Wet and Dry

Hi All,

Last week I was enduring the 11th month of marinating in my own wee (Millibob, I know it's an old one) following RP surgery. Now, I am dry.  Six weeks ago  I had an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) inserted and activated on Tuesday.  It's taken a few days to gain confidence in being able to squeeze the button now lodged in my scrotum without de-activating the device.  It has turned my life around and now have to press the button every 2 hours or so rather than change and dispose of wet pads.  The immediate aftermath of the op itself was a bit gory as I wondered why I'd had 2 black and blue golf balls inserted.  Chafing between my legs was an issue until I realised that over-size pads, of which I have a stock pile, were good at both absorbing wee as well as providing unintended padding in the right places - I was already walking like John Wayne so a bit more bulk wasn't an issue.

I am just so appreciative of my parents' long-instilled attitude to saving which meant that I was able to side-step an arrogant and incalcitrant consultant and go private for this op.  The op was only a week after the first scheduled NHS appointment to review my incontinence.  I'm grateful to my friends for helping me to laugh at my predicament.  But above all, I have enjoyed tremendous support from my wife after the last 16 months from first diagnosis.  This was despite the inevitable stress it placed on her.  Overcoming cancer is such a team effort and this forum plays an incredible role.

We're off out for a celebratory lunch today and without my bag of gubbins.  There is now space for rubbish in our bin rather than about 140 wet pads languishing there before the waste operatives, formerly known as bin-men, came to empty it.

This is not goodbye but just the start of the next phase of the journey.