Sunday - January 11 (early a.m.)

Day 1 after getting home from the hospital was an absolute delight!  My first
REAL shower in 4 days - I thought I'd gone to Heaven.....And real food!  No
more damn ice chips, and liquids.... I'm taking it easy on the diet though,,,
small portions with lots of high fiber cereal (Multi-grain Cheerios, Wheaties),
veggies and liquids, and last night, I had chicken!!!!!!!!!!

I'm getting used to the catheter bag care, the changes, emptying, etc. It's a
tremendous annoyance, but once I get it down to a routine, it'll be time for
removal - which is January 22, 12:15 p.m....   can't f***ing wait (sorry for
the language).

My discharge nurse told me to go back to wearing briefs, as she's been getting
reports back from post-RP patients (who were normally briefs-guys)  that it's
nice to have things held more firmly in place while the catheter is in, and I
SO agree!  I've found that wearing a jock strap is more comfortable, though, as
the waist band is wider, and more gentle on the incision site.

No pain, for the most part.  Tylenol is taking care of any discomfort I'm
experiencing.

We've set up the recliner in the living room as my primary resting place.  The
first day home (Friday), I tried to nap in bed, but found that my heart began
to pound, and wouldn't let up until I sat back up.  So I slept in the recliner
the first night.  My biggest trouble sleeping is that prior to surgery, I was a
stomach/side sleeper,,, and that's not quite possible after an RP.  My butt
aches....   a LOT.   hahaha

Received visitors yesterday.  First, my cousin and aunt, who loaned me a huge
stack of movies on DVD and VHS, plus a book on tape.  Second, two friends from
the roller coaster club I belong to (if anyone has any questions on the club,
you can e-mail me separately).  The day went by very quickly, and though tired,
I wasn't sure I was ready to go to bed, or, where I wanted to sleep.

Changed into the night bag, and here's where the trouble has begun.  How do I
handle the incredible discomfort at the site where the catheter enters my
penis?????   No 'position' of the catheter is comfortable, regardless of how
much 'slack' I try to put into the tube.  And the damn tape provided to me to
tape the tube to my leg is amost useless.  The jock strap only seemed to make
it worse, so I put on boxers,,,, but ended up taking them off.  I did sleep in
bed last night (my butt thanked me this a.m.), but woke up many times with the
irritation at the tip of my penis.  Any suggestions on how to overcome this???

I'm looking forward to switching back to the day bag.  I'll have to wait for
Michael (my partner) to wake up first though, as he stands at the ready while I
shower, and helps with the impossible-to-reach spots with the towel when drying
off.  A good day ahead - expecting visitors around 10 a.m.  It's great to have
good friends and family around!

Thanks for listening, everyone.  I hope to be able to aid others with my
experiences as I continue to heal.

All my best,

Rus
Massachusetts