Incomplete Work Submitted

An early start and great anticipation did not result in the departure of the catheter after all. Roy got to have six hours today catheter free, but his bladder was not truly ready to go back to work. The bladder gave a half-hearted attempt at clearing its load but essentially submitted an essay of improper length, not addressing the assigned topic, and without citing any sources. In other words, his bladder produced a little but its output was not what was expected.

So Roy has a new catheter and his bladder has a new deadline – August 18. To address the deficiencies in its work, the bladder is getting some remediation (more medications) and some extra time to craft a better submission – or at least to heal and feel better and maybe decide to do its job.

Roy has now been handed off to a urologist from the PA and is scheduled for an in-office cystoscopy procedure to see if there are structural issues interfering with the bladder doing its job. One medication’s dosage will double in the meantime and another medication is being added; we are going to run this plan of action by hepatology and oncology this week to be sure it fits into what they are doing. We will ask hepatology to confer with urology before the procedure is done.

We have a visit with hepatology in Houston on Wednesday. We will probably begin communicating about this with both offices tomorrow.

Roy’s ascites is worse (his belly is bigger) and the edema persists in his legs- not surprising since we plied his bladder with lots of fluid today to try to trigger action. He is pretty miserable overall and would really like something in his body to feel better. He says his legs feel like tree trunks.