Emergency room

The day before yesterday was the day. First time in the emergency room. Urinary retention. I guess it was a coincidence that I saw urologist about two weeks ago and we figured out self-catheterization. The urologist thinks it’s also a good way to postpone a permanent catheter, because he says, after about two years of catheter, it goes off with the inflammation. Only if work out the whole thing. He even knew multi systems atrophy! And the other doctor I went to after the ER even admitted to never having heard of it and asked questions – which makes him sympathetic.

The rep/nurse was also at my house, she showed me the procedure – if I had known that is the fate of my sexual organ… – and brought a bunch of samples. I can choose what suits me best.

At the first attempts I probably did something wrong, I was impatient and took the thing probably too fast with zero success (so I got rid of no milliliter). And I probably rammed the thing into me a little too brutally, there was always a little blood to be seen when removing the catheter.

Besides, the procedure is not too bad. It takes some getting used to, yes. But if I started brushing my teeth at 50, it would also take some getting used to. To push something in itself is strange at first. Unaccustomed. And all this hygienic effort at the beginning is annoying. The whole thing has to become a habit and routine. At least the whole thing doesn’t hurt. I do something wrong and hurt the urethra every time, but not even that hurts. I was only afraid of an inflammation, and because I had given up too quickly without success, I let the whole thing go. And that was the mistake…

On the said day it started with the fact that I hardly got rid of anything. But we already know this powerless and dropwise. I drank as always, it is important, and my bladder has grown and grown with time. Late in the afternoon the pain started, I could only sit down in pain. I then found the whole thing no longer funny. Besides, I also thought I had an inflammation, and I’m scared as hell of sepsis. You hear too often that patients die of sepsis, that starts as a urinary tract infection or pneumonia.

At some point it became unbearable and my AWO caregiver (to whom I am very grateful) drove me to the hospital. The doctor there could not even write multi system atrophy.  First they wanted to keep me, then they didn’t. So they put in accesses, that means they poked me around for nothing and then took it all away again.

But the urethral catheter then brought salvation, spontaneously I got rid of 1200 ml, later more.

The next day I went back to the urologist. If I had not insisted on self-catheterization, he would have placed an indwelling catheter. I’d rather put it off. But what’s for sure, if I didn’t do that now, I’d be back in the ER because the real problem, urinary retention is still there. Now I’m a little more patient, I also don’t have that eternal urge now.

What I learned from all of those? When you’re in distress, you’re pretty scared and it becomes clear how much you depend on others. That the staff in the emergency room has no idea and is also difficult to teach. For example, they measured my blood pressure while I was lying down, which doesn’t really mean anything. That’s where it’s difficult with speech impediments, my caregiver protested loudly and clearly, but even that didn’t get through. I have in my wallet a description of the disease for emergency but somebody would have to read it, which nobody then do.

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