Send to KindleI ended the last post with a spoiler alert. We’ll get there shortly, but a few facts need to be relayed first.
After being released from the hospital, a number of services were offered. A dedicated nurse practitioner who is part of the actual surgical team. She (in this case) came to the apartment once, two days after I was released, and followed up with me on the phone a number of times.
She was very concerned about a few things and prescribed some additional medication.
Separately, Northwell offered 30 days of in-home nursing (not part of the surgical team). I ended up with eight in-home visits split between two different nurses (one male, twice, and a female the other six times).
I was also offered a physical therapy evaluation, with regular follow-ups should they be required. The physical therapist came nine days after I was released, and discharged me after examining me.
Back to our recovery tale. I was released on Tuesday afternoon. As mentioned previously, by Friday night, I still had no relief. I was actually sitting on the toilet on Friday night, patiently waiting (recall that I was not permitted to bear down) when the phone rang. It was an unexpected call from my cardiologist who wanted to know how the recovery was going.
I explained my situation, and he said that he believed that it was pressure from my bladder and my rectum pressing against each other, telling me that the area down there is extremely narrow in a male.
As you know (if you’ve read the previous posts) this is exactly what my theory was all along. My cardiologist suggested it without me mentioning that, and he’s the first person to give it any credence!
He asked what medication I was on, and in addition to the normal post-surgery stuff, I told him I was on Senna (a prescription laxative). I was also on Lasix (a prescription diuretic). I told him that I was also eating a few prunes and drinking some prune juice daily.
He told me to continue all of that, but also add Milk of Magnesia (I hadn’t heard that phrase since childhood!).
The next morning I had my first my first visit with the regular nurse (male). He examined me and took my vitals. I explained my issue to him and without any hesitation, he said that I should continue my existing medication but also add Milk of Magnesia! Back-to-back identical recommendations in a 12 hour period.
Lois went out to get the Milk of Magnesia and I took the recommended dose every few hours. Sometime later that same day (Saturday), everything opened up. It’s impossible to know whether the Milk of Magnesia was the tipping point, or the time had simply come for some much-needed relief, but at this point, I was simply overjoyed for the relief.
That said, once started, there was a lot to clear out, and it just kept coming and coming… I was still running to the bathroom as frequently as before, but now it was more of a race to get there in time…
After a single accident (thankfully not anything too serious), I asked Lois to buy me a box of adult pampers (there’s a phrase I never thought I’d be writing in public!). I wore them 24×7 for a few weeks, and of course never had a single accident while wearing them, but it gave me psychological comfort to not have to worry.
While the relief was massive, the pendulum had swung very far in the other direction. That was still 100x better than the previous situation, but it wasn’t pleasant.
After a number of days at this new extreme, I returned to a more irregular situation. Sometimes normal, sometimes tough to get going, and sometimes too easy to get going.
I spoke to a good friend on the phone (same person who got me into Quantum Biology) and he strongly suggested eating fresh papaya every day. Since I love papaya (and hadn’t had it in years), I saw no downside. I ate it every day, and sure enough, I was mostly regular from then on.
I had my first foray out of the apartment eight days after my release, for a check-up with the surgeon. I passed with flying colors and he told me that he didn’t need to see me again until the one year mark!
Four days later I had my first social visit in the apartment. Things felt a little bit more normal after that (though, of course, they were anything but normal yet).
A week after my surgical check-up, I had my second foray out of the apartment, this time to see my cardiologist, who also was very pleased with my ongoing recovery.
I’ll continue with at least one more post on the recovery, quite possibly two or three, taking us up to the present.
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