High Efficiency with not the Best Outcome

Yesterday was the follow-up to my June 09 prostate surgery. The Civic is a city hospital without a ton of parking. Shauna takes time off work to get us there so that I don't have to navigate the traffic and then search for elusive parking. We go by expressway, but it does get quite busy the farther we drive into Ottawa. With the dearth of parking, she drops us and heads to the mall.

This was to be a flow test. I was instructed to come with a full bladder and to bring water with me. Timing a full bladder isn't easy, so I began consuming water in the car. I left it that long because I didn't want to drink too early and arrive in dire straits. As it turned out, they took me right in, but I only had a small dribble. Back in the waiting room, I drank the container that I had brought with me and filled it twice more. About a half hour later, I was ready to try again, and a nurse came to escort me to urinate into the cone-shaped device that metered my output.

I certainly flowed this time: more copiously than usual and at what seemed to me to be at a greater rate.

I was then taken to a nearby, small and very cool, as in cold, room where they administered an ultrasound to determine how much water I had retained after urinating. The nurse seemed to think that was quite a bit, but the doctor later opined that was quite good.

Exit nurse. Enter doctor: not my surgeon but an urologist in training. She asked questions and noted my answers, all with her back turned while banging away on the computer. She asked the usual, such as how many times I got up at night. I replied, perhaps cheekily, that it depends on how long I slept. Lest she think me too impertinent, I hastily added that it was roughly every two hours on average, sometimes only an hour and sometimes three. I told her about my UTI and 'fainting' spell. possibly brought about by straining,. She didn't comment but kept typing.

Out she went and returned minutes later with the surgeon, who said that my flow rate was not great. I replied that it had seemed to me to be one of my more impressive flows. There wasn't much more jabber before he said that he needed to get in there to see what was going on. "No, not today, we'll let you know." Sigh, I will have to do this somewhat major excursion again.

If you haven't picked up on my situation, it is this. After my 4th prostate surgery in June, I had high hopes, but by only 6 weeks, I had regressed to something resembling my previous, sad state.

Things got better at the restaurant for an early supper. Shauna ordered a a barbequed chicken salad sandwich with sweet potato fries. Sue and I opted for a twofer: one appetizer, one desert, and two entrees for one price. Being charitable people, we shared the appetizer with Shauna. I assure you that all was very yummy.

Four Cheese Spinach Dip Appetizer

Chicken Fried Chicken

The dessert was caramel cheesecake, which Sue is still raving about despite the fact that she is not normally a big fan of cheesecake. All three dishes were delicious, which seemed to sooth my prostate grumpiness. As Sue remarks, I am quite healthy apart from this nagging, chronic issue.

Sue's daily photo involved people, and she took this shot in the waiting room. He was a francophone man, and quite frankly, they often dress snappier than we Anglos.

Sue had already removed some distractions from the photo, but I freely liked his look and wanted to do more. I extracted the gentleman, cropped the photo down to his upper body, upscaled it, and then added a new background, still keeping him within a hospital setting.

Back to my experience: the hospital process was built on efficiency. One nurse guided me to the flow test room, and another did the ultrasound right away in a neighbouring room. Only a few minutes later the apprentice doctor entered to ask and record information. She went away and distilled the pertinent information to El Primo surgeon, who quickly advised me about next steps. There wasn't any handholding or reassuring to speak. He was quickly done with me and onto the next poor soul's pathetic prostate issues.
 

I wasn't overly joyful with how the session went and particularly that I would have to return and add one more cystoscopy to my resume.

But the food was so darn good that I couldn't stay peeved for long. It was really nice to have the extended time with Shauna.

I was reminded of my dad having prostate surgery (yes, I follow in his steps in this regard). I took a day or two off work to be with him and cheer him. He told me that the time that we spent together was the his highlight of the year. Imagine surgery being a highlight, but I begin to understand now. I loved sharing that meal with my two ladies.