OT: 6 month follow-up and taking stock
woodburnbob
>Early in December 2005, I posted a kind of philosophical question on the topic of tools and mortality. In that December thread many of you picked up on the idea I was depressed and actually offered very kind support and encouragement. The idea was I was taking things too seriously and likely had decades ahead of me.
This is the first week I've taken off work since last winter and I've been puttering around with tools and taking stock in the events of the last year.
I didn't know it at the time but I spent most of last December and early January in renal failure. January 11, my creatinine was 4, my bicarb was 15 , my potassium was near 6 and my hydraulic pressure north of 230/130. I had bladder residuals of 800 cc, the CAT showed dilated ureters, but the MRI was normal.
I'd suffered various symptoms of prostatism for years and knew a TURP was in my future, but I intended to put it off to the last minute. I put it off too long. I finally went into an ER and got a foley that drained bloody urine into a bag on my leg for a month. You actually slosh when you walk, so it makes for interesting facial expressions from nearby strangers. The urologist wouldn't ream me until my renal function was better and my bladder decompressed. The chemistry values went to normal fast after the foley was in. As these values normalized my mood and cognition bounced back.
Six months later, all is well, but I've still got too many tools.
Oh, here's a shot of Rita and me messing around for the camera a few years back, just for a little more self-disclosure.
