Yesterday afternoon, in preparation for surgery at the end of this month to stop my gushing bladder, I had to go and complete a bladder study. Essentially they filled my bladder up with water via a catheter while my legs were elevated and spread eagle waaay more than in a usual pelvic exam.
They wanted to know when I felt like I had to pee, how much I could hold, and if I leaked while I coughed or pushed. They also measured how much residual liquid I had in my bladder after I thought I had emptied my bladder.
1. Peeing in front of someone is really hard. Especially when the brochure about this study makes a point of saying that you will get to relieve yourself in private. So I had to position myself on top of this funnel that lead to a container the measured the liquid coming out of me while someone watched. Oh, and if you pee too forcefully it will leak all over the floor on to a mat. Yeah.
2. The brochure made no mention at all about having electrodes taped on either side of the anus to measure the pressure exerted during pushing and coughing. I think that might have been the most mortifying part of it all...even worse than some watching and feeling to see if any urine leaks out during the coughing and pushing!
3. The doctor and the brochure also failed to mention the frequent movement of the catheter in and out of the urethra while coughing and pushing.
4. I also had the pleasure of having another probe inside my vagina at the same time.
5. And finally at the end I had to pee again with all three of these things inside of me or stuck to me while someone watched and waited. Talk about stage fright.
6. And then she ripped all of the electrodes off of me.
The only thing I could think to do after I peed in the privacy of a bathroom to get the rest of the liquid out of me was to find chocolate or to engage in some serious retail therapy. The whole thing was necessary to see whatever they needed to see but the audience and electrodes caught me off guard.
Today I'm being gentle with myself. I may go ahead and indulge in some serious dessert during our date night tonight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
oh lord. you poor thing. look forward to this weekend - i sure am!
aw, geez! I was wondering about how you did. I had NO idea... but I guess you didn't either. Have a fun weekend.
Oh Gwen, that is one of the worst stories I have ever heard. I can't beileve they didn't disclose all fo that to you!
soooo sorry you had to go through that.... how terrible not knowing such invasive things ahead of time... i hope at least they got the information they needed to help you!
Post a Comment