I slept restlessly Thursday night in anticipation of the catheter being removed from my body. I felt helpless with this tube siphoning urine from me, and shackled to the dam thing. It limited my freedom as a human and particualry as a man.
At 4am Friday morning, the nurse team visited for a BP/Temp check and a blood sample. I asked them when the catheter removal team would visit. They both smiled, and commented that Candy would remove the catheter at 6am. Candy was one of the nurses in the room with me. I blushed, but told them both how pleased I would be when this "thing" was removed.
The clock ticked slowly minute-by-mintue towards 6am. I did not fall back to sleep. Finally, at 6:05 am, Candy returned to the room to remove the catheter. She first emptied the urine bag, then asked me to take a deep breath. As I inhaled she removed the catheter--which had a burning sensation as it was withdrawn from me. While a bit painful, I was elated that it was removed. Soon after breakfast arrived, I got out of bed and sat in the rocker/recliner to eat my breakfast. Once breakfast was done, I then went to the bathroom to urinate normally, and I took a shower. This felt really good. I was able to sit in a special chair that allowed me to keep weight off the leg while I showered.
By noon, Greg and Mark visited from the U-M. It was nice to see them. Margaret and Kirk also visited again in the afternoon. By this time, my urine bottle was full as I used this to avoid walking to the bathroom each time to urinate. I asked Kirk if he could empty the bottle. Although his face turned ashen white with hesitation, he proceeded to empty the bottle in the bathroom for me.
<Margaret told me later that Kirk went home later that evening and had to have a shot of whiskey to calm his nerves from this, and get the image out of his head>
In the early afternoon, Diane and Tim paid a visit from the U-M. As they arrived so did the PT attendant. We talked a bit, but I was distracted as the attendant worked with me to climb a single step with a walker emulating the experience of stepping onto the front porch to my house. Diane and Tim left after a short time. After this, my brother and sister in-law, Dietmar and Mimi, visited. Dietmer brought me a cup of coffee from Sweet Lorraines! While we talked, Dr. Denzin who performed the surgery, came by. I asked him several questions which he answered fully.
After Dr. Denzin left, the PT attendant came by again, and attached me to the Continuous Motion device. He was able to get my surgical leg to flex from 0 degrees to 45 degrees. I had improved by 20 degrees in just one night. For two hours the machines flexed my leg.
Dietermar and Mimi left after an hour. It was nice that they visited. In our conversation, we touched on several topics including politics. Having voted for democrats all my lifetime, I confessed to them that I had voted with some guilt for the republican candidate Snyder for Michigan governor. Dietmar said he did the same, although he too indicated that he had difficulty voting for a republican. But we both agreed that a businessman was the better choice given the alternative of the democratic candidate who professed more of the same Granholm rhetoric. Mimi seemed baffled by this disclosure as our politics have generally been in agreement. She noted that Snyder may do away with funding for Higher Education and some things related to the libraries. I noted this and will watch for how Snyder proceeds in his governership. Impeachment is also possible.
Kirk, my oldest son, paid a visit after dinner. He stayed for several hours, and we talked about many things. Kirk said that he and Michelle got into an arguement about what to do on Friday night after visiting with me. Kirk said he needed timeout when he first came home, and did not want to decide on a plan immediately when he first came home from work. I smiled at Kirk and said that this sounded like a classic Mars/Venus issue. Men, in general, need time when they first get home from work to unwind, while women can just disconnect from work without needing a timeout. I suggested to Kirk that he and Michelle should read, "Men are from Mars, and women are from Venus". Kirk said that he has heard this recommendation from others too. Kirk seemed bothered that he and Michelle had an arguement.
I then took Kirk on a tour down the hall on my walker to show him the staircase that I had navigated the day before. Kirk tied up the pajama top on my back to cover my backside. Later I heard that he felt odd seeing his dad's backside so often in a short time. Yep, another shot of whiskey!
After several hours Kirk left the hospital. I thought as Kirk left how proud I was of him. He really has become a wonderful man with an excellent future. He is fully independent and he has a terrific job with Thomson Reuter as a data analyst. Moreover, he has a relationship with a wonderful young women, Michelle. Michelle, like Kirk, has a terrific character and high aspirations for her future. They are a good match. Most importantly though, Kirk is a quality human being. His mom and I are very proud.
I eventually went to sleep looking towards Saturday. Saturday was discharge day!
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