Ate Alone Tonight

I had dinner by myself tonight. I didn't have much of an appetite but the Chicken Rice was pretty good, so I managed to finish it along with the Acar and the vegetable soup. Good choice. This wasn't my first time having a hospital meal. I had them when each of the kids were delivered. Those were definitely better times to be in a hospital. Those are the only times people would ever want to come to a hospital.

I was admitted this morning for bacterial prostatitis. It started out as Urinary Tract Infection about 3 weeks back. I went to the GP twice but the condition persisted. Eventually the GP referred me to a urologist who suspected I had prostatitis. He ordered urine and blood tests for me, and made me do the DRE - Digital Rectal Examination. It feels even more awful than it sounds. In the procedure, the doctor sticks his gloved finger up the bum and presses against the prostate to examine it and to express prostatic fluids which will be collected from the urine. Traumatic is the only way I would describe it. Several days later, I had to do a transrectal ultrasound which was like DRE Part 2. We are just not designed to have thing

After those tests, I was put on a new antibiotic specifically for prostatitis and a muscle relaxant that is meant to ease the pain when I urinate. Despite taking the new medication, my condition got worse. Over the weekend, I barely caught any sleep as I constantly felt the urge to urinate but all it produced was a lot of pain. Early this morning, I decided that I had to call the urologist. He asked for me to be admitted to the hospital. 

By the time I got to the hospital, I was worn out and in a lot of pain. I could feel a baby bump developing because my bladder was so full. The first thing the urologist did was to fix me up with a catheter which immediately drained away the urine that was jamming up my bladder. He said most people would be able to keep up to 500ml of urine. I had 700ml, and it would have been more had I not limited my water intake due to the discomfort. The catheter provided immediate relief, even though fixing it up was far more horrendous than the DRE or the transrectal ultrasound. I shall leave out the details except for the fact that the catheter and the urine bag will follow me around for a week or so. 

So far so good. When I got to my bed, they set up the IV line to pump in a stronger antibiotic. So yet another catheter, this one on my right hand. All the set ups limit my movements so I've stayed in bed the whole day drifting in and out of sleep. I have been drinking lots of water to rehydrate my body and to prepare myself for tomorrow's MRI. But it makes me feel bloated.

I have to hand it to my wife for putting up with all of hospital procedures each time she gave birth to our 3 kids. She had far more patience to handle all of it. Bless her. 

Thank God for His grace that sustained me through this past few weeks.