Another Bump in the Road to Recovery

Once again I want to thank all of my friends, family, and readers who have been visiting, calling, emailing, and texting inquiries “Are you ok?” I have been Ok off and on. I hope this time I stay on the road to recovery. When I last wrote, I had been in the hospital 48 days. My new record is 57 days. I am not looking for an award, just continuation on the road to recovery.

The cystectomy (removal of the bladder) took place on August 13. I went home on August 19. Three days later I had pneumonia and another type of infection. I was readmitted  to the hospital and, after a difficult time getting along with the heavy antibiotics, I was discharged. This time I got back on the road to recovery and started to make good progress. I was walking 2,000 steps per day, gradually gaining some strength, although I had lost 20 pounds.

I then began to have neck and shoulder pain. The “other” bacteria after the surgery somehow jumped across from the urinary tract into my blood stream. Once in the blood stream, the virus could go anywhere it chose. It chose the spine in my neck which became quite painful. Then, to add insult to injury, I was diagnosed with a tear in my right shoulder rotator cuff. There was no sports injury or trauma. Apparently it was just a byproduct of aging.

It took another week in the hospital to administer antibiotics and perform blood culture tests in several laboratories to zero in on exactly what bacteria was the offender. It turned out to be one of the 50 species of enterococcus for which the treatment is antibiotics. After a five days of it in the hospital, I was setup with a PICC line in the right arm. The Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter is a thin, flexible tube inserted  into a vein in the upper arm and threaded through to a large central vein near the heart. The PICC line makes it easy to inject, infuse, or withdraw blood without the normal jabs in the arm. After getting home, I was briefed by a nurse via FaceTime on how to manage the therapy at home.  

The antibiotic treatment at home will take a minimum of 42 days. The process is a life-style changer. In the morning and evening, Joanne and I work as a team to do injections of cefTRIAXone antibiotic into the PICC line above my elbow.. Each injection takes a half-hour. In the evening, we setup the infusion for the second antibiotic. This step is involved. We install new batteries in the IV pump each day, set up the tubing inside the pump, and then connect a bag of ampicillin antibiotic. The bag is just like what you see hanging from a pole in the hospital. The IV pump and the bag fit into a black velcro bag which weights about 2 1/2 pounds. I am tethered to it by six foot long tubing which I lug around the house or into the car or in my gym hoping not to catch the thin tubing on a door knob or other inviting objects. I am convinced the tubing has a mind of its own.

In parallel with the neck infection, another issue developed following the cystectomy. My left kidney was not draining properly. I will spare the details but it can be a serious issue so a temporary drain and pouch called a nephrostomy were installed. It will be a partner to the urostomy on my other side. Once the infection is cleared, the Yale surgeon will do another robotic surgery to correct the kidney problem. Once all that is clear I will have just one non-biological partner, the urostomy, and I will be able to accelerate my way along the road to recovery.  

Prior stories about my recovery