Well the TURP operation on Thursday was completely successful. I was expecting it to be done under general anaesthetic, and could have insisted on doing so, but the anaesthetist preferred to go for an injection in my back to numb me from the waist done backed up with a tranquilliser to keep me calm. The latter worked so well that I was asleep within seconds of entering the theatre and don't remember much until being transferred from the trolley back to my hospital bed.
The catheter fitted after the operation was a special one that fed saline solution into my bladder as well as draining fluid from the bladder into a bag. The purpose of this was to flush any debris out. Towards the end of Friday fluid was flowing clear of blood and the flow rate of the saline solution was reduced. Then, in the evening, the saline feed was removed altogether. This meant that moving around was a lot easier because I only had to carry the bag with me and didn't need to push a drip stand around too.
On Saturday morning the catheter was removed altogether. Any peeing had to be into bottles so that the volume produced could be assessed. I found I could pee, with a good flow, and the volume was satisfactory. If it hadn't been for what else happened on the Friday afternoon I would have been free to go home Saturday evening.
So what did happen? I was sitting in the chair next to the bed doing a crossword puzzle when I first felt hot and then felt nauseous. I recognised these signs as being a precursor to fainting so I pressed the call button for a nurse and sat back. The next thing I new as I came to was that there were six or seven nurses and a doctor round the bed. I recognised the initial signs because they had occurred four or five times before over the last two or three years. I hadn't taken much notice of them because I had felt fine within half an hour or so.
The medics took a very different view. I was given various physical tests to confirm that I was in control of my facial muscles and had strength in my arms, legs, hands and feet. My reflexes were also checked including reaction to light shined into my eyes. I was given an ECG. Apart from the latter most of the tests were repeated by different doctors and nurses over the next couple of days. I was told by a doctor that one fainting fit might be a one-off. Two meant a 50% chance of more and three a 100% chance of more - I'd had more than three. I have been referred to the neurological out patients' clinic for assessment which will include a CT scan of my head. For the time being I must not drive.
The doctor wanted me to stay in hospital Sunday night with a view to having the scan on Monday. As there was no guarantee that there would be a slot on Monday and I was concerned about how well my wife would cope with me away for another night I insisted that I should go home. This was agreed to but not without a couple of hitches. First I had the oral agreement that I could go but the doctor had not documented this. Second, I had been given tablets to take to prevent a re-occurrence and a label needed to be put on the packet by the pharmacy. In the end I don't know if the doctor signed the discharge form or whatever and the box of pills hadn't returned from the pharmacy after a couple of hours so my son took me home with me agreeing that the tablets would be collected later. Well my son phoned the ward three times during the afternoon and the tablets never got back to the ward so I will not be taking one tonight. I'll call them mid morning tomorow to see when I can go and collect them.
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