Great to see you here TBD!! That is very encouraging to hear. I hope all goes well and you heal quickly.

Thanks guys!!! I still have months of recovery, but I'm alive, loved, and in love. Can't ask for much more than that. (well, maybe an easier way to get in bed by myself. I can do it, but it's about a six or seven step process)

One step at a time my friend  :0)

You're right Karin, I'm a lucky guy. Not many people in my situation have a RN living with them 24/7. I don't know what I'd do without that woman!!!

Lots happening in the last 2 days. The hose for the drainage bag started to come loose from the sutures, so they made me come in on Mon. Tested the pouch, (good) so took the bag off. The hose is secured with tape, and should come out next week. The drain that plastics put in was removed today too.Sooooo, I'm down to one hose sticking outta me!!!! I had to start cathing through the stoma on my side Mon, but it's no big deal. A little time consuming, but I'll (hope!) get faster as I get the routine down. The worst part is the three hour schedule. And I'm not one of those lucky few who can wake up, and got right back to sleep. I end up reading, or putzing around on TBD in the  middle of the night, for an hour or two before I can fall back to sleep, and then just have to turn around and do it again. Bitch, whine, moan inserted here.

Thanks Karin, the prayers are appreciated. Everything considered, I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in.

We're glad you're back here, TeeBubb, hang in there, buddy!

Hi Guys, I'm still here. (barely) I left the hospital late Sat after a 10 day stay. (4 in ICU) About a week and a half ago my wife and I left the hospital where my last of 6 hoses was removed from my body. It was the first time in MONTHS that I didn't have a tube stuck in my somewhere. By the time we got home, about 40 minutes, I started shaking uncontrollably. Temp was only 99.1, so I took some tylenol and took a nap. When I got up I still had the shakes and temp was up to 101.2. A while later I got to 102.8, and my wife called the hospital at 10:00 PM. They wanted me to come in, and my wife had me there by 11:30. Didn't take long for the temp to get to 103.4, and they shipped me to the ICU figuring I was septic. They were right, and they finally threw 6 different antibiotics at me to stop the fever at 104.5. I was told that if we had screwed around until the next morning that I would have been to far gone to save. It was kinda touch and go as it was. (there are days in the ICU that I have no memory of) I'm still weak, but it will take some time to dig myself out of this hole I've found myself in. 

Hi TeeBubbaDee!! So happy to see you here again. What an ordeal you are going through. I am glad you made it to the hospital in time! You have been on an amazing roller coaster of hope and digression. I really feel for you and your wife. I am optimistic that you will recover if you stay positive that you are indeed being looked after and that the love you have in your own heart will be the force that will propel you back to your life. We're here for you.

It's a good thing my RN wife took an early retirement, cause she ended up with a 24/7 patient. Other than not being allowed to sleep in the ICU, she was rarely out of my sight for 15 minutes at a time. She also ended up taking care of me once out of the ICU. The other nurses knew she was in the room with me, so pretty much left most of my care in her hands. They had loaded me up with so many IV fluids, I was ready to pop. Literally had trouble breathing due to the extra pressure from the excess fluid pushing against my lungs. After three days of Dee hinting I needed some lasix, they finally gave me an IV. This pulled so much fluid off that she was up all night draining my pouch every hour. Of course, it also depleted my potassium and magnesium, which can lead to all kinds of heart problems. She was there monerating me the whole time. Thank you for the prayers and warm thoughts!!!!

aw gosh darn, so sorry for you and your wife but i,m so glad you,ve got each other, hold on, we,re all pulling for ya!

In the rush posting yesterday, I forgot the one good thing about ending up sepsis. They ran a ton of lab work and found my kidney functions were way off. My problems started when the cancer blocked off my left ureter where it entered the bladder. Now, it's my right kidney acting up. Seem where they sewed the ureters to the new pouch, I've built up scar tissue that wasn't letting the right kidney drain. They had to punch another hole in my back, and insert a tube through the kidney, and place a stent into the ureter where the scarring is. Probably in a month or so, they will go back in and swap the stent for a larger one. It will also have to come out, but the hope is that they can stretch the ureter so the kidney drains. 

I ain't done kickin' yet Karin.

I know you haven't!  That's what I admire about you.  :-)

Jerry Seinfeld said, "Yeah, I started to make a bucket list but then I changed the "b" to an "f."  So then I was done with it.

Nope, musta missed that one. Won't do him any good here cause I'm not decorating this year. :-(

that's why I only put plastic pumpkins out; kids kept destroying the real ones.

Years ago I worked for a boat dealer that was on a remote lake. I drove past a farmer's place every day, and he had CHEAP pumpkins. Decent sized were less than a buck. I had four steps leading to the front door, so bought eight pumpkins, two for the sides of each step. We had one fairly rowdy family in the neighborhood, so when I found all eight smashed in the street in front of the house, I was pretty sure who did it. Anyway, I replaced the pumpkins that day, and sure enough, they were smashed in the street again. I bought eight more, smashed, I bought eight more, smashed. I don't remember now exactly how many times I replaced them before Halloween, but by Halloween night, I had a pumpkin speed bump in front of the house that cars made slow down to get over. 

Yep, Halloween is on the list.

As a teenager, I did something similar. On Halloween night, I dressed as a scarecrow, but was lying in the yard right next to the sidewalk. Yes, I got kicked a few times, but scaring the bejeezus outta all those people was worth it. 

These are gr8; luv the halloween/scary/funny stories; lets hear some more!

Happy Halloween!!

All trick, no treat!