I've had to flat DEMAND that nurses . . . and a prostate surgeon and an ER
doc . . . EMPTY MY DAMNED BLADDER on several occasions with different
surgeries. Every one denied I had any urine in me until I managed to shift
something and let loose with a HUGE quantity -- an alarming amount in two
instances. These people refuse to believe that some people are actually
different from others. They can now wave a wand over your abdomen and tell
in seconds how many cc's we have in our bladders I loved watching their
eyebrows shoot up when they saw 600-700 cc's -- that's a  LOT of urine,
especially for a new bladder anastomosis -- in what they insisted was an
empty bladder.

Don't let these recovery ward nurses treat you like a robot or behave as
robots. Find one or two who will actually LISTEN, and cultivate some
rapport. If you don't find one, or seldom see the same one twice in a large,
busy ward, tell your doctor if you believe your recovery is being
compromised. I've averted two near-emergency, a few serious, and many less
serious problems by standing up to these automatons directly or getting my
surgeons to intervene. I correctly told one the success of his surgery was
being compromised by unhearing nurses, and that problem was solved within
the hour.

From peeing in a bag to choosing a spine transplant, we must be informed,
involved, and assertive. The good doctors love patients like that, and the
rest can find another sucker to pay for their BMW.

I.P.