Sideshows.

Ok, so we are about 9 weeks along from the op where they removed the kidney. I am feeling a lot better than the first five post-weeks barring my persistant cough. It was time for something to go awry again!

Some time back I had noticed a small protruding lump down in my scar area. It was a sort of rounded, peaked, Mount Vesuvius type shape that appeared as if someone was trying to push a pen through from my insides! When I first found it I had thought it some form of medical after-math from the op and was not too worried. However, more recently it looked on the brink of erupting...so I thought I better see a doc!
"Definitely a foreign object," he said as he squeezed the lump between his fingers,"and your body is trying to eject it. It will eventually push through your skin, but you should go and see your surgeon before it does".
So I got to leave with some excitement as well as my anti-biotics for my cough!

That was all on a Wednesday. I got an appointment with my surgeon the following Monday, and drove the 90kms to Durban with some anxiety. He was quite clearly alarmed as I relayed a description of my complaint and finally led me through to his 'cubicle'. I lay on the examination table and lowered my shorts, pointing out the volcanic intrusion with some degree of admonishment.

"Oh that?" he asked. I looked up at him. He was smiling."That is just a bundle of sutures (stitches) that we leave behind as a norm. They normally remain hidden below the patients fatty layer, but..". It was nice to know that nothing was wrong. It was a little embarrassing and inconvenient driving all the way to Durban to find that out!

So that was Monday right. Next day is Tuesday and I find myself driving off to Durban on an unscheduled emergency. I had woken up to do my six o clock bag exchange as usual and found that I was not draining. I jumped up and down, I tried to lean upside down. We squeezed the bag to no avail - I squeezed my tummy muscles, but only farted. Though it had never happened to me yet, it can happen that little fibres break off the peritoneum membrane, and then block the catheter. I gathered this had no w happened and the only means of address was to drive down to Fresenuis in Durban! One of the stars of the whole show to date is Anya, the Fresenuius rep. I sat around in her office for an hour or two as she administered some flushing treatment to my catheter. Then it was back in the car and home to PMB. Touch wood, it is still working fine now.

Funny how these little things come along to bug us. Any of these on their own, without the greater renal failure to deal with, would be worrisome issues demanding concern and sympathy. However, when there is a bigger picture, these little blips are just pimples on the nose, aren't they?