Update on my general health and mental well being
Here's a recap and and update on all my trials and tribulations. It's get's a bit technical in the "male-oriented" department, so guys you may want to prepare to cringe and lady's prepare to laugh.
When we last left off I had been released from the hospital after the surgeon went all Ginsu on me.
I was experiencing air being expelled from my urethra during urination (we shall from this point on refer to this as "dick farts" as the technical term is virtually unpronouncable).
After a few urine analyses they determined I had a
rare baterial infection (to go along with my
rare cancer) that creates air in the bladder. They gave me antibiotic and it (dick farts) has never happened again.
However, I have still been experiencing bladder pain and also pain when peeing.
They then decided to do a Cystogram. This is were they take a catheter, insert it into a place you
NEVER want something inserted, and fill your bladder with a contrast agent to make sure (using realtime x-rays) there are no leaks (fistulas) in the bladder wall or urethra, and watch as the fluid is expelled to make sure all is well. I got to watch along with the radiologist. Pretty interesting except for the part about having a tube shoved up my d... never mind.
This showed no problems, however the pain persisted.
So they sent me to a urology specialist and he decided to do Cystoscopy. This is basically the same as the Cystogram except they use a scope so they can have a (full color) look-see inside. This was even more interesting as I've never seen the inside of my bladder before and always wondered what it looked like. Note : if you ever have this or the Cystogram done, don't look down. You've been warned.
This showed no problems, so they did a CT scan with contrast agents as they wanted to do everything possible (other than cutting me open) to make sure they saw no problems before starting chemo. The CT scan came up showing nothing, so the specialist said his best guess was that scare tissue from the operation(s) had adhered to the bladder and was causing pain when it expanded, contracted, etc. ... which only happens
rarely.
Two weeks ago everything went south. I lost my appetite, was so tired I had to drag myself out of bed, couldn't concentrate and
have trouble comprehending simple stuff, and have a basic feeling of joylessness, nothing seemed to matter and being overwhelmed (which is why I've been quiet on the boards, and it's hard for me to concentrate on writing this). It's also why I've been non-existant on the P&W forums and haven't helped people (sorry FordGT
) I've mostly been in the Skyrim thread because you really don't need a brain to play or post about Skyrim.
So today I went and talked to my new surgeon and he said I have a classic case of Post-Operative Depression (I never new this existed as I never experienced it from previous surgeries). This can be caused by a whole slew of factors and he said with what I have gone/am going through it would not only be common, but expected (Like two surgeries, two anethsesias, lots of narcotic pain killers, finding out you have cancer, no time to mentally prepare, etc.). They just don't warn you because it doesn't always happen to people and times vary greatly (like right after surgery to months later).
They are going to give me drugs to help deal with this (he said it usually naturally goes away after while, but I'm tired of looking at my Jeep and thinking, "who cares" and even more tired of looking at MY OWN CODE and not understanding it), and ...
Next Thursday I have to go in for surgery to have my chemotherapy port installed (should be a simple out-patient procedure unless something
rare happens
), Friday I have to have a bunch of blood drawn for a whole battery of pre-treatment tests, and Monday (the 12th) I am supposed to start chemo. I'm not worried about the chemo as long as they don't want to give me the treatment using something shoved up my d... nevermind.
So hopefully in a few days I will be back to my old helpful self here on TPU.
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers,
Dean
hehehe
I'm not a prayer... but I"M PRAYING YOU DON"T HAVE ANYMORE DICK FARTS! 
I know one thing that's not hard for you to remember.. and that is You Da Man! Keep up the good fight! When you look back at your corner I'll be there to holler, "Rip'em apart! Your gonna eat lightning, and your gonna crap thunder!".