2/6/24

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

In bed at 9:30, awake and up at 4:45.  31°, high of 42°, cloudy/partly cloudy day ahead, wind W at 4 mph, 2-8/12.  Sunrise at 7:01, sunset at 5:10, 10+8.  Geri let Lilly out at 4:55' I let her in.

Treadmill; pain.   I woke with considerable pain in my shoulder and wrist.  So much for my theory about the Apple Watch.  Also bladder pain, hoping it's not a harbinger of cystoscopy ahead. 0.00 & 0.00

I'm grateful I can walk into and out of the VA Medical Center on my feet, not in a wheelchair.  I noticed this morning that it has become common when I check into the medical center to be asked by an attendant whether I need a chair or help getting to my appointment.  With my various pains, discomforts, and other frailties my posture is stooped, my gait slow and unstable, and my gaze downward looking for obstacles or tripping/falling hazards.  

Cystoscopy and fulguration confusion.  I underwent a cystoscopy this morning and was asked by the attending physician whether I wanted any lesion he might discover fulgurated then and there.  I told him I wasn't prepared for that since I had driven to the hospital alone, i.e., I didn't have a ride home.  He said I wouldn't need one and that no anesthesia would be administered.  I was surprised and told him that I had undergone 3 prior fulgurations, all under anesthesia, all requiring driving assistance after the surgery and that the last one had been a daunting experience with me, post-fulguration, awakening in severe pain, unable to control movement of my left arm, and on a morphine drip monitored by a nurse.  We went through the cystoscopy and a somewhat large lesion was discovered.  The doctor asked me if I wanted it fulgurated or wanted to have that done later in the OR.  I opted for the latter, which was subsequently scheduled for March 5.

    I am confused, wondering:  (1)  Why did I undergo 3 separate fulgurations over a couple of years.  Perhaps new lesions? (2)  Why was each of my prior fulgurations performed with sedation or anesthesia?  Was that unnecessary?   (3)  How could it have been that regaining consciousness after my last fulguration I was in severe pain, unable to control (myoclonic) movements of my arm, and on a morphine drip monitored by a surgical nurse?