This was the week that R got the tube removed from his ureter. He went in on Thursday for the procedure. He said they started out with a sheet with a hole in it. As you can imagine his business end went through the hole. They shot some gel up his urethra to numb it. Next they used a syringe to fill up his bladder. They wanted it expanded so they would have room to work. They had a camera and light to see what was going on and a grabber to do the deed. When they got to the bladder and looked around they didn’t see the end of the tube sticking out of the ureter. I’m a little fuzzy on how they found it. R said that it was about then that he started looking at the monitor and associating the words the doctor and assistant were saying to the movements on the screen and the occasional twinge he felt. They did find it and were able to get a good grip on it. Out it came. It took a couple of minutes all told but seemed much longer, R said. I can imagine. The tube was plastic, over a foot long with curly ends. He said something about being preoccupied when I asked if he got a picture of it. Rats! Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. You’ll have to just use your imagination. R said that he had some “air in the line” afterwards; it took a while for the system to become fully primed. R has a final follow up appointment in a couple of weeks to double check the kidney function, make sure it’s as expected.

We had some very nice days this week, but it’s grey, cool and raining off and on this weekend. I caught a break this morning: it didn’t rain while I was out walking with the dogs. It was a nice walk. The blossoms on the trees create clouds of fragrant air to walk through. Of course, the dogs were more interested in other smells.