Medical Update

- feeling hopeful

August 5, 2022 - Here is an update of my medical situation regarding my Foley catheter, as well as an update on my neuropathy and my recent heart/chest surgeries.

I had an appointment with my urologist yesterday in regard to my Foley catheter which I have had inside of me for about three months. It was inserted following the first of two reconstructive chest surgeries in May due to a staph infection that developed within my chest following my quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery in March.

My urologist has taken me off of a prescription drug that reduces bladder spasms caused by the catheter because the drug also makes urination more difficult. He started me on a prescription drug that makes it easier to start urinating. I continue to take a prescription diuretic that I have been using since late last year when I had congestive heart failure with severe edema in both of my legs.

On August 10, 2022, my home nurse, who is tending to my basically healed diabetic ulcer in my left foot, will remove the catheter in the morning. I will then try to urinate properly. Then, I will visit my urologist at 1 p.m. that day. I will have an ultrasound done of my bladder. If I have too much urine in my bladder at that time, a new catheter will be inserted to drain my bladder, and it will probably be left inside me.

About a month ago, the catheter was removed for 12 hours while I was at a physical-rehabilitation facility to see if I could urinate normally. While I was able to urinate a little, it was determined that it was not enough to leave the catheter out. So, a new catheter was installed.

This catheter has caused me extreme pain in my penis, so much pain that while at the facility last month, I had to be taken, screaming and crying, to the hospital emergency room. While there, I received an intravenous pain medication through my PICC line (see below) and had CAT scans of my abdominal area and my pelvic area. Everything was OK, except that it was determined that I have gall stones.

(Yesterday, a physician's assistant to my urologist recommended using a water-based lubricant to alleviate some of the pain.)

About two weeks ago, I discontinued the opioid pill that I was taking in regard to my two chest surgeries in May and switched to over-the-counter Ibuprofen and Aspirin, but mainly for my penis pain. I am also taking a prescription drug to relieve neuropathy that is now causing pain in both of my feet in addition to my usual numbness; this drug is also considered to be a general pain medication. My chest is still swollen and sore from my three recent heart/chest surgeries.

Below is a composite photo I recently made and recently posted to show the relatively fast healing of my chest.

I arrived home on July 21, 2022, after a total of SEVENTY (70) DAYS in a hospital and at a physical-rehabilitation facility.

Prior to arriving at my physical-rehabilitation facility on June 3, 2022, I was in the hospital since May 13, 2022, when my wife brought me to the emergency room when I was experiencing severe chest pain. While at the hospital, I would then endure and recover from two (more) surgeries.

I initially had quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, but I required two reconstructive surgeries within and on my chest in May 2022.

For my surgery on May 19, 2022, my reconstructive surgeon removed metal sternal plates from within my chest due to a staph infection. These plates were installed during my initial open-heart surgery and were not replaced due to my chest infection.

For my surgery on May 25, 2022, my reconstructive surgeon cleaned out the remaining infection from within my chest. He then partially closed my chest by first clipping off the tips of my ribs and then by reattaching my chest muscle flaps to my body.

My surgeon used seven spaced-out sutures to close the eight-inch-long, vertical incision in my chest initiated by my seven-hour-long, open-heart surgery and made worse by my two subsequent surgeries, leaving me with eight deep holes in my chest to heal.

On June 20, 2022, my sutures and wound vacuum were removed. On July 11, 2022, I no longer required a bandage on my chest.

July 1, 2022, was my last day of receiving intravenous-antibiotic infusions every day for six weeks for a staph infection within my chest, a blood infection, and the lingering osteomyelitis (bone infection) within my left foot. I received three bags of the antibiotic every day in the hospital and one bag every day in my rehab facility. My PICC line was removed on July 8, 2022.

While my wounds have closed, I still require many more months to fully heal and to regain my strength. I am continuing both physical therapy and occupational therapy at home, similar to what I did at the facility.