's been home a week today. Here's an excerpt from one of his recent e-mails:
Below are some notes I jotted down for friends who are connected with or have some familiarity with the medical profession. I salute you all.
As I think I may have mentioned this was my first experience with the business end of a hospital in 45 or so years. Boy, did I get my eyes opened! The Health Sciences Center in Winnipeg is a large inner city hospital and in retrospect I can assure you, is not the place for rest and recovery. I now understand why the urology nurse told me, "leave as soon as you are able." The Urology/GI wing was right over top of Emergency and our ward wasn't full, consequently we got the spill over from down below. I got a taste, just a taste mind you, of the equal parts of regimen and chaos that plays out on the weekend in a big city hospital. There were times when I was lying in bed (we were 4 to a room) listening to what was going on beside me (separated by a mere curtain) and I'm sure my eyes looked like poached eggs! I have nothing but thanks and the most sincere admiration for the people who staff those wards and the way they treat the transients like me that blink in and out of their lives on a daily basis. I couldn't do it.
Insofar as the operation was concerned the surgeon on repeated visits told me it went very well. I lost a lot of blood but appeared to bounce back pretty well once in recovery. As expected the nerve bundles took a hit, but I'm not sure of the extent of that yet. He removed the pelvic lymph nodes and said they looked and felt healthy so he is hopeful that the earlier CT Scan is correct and the cancer has not migrated. The lymph nodes are at the pathologists as we speak and he of course has the final say. I await the results.
I got home December 13th and have been recovering daily. I stiil have the catheter and JP bulb hanging off me but go in Thursday, December 23rd for assessment by the urologist's nurse. I assume it will come out if she likes what she sees. I receive home care nurse visitations 3x a week to change the dressing on the JP drain as well as watch for any other potential complications. Thus far I get an A grade!
I'm walking a good 1 1/2 hours a day, drinking lots of liquid as suggested, and have not taken any pain medication since the weekend. My appetite has returned along with my strength, indeed I have to stop myself from wanting to do more than I should at this stage. So to the best of my knowledge I'm bouncing back. I don't want to come across as too positive because it's early and there are more shoes to drop as you well know, but that said I'm pretty positive.
Once again my thanks for your friendship and good wishes. Last summer Buck told me how important that was - now I get it.
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