Pee Bags, a new look......

Sorry no pics of the pee bags only the scars.

My life at Dana Farber was tough. I’m not sure if I should tell the entire story or if I should edit some of it out. First of all the doctors didn’t know exactly how or where they should start. My kidney was still ripped open and fluid was pouring into my gut, this was something that needed to be addressed immediately. However, because of my pain and weakness they weren’t sure I could handle the procedure. Because they didn’t know when they could do the procedure I couldn’t eat or drink for a long period of time. This had been a problem when I was at the hospital in Florida too and before that I was throwing everything up. At this point I was starving, literally. IV fluids and nutrition kept me alive but I would have given pretty much anything for something to eat and a sip of water.

A catheter was put in, one of the worst things imaginable. For those of you who have never had one of these monstrous things placed in you, its one of the most painful, uncomfortable and frustrating contraptions. I had IV’s in and a catheter making it very difficult to move at all. I think a couple days after getting to Dana Farber I was brought to a prep room for surgery but after being there for a couple hours they decided I wasn’t ready for the procedure. A few days later we tried again and the nephrostomy bags were successfully placed in my kidney. As soon as I woke up I begged for them to remove the catheter but unfortunately I they refused my request and it remained for a couple more days.

The bags were in, relieving much of the pain, but bringing new complications. These bags would fill with my urine and had to be emptied several times a day and night. Tubes went from my kidney, through my back and emptied into the bag. This meant that I could not lie flat on my back without pain. I had open wounds on my back that had to be dressed and bandaged every three days. These wounds itched like crazy but obviously I was unable to scratch them. It was also very difficult to dress and change the bandages because the two tubes often pulled on each other. I had to have saline injected through the tubes into my kidney twice a day, something that caused great discomfort for me. Often I would try to pull one over on my nurse saying that they had already done it, mostly they didn’t fall for it. Doing simple things like showering now became almost impossible for me. I would have to be wrapped in cellophane so that the dressings wouldn’t get wet. Often, even after being all wrapped up, the dressings would still get wet.

This was the beginning of a very long journey for me. I had the bags put in and was undergoing radiation and chemo. Still to come was the placement of my stints and internal radiation, as well as, the effects of my chemo.