Day 2



Blowing out the candles on my mom's 28th birthday.  June 3rd, 1979.  I had just turned six May 22nd.



Day two started early.  I was up crying in pain as the clock hit midnight.  Finally, my mom burst through bedroom door with a suitcase under one arm and we were in the car and off to the emergency room at St. Vincent Hospital.  We were sent back to a room and waited for the ER doc to arrive. 

I remember things moving very quickly at this point.  In hardly no time the catheter was back out and the attempt to drain my bladder underway again.  Still the doc was not finding success as the catheter would bind and stop short of the target.  Now the question was what is blocking the cath and what can be used to get something up there?

A smart move by the doctor finally got the job done.  By going to the neonatal ICU and getting a feeding tube for a premature baby, he found a catheter that was small enough to get by what ever was up there blocking the way.  I think it drained 1,500 cc's (50 oz.) of urine and a mountain of pressure.  I will never forget the relief that came with the success.  I must have told the doctor thank you twenty times.

For me the night ended.  I was exhausted and went to sleep.  My mom stayed the night in the hospital with me for the first time that night.  Over the next two years I spent many nights in the hospital, but I always had my mom sleeping in the same room.  I never spent one night alone.

Once morning arrived, the testing to determine what was wrong started.  During the first week in the hospital I don't remember much time spent out of a hospital bed.  At this point I had no idea what was wrong and didn't know what anyone else was suspecting.  My mom just informed me they were going to start doing tests to find out what is wrong and to do that, they need to put me to sleep.  And away they went....

Jan. 13, admitted to E.R. 2am (Tues)
Cystogram - super pubic catheter.  IVP. Cystoscopy.  
A cystogram is a medical test that uses x–rays to examine the bladder. This test can be used in the diagnosis of a condition called reflux, which is marked by a backing up of urine that should be exiting the body. Instead, it moves through the tubes that transport urine to the bladder and back towards the kidneys. Cystograms are also used to determine the shape of a patient’s bladder and its position, in as well as to find damage from injuries, tumors, and polyps.

A super pubic is a catheter that is surgically inserted below your belly button directly into the bladder to drain the urine into a bag outside the body. 

An intravenous pyelogram (IVP) is a special x-ray examination of the kidneys, bladder, and ureters (the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder).

Below is a link describing the cystoscopy procedure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystoscopy