Been a long time, been a long time...

The last entry was back in March. What's happened since then?


Nothing much really. Normality, fortunately, has been the in the majority.


In early June I had the final post urethroplasty check-up in Strathfield.


We drove down on the day before so that the Friday admission is less fraught. We usually stay in the Haymarket so the train trip to Strathfield is quite pleasant and it all makes for a more comfortable morning even if I'm fasting and so miss out on a good breakfast from Gungho in Quay Street.
Dr. Harry Lam was the exceptionally cheerful anaesthetist. So skilfully did he deliver the Michael Jackson Moon juice that I never even felt the initial effect: one second I'm happily waffling to urological surgeon James Wong and the next thing I know is that I'm gently floating up from the depths in Recovery.
The good news is that James is pleased with the graft and I should not need to see him again. A smidgen of regret flickers as with most of the medical people who have looked after me over the last few years I develop an emotional attachment to each. So the regret at the prospect of not seeing James Wong again is real even if it is well outweighed by the knowledge that things are fine, another hurdle has been crossed successfully and something else deleted from the To Do List.
The shoulder & neck problems are still slowly settling down. There's now little pain even when driving and the paraesthesia is gradually tailing off. I still do my exercises with the mega-sized rubber band - a 15cm wide scarf of lime green latex called a Thera-band. The resistance-based exercises are designed to improve the muscles around the shoulder-blades helping with posture. Seems to have worked in reducing the problems although I'm still stooped with a bent back a condition known as kyphosis. This condition came on over many months and somewhat surreptitiously. It may require surgery at some time in the future if it becomes worse. I'm now shorter than I was six years ago :(


Old age is a bugger

Excursion the second and some medical whinges

I'm still in a quandry - do I really have anything useful to say? I know at least one person will read this [ta, Pete] but I cannot believe that anything I write can be that interesting.


Having written that, off we go..


My latest CT scan was clear again for which I'm relieved. The trouble is now that I'm getting too blasé about these imposts on my bank account and time. However I know that David Morris [The Prof] will keep the same regimen for at least five years after the surgery. If I'm still here in October 2010 then I will be able to celebrate.
This last scan was late due to a three week holiday in New Zealand. It has thrown the schedule in a bit of a mess. My local oncologist doesn't want me to have another scan specifically for the next visit to see The Prof in mid May so I've emailed to ask for dispensation. I'll be surprised if he says 'Yes'.


While the cancer is in abeyance the urethral stricture continues to cause mainly logistical and temporal problems - I'd rather be somewhere other than a urologist's couch or a hospital theatre with the associated genital manipulations.
Add to this a tendency to develop malignant hyperthermia post each procedure. For me, this is not as serious as the Medline link may suggest. Its effect on me give the impression of me having the 'flu': I have an elevated temperature and shivers. Sometimes I have aching muscles - making it feel more 'flu'-like. I usually like to get out of hospital before it strikes and I have some well developed camouflaging techniques to hide its effects from The Little Worker who prefers me in hospital for as long as possible... ;-)


In fact the urethral stricture is becoming more of a problem due to its frequency. I'm lucky to go for six weeks before requiring dilatation. My local urologist is referring me on to a doctor in Sydney who may consider urethroplasty. I don't particularly want to spend any time in hospital away from my home but if it fixes the current problems then I'll be the good patient and do as I'm told. Fixing the stricture may also go a long way to preventing the increasingly frequent urinary tract infections.


Additionally my local urologist is due to retire in a couple of week's time. I'm sure he deserves a break from looking at genitalia each and every working day but I feel somewhat abandoned :-( by this turn of events. I'll need to find another local urologist - this means another GP visit and another bit of paper - the referral - so I can see someone else.


What really bugs me is that having been referred to a specialist by the GP for a genuine problem, the referral has a life of only 12 months. This smacks of mad bureaucracy - the specialist can refuse to continue treatment if you don't get a renewed referral after 12 months - unless you have a continual referral. All Medicare rules and regs apparently according to my GP. He'd prefer not to have to issue bits of paper so a patient can obtain medical treatment as it would make his job not only easier but more concerned with the scientific and social side of general practice...