I came home from work today to a sickly boy and a bloody bed. Seems Dennis' catheter had partially pulled out and had to be pushed in by an inexperienced PCA. He had quite a bit of bleeding, both in and outside of the catheter. He was also in a ton of pain.
Dennis has never been great with pain, but this must be extremely horrid for him. Not being a guy, I can't imagine, but I guess I would compare it to labor pains. Since I have never had children, I can't really be completely sympathetic, but I do have lots of empathy for him.
I arranged him in bed every which way for about an hour. First we put a pillow under one leg, then both legs. That didn't seem to help. An ice pack and a handful of Advil didn't do much for him, either. Sitting up with the new bed pillow wasn't cutting it, and neither was laying down. Finally, I gave him a sleeping pill, shut the blinds and ordered him to sleep. He is laying on his side, ice pack carefully placed, and pillows arranged to keep him in place.
There is an alternative out there, to the catheter and foley bag, but it involves surgery. Surgery really is not an option for Dennis.
I want to make this all better for him, take away his pain and make him whole again. Today it is difficult to accept that I am unable to do any of this.
Until Tomorrow,
Ann and Dennis
Living with Shy-Drager, Multiple System Atrophy and lots of pain and blood
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