Day 208, Year 6 Report on the Plumbing Problem
Date: Friday, May 20, 2011
Weather: Overcast; 75 degrees F
Location: Lightkeepers Marina, Little River, South Carolina

Today Mark had his cystoscopy and learned a bit more about his condition and the options for treatment. Apparently the prostate is only moderately enlarged and only moderately constricting the urethra. The bigger problem is that his bladder has been stretched and is not responding normally. Thus the need for the catheter. As the doctor explained, this is not a simple case. In fact, there are many things at work making it very complex. In addition to a bladder that is not contracting normally, Mark two large stones in his bladder and a large diverticulum (pouch). None of this requires urgent care, but it does require that he keeps the catheter as his constant companion until the different issues can be tackled. So for now Mark is on a new drug to further shrink the prostrate. That takes some months to be fully effective, but there could be some results as early as three weeks. So we will go back the first week of June for a reassessment of whether or not the catheter has to remain in place. But the bottom line is that we need to find a really good urologist in the Boston area to continue the investigation and make further recommendations. Mark is taking all of this in stride and hasn’t complained once about the catheter. The doctor convinced him today that he could learn to self-catheterize so he would not have to leave the catheter in all the time. Ouch! I’m not sure I would be taking all of this without complaint. So Mark gets some extra points for this one!