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15 hours ago, rogerguzzi said:

Hello Nick

              Save It will be useful for bleeding brakes etc 

Roger

P s just give it a quick swill first!

Actually, you're right!   I have a collection of six inch lengths of silastic tube that fits the brake nipple exactly.  Really useful  for several jobs, bleeding, blocking lines wen working on brakes, etc.   They are used for connecting lines in uro-surgical kit and I've , er, rescued them.

John

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just read this thread, I was thinking you hadn't been around on the forums very much. But very glad you getting better. 

I used to work at Kings college hospital in london in  physiological measurement.
Fault finding a human makes fixing old triumph seem easy! At least with a Triumph you know how it should work, with the human body there are lots of bits that we don't understand how they are meant to work! Not helped by the amazing variability in human body build quality.

all the very best

Mike

 

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Indeed Mike. Not helped by the rather limited fault-finding skills of some medics. Beats me as I'd have thought this was the key requirement!

It's been a challenging journey, frequently uncomfortable, occasionally downright agonising, but not without interest.

My hot tip for those getting involved with the private sector would be ask to some very serious questions about how they would deal with any complications that arise post-op (and potentially who pays). They don't like these questions and don't appear to be well prepared, especially where the original op was some distance from home. You might therefore end up throwing yourself on the mercy your local NHS....... Who will undoubtedly do their best to patch you up but could justifiably be a little grumpy about picking up the pieces.

While I think I've been rather unfortunate with the complications cascade, I've been extremely fortunate with the truly first-rate care received from my local hospital. The nursing standards so much much better, more human, than the private one where I started the journey. Currently dealing mostly with the urology specialist nurses, who are brilliant. Having discovered the antibiotics I was given in A&E last week were not the correct ones for the specific bug chewing on me, I was able to ring them yesterday morning when the results of the microbial screen were available and get the right one organised. Only IV antibiotics were indicated initially but she not only rang the microbiology consultant in Taunton to query this, but by the time she rang me back had already arranged for the correct ones to be delivered to the nearest pharmacy to my home! Outstanding!

So now ,to discover if this new antibiotic has been effective at reducing the amount of debris in my bladder that has to coaxed out through the 3.5mm hole in the catheter.......... A cranky catheter is a VERY bad thing and can really spoil your day. It's going fine just now, but when I stand up and start moving around.........? Too much info possibly.......

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1 hour ago, Nick Jones said:

Too much info possibly.......

Morning Nick, I think with your thread here, has made me get checked out, through still in progress, I would like to think more of us should follow your lead, and the more we discusse it the sooner it might sink in GET CHECKED OUT GUYS, 

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It's a good general rule in medicine, "IF IN DOUBT, GET IT CHECKED OUT " Early diagnosis and treatment will nearly always bring a better outcome and sometimes literally the difference between life and death.

Getting an appointment with your GP though...... that can be a challenge.

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20 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Getting an appointment with your GP though...... that can be a challenge

very true I made the appointment yesterday, the earliest they can see me the 12th 

i'm glad your on the mend Nick, 

still i have a over heating GT6 to waste my time on while waiting

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Ours are quite good for urgent appointments (bar the telephone lottery entry method) but non-urgent (their definition!) is currently in the 4 - 6 week bracket with GP phone calls on a 2 - 3 week wait!

The problem is no GPs. Senior Management now works in GP land and some of the surgeries she deals with have no permanent GPs at all and may have days where there are no GPs in a practice at all, just nurses, pharmacists etc.

The cretinous selection process for med school must take some of the blame. Entirely on academic score. Chris's girlfriend had a lifelong ambition to be a GP (and would make a cracking one IMO) but failed to get a place due to not enough stars after her A's. She's now switched to nursing - she'll make a great nurse too, but on 1/4 the wage and the nursing degree system is an expensive and exploitative piss-take.

Another girl in her school class, geeky weirdo with no social skills, got into med school and dropped out after a term......

Pisses I right off!

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when I had my heart attack the NHS worked fantastic for me over the last couple of years in and out of hospital, Winchester hospital even transferred me to Basingstoke Hospital so I could be in the same place as my farther in law for his last week with us, So yes 3 ops on the old ticker a shed load of pills every day,  and i'm moaning about having to wait ten days, I had my phone call the same day, against your 2-3 week wait & 4-6 weeks for an appointment you best move up my way, the house next door is for sale is 4 bed big enough for you with only a single garage

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It's still working, but the downside is that having been encouraged to drink lots, I've put away best part of 4 l today. So far I've had about 2.5l back, and now I'm lying down again the balance is reappearing at a rate of 200mls every 15-20 mins, which is the current working capacity of my bladder........ no chance of sleep for a while then!

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HI Nick, sorry you are having to go through all this discomfort whilst recovering. I have a little  insight, as about 30 years ago I watched my dad go through a similar but probably more crude process in his early 50s, and the subsequent blockages, discomfort etc. that followed. Not nice at all. Hope you start feeling better soon.

Mark

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Thanks for your support - appreciated!

13 weeks.....!!  God forbid!  I must be recovering a bit as I'm now at the point where frustration is starting to set-in - just over 3 weeks post-op.

One of the frustrations is that when I comment/complain about symptoms I'm typically told that it's "absolutely normal" for the first two or three times before they eventually decide that it isn't and take action.

Currently I'm fairly sure that the ongoing UT infection persists, but medical minds are quite sure that the symptoms are "normal" because I'm already being treated for the infection, so therefore it must be working.  The acceptance of the possibility that the antibiotic (already the second tried as the first did sod-all) may not be fully effective, though it certainly did have an effect initially, is probably still a couple of days away.  Meanwhile I'll keep taking the tablets and drinking plenty of clear fluids.  Difficult to obey the instruction to only empty bladder when full, when it feels full all the time!

Shan't be drinking 4L today - that was definitely too much.

Nick

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10 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

13 weeks.....!!  God forbid!  I must be recovering a bit as I'm now at the point where frustration is starting to set-in - just over 3 weeks post-op.

Yes, frustration is a key sign that you are feeling better. For about the first 3 weeks after my "do" I just felt knackered and sore. After that I was told if I opened the garage door (ha ha ha, no way I was capable of that!) my wife and daughters would paint the spitfire PINK! 

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Not been updating as too depressing. However, some progress has been made.

Had to make another A&E trip (that's three now) as by Saturday the infection was really kicking off and I was terrified I'd block up again. Luckily saw the same Doc as on the last mission (very thorough and sensible lady) and got a shot of gentamicin. Went back on Sunday for a second and was advised that a 3rd on Monday when the catheter was to be removed. Monday morning I awoke almost pain free and feeling stronger.  To discover that my surgeon had decided he wanted a cystogram done before catheter removal. He and the local urologists had also decided gentamicin was unjustified (but it's only working you bastards!!).

Tuesday, after some prodding, I discover that it will take 10 days to get the cystogram done locally or 6 if I pay. This leads to frank exchange of views with the surgeon, which has the happy effect of him finally understanding just how broken I am and arranging for the cystogram to be done the following day. This at his home hospital 100 miles away....... Road trip....... Senior management drives me, the radiologist is great, test result satisfactory and....... (drumroll)..... catheter removed! 100 miles home again.

So, now catheter free, which is very positive and has removed the major irritation of it poking the inside of my bladder and having dangling external plumbing (additional to the factory fitted that is).

Pity it's still rather sore down there though.   Suspect still infection due to stopping the gentamicin too soon.

More testing at GPs today in case I have to bust back into the local system the proper way.....

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Really don't have any beef with the NHS John - they've done me very well indeed.  The issues have been generated by the private sector and more recently by tensions between NHS and private sector.

I also very much hope it's the home straight!

Nick

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Chin up Nick it sounds like the home straight now, Iv'e had my follow up exam with my doc this week, Bloods 2.5 and internal examination uncomfortable but done, and the doc  was happy nothing untoward, I wonder if anybody else has been checked out because of your thread ?

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4 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

and got a shot of gentamicin

The antibiotic equivalent of "the big guns". It's nasty stuff but good for clearing resistant infections! (It's what they had me on when I had a nasty bout of bacterial endocarditis) 

Hang in there and keep trying! Our experience is that the NHS has so many mythering hypochondriacs (NOT YOU!) to deal with that it takes some getting them to pay attention. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Still hanging on in there. About 3 - 4 weeks behind standard recovery as a result of post op bleeding complications.

I've eventually been told that the bleeding caused a build up of pressure in the new joint where the prostate once was, which did some damage to it. This is not considered bad enough to need remedial action (good!), but has resulted in a large haematoma (blood clot), which has to dissolve and wash out before I can fully heal. This wretched clot appears to be the size of a small moon.......

Practical upshot is that although feeling much better in myself, I'm very limited in what I can do as gravity and the haematoma conspire to limit my allowable "vertical time". This both in overall budget for the day and specific sessions of sitting, standing or walking. If I'm sensible with session lengths I seems to be allowed more time overall. If I overshoot either budget then I'm punished by a reduction in budget, discomfort (medical speak for pain) and wee of a very threatening colour........

Getting very tedious. Could yet be another 4 - 6 weeks to eliminate the clot, but the rate of symptom reduction should increase rapidly as the clot shrinks apparently........ certainly hope so!

Nearly time for the follow-up PSA test to reveal whether this has all been worthwhile.

Nick

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