Tuesday 3 December 2013

A Totally Unexpected Journey (Part 4)


Due to the condition of the roads surrounding this hospital (which are currently in the process of major construction of the MRT), the journey home was extremely bumpy. Potholes and terrible road conditions due to the extensive construction. Hubby had no choice but to go at 15kmph the most and switch on his hazard lights. We got honked at, glared at, scolded at. But my bum was the utmost priority! 

Once we reached the highway, the journey became smoother. But hubby still had to go at about 50kmph. When I finally reached home, it was sweet relief. 

I had my bath and tried to rest. By then, I was having terrible pain in the bladder. I kept getting up to pee. But it would only come out in small trickles. And when it came out, I would double over in excruciating pain. It felt as though claws were ripping my bladder out. 

As time went by, the urge to pee became closer and closer. And the difficulty in getting it out became worse. Excruciating, spasms in the bladder gripped me so hard whenever a drop of pee came out. I almost blacked out from the pain. I even gripped hubby so hard that I gave him bruises. His back looks as though he was scratched with claws. Indeed, I was Wolverine after all. I couldn't pee even though I wanted to. I tried everything, soaking in warm water, standing, sitting, spraying of water. Nothing worked. Finally after almost passing out, we rushed to the ER at Sunday 4am. 

Apparently I had 1.4L of urine inside me. Really?? I didn't feel that at all. I thought I had 'some' urine inside. I certainly didn't feel that I was going to burst. 

The spinal anesthetic had somehow relaxed my bladder muscles and thus the signal to pee was disrupted. That's why I couldn't feel that my bladder was packed to the brim. Thus, the pain. It was just too full, stretched to its maximum capacity. 

The moment they placed a catheter, 1.4L drained out. And the pain was gone! The doctor gave me 2 choices, to go home with the catheter and come back on Monday or get admitted. There was no way I was going home on the bumpiest of roads and now with a catheter and coming back on Monday. 

Admit me!!!!

I managed to doze of for awhile upon admission.

From Sunday 4am to Monday 4pm, the catheter did the peeing for me. If left any longer inside the bladder, bacteria would begin to breed. And if after they have removed the catheter and I am still unable to pee on my own, a new catheter would be inserted and I would have to stay at the hospital until I am able to pee on my own. No way in hell was I going to get pricked with a catheter again!! NO WAY!!!

So 1 hour after the removal of the catheter, I hobbled to the toilet to pee. It took forever for it to come out. I sat, I stood. I sat. I stood. And I finally realised that I was never going to pee in a sitting position. It had to be like the men. With one hand on the support bar, and one hand holding my phone looking at Joel's cute little face, I willed myself to pee. It was antagonizing. It was like peeing sandpaper out. And the bladder felt so raw and sore. (The doctor said that it would be like this for awhile as I had a catheter inserted into the bladder. Peeing would hurt for awhile. The only remedy would be to drink gazillion tons of water and allow the bladder to heal). And when I finally peed everything out of the bladder on my own, it felt like a bladder orgasm. Such relief and a sense of 'high' feeling. And then I peed every hour. Sometimes less than an hour. Drank more and more and peed more and more. It takes an average of 10 minutes to get everything out. Sometimes a bit longer. The pain is still there and the spasms still come now and then. But I'm peeing on my own! And that was certainly great news. The nurses were so happy at my accomplishment. I felt that I have become a baby again, learning how to control my bladder motions. I cannot hold my pee at the moment. I have to 'go' immediately. 

Pooping is a must too. An laxatives is a must as we certainly don't want the wound to tear!

I was happy that I could be discharged today. But then I developed a fever!

But the doctor said that this is normal due to post-surgery trauma. And the malaise and unwell feeling would continue for a few weeks. 

Thus, I'm heading home later! Wish me luck in my recovery. 

And thank you for all you wonderful words, prayers, emails, messages encouraging and comforting me. Pushing me to move on. Thank you. It is very much appreciated. 

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