Although I was expecting to be in The Christie Hospital for just one night, it didn’t work out that way.
I had some complications which meant I ended up staying in hospital for 8 nights! I was admitted as an emergency after things went wrong with the catheterization. This was even though the brachytherapy had gone well according to the Consultant Radiologist.
My Treatment Continued
I actually had the brachytherapy on Monday, but when the catheter came out after the procedure, I was unable to pass water, so it was replaced which gave me some relief. Temporarily as it turned out, as when that one was removed, I was unable to pass water again.
The complications arose when the catheter was again replaced but it was inserted in the WRONG PLACE. This was discovered on Wednesday the 1st of August in the morning, after a night of sheer agony while they thought there were clots blocking the drain. The drain bag was full of blood, so they tried “irrigation” which meant a lot of pain for me. More on that later.
On the Wednesday morning I had a bladder and kidneys scan but the Consultant couldn’t see the catheter in my bladder. They quickly removed it out and sent for some more specialists; one from the Urology team and one from the Critical Care Unit ( which really bothered me). The Urology Registrar decided that I would probably have to go to theatre for a supra-pubic catheter, but first tried another method involving a 1.5 metre length of wire which was a massive relief when it worked and the water flowed again!
I thought I would be kept in over the weekend as I developed a chest infection and they wouldn’t let me go until the drain was running clear. There was also some concern about my kidneys following the irrigation issue. This will push the next stage back by at least a week, so the timeline may be affected.