A catheter to my brain

The one thing I hate about the Mayo so far is that I have yet to sit down with a Dr and have him tell me good news.

I am so tired of spending several days in shock after each doctor consult. I really hope we are down to the lowest this is gonna get. I think I would rather sit through Dick Chenney's talk at the Y's graduation (in many political social beliefs I am very liberal), then to hear another doctor assign yet one more diagnosis with a not perfectly rosie picture.

So now you are all sitting there wondering if I am actually going to tell you anything useful. Well, I guess if I blog it now I can ignore you later.

Ian's new diagnosis is neurogenic bladder. That means the nerve signals to his brain doesn't signal well that his bladder is full and therefore hasn't been urinating when he should and so his bladder capacity is over twice what is normal for his age (bladders stretch to accommodate). The kidneys also seem oversized, but they do not yet know if that is significant at all. So far the kidneys show no scaring and they did not see any reflex from when the bladder lets loose.

Ian's squeeze ability for his bladder also seems very weak, and his sphincter is not as tight as it should be. The nerves that control the bowels are very close to those that control the bladder and it is not surprising to learn that they are the same nerves that can control erection and some reproductive aspects.

Dr Husmann did explain that what they have is a current diagnosis and that after the neurosurgery that many many things can change. He explained that in 6m to 1 year after surgery the nerves will heal and we will hopefully see positive changes for these functions.

Meanwhile because they are afraid of him not voiding completely (or even enough) they have prescribed intermittent catheterization. And a check up with the Doctor 2 days after surgery and 6 months after surgery.

Every learned how to catheterize your child? I don't recommend it if you are looking for fun, and we are suppose to do it 4 times per day. Are you praying for us yet?