Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

... Although, this time it's not connected directly to the intestines.  Yesterday I had a gravity drain/catheter put in to drain the presacral abscess.  It took about 45 minutes in and out of the catscan machine while they tapped it.  I have to say, it was quite interesting and only slightly uncomfortable while the lidocaine set in.  The versed and fentanyl obviously helped as I'm not sure it'd be that much fun without them.

The abscess itself was about the size of a golf ball, between 5 and 10cc.  Unfortunately, I think the actual sinus cavity from the pouch to the abscess is still open, as the abscess responds to gas in the pouch and is draining more liquid than just blood and fluid.  The hope is the drain will keep the abscess clean so both have a chance to heal.  I've been put back on the antibiotics for fear of infection while I have the catheter.  This works out well (I hope) as being off them has been nothing but problems for the last week with increased bleeding, urgency and movements.  I'll be starting some probiotics probably next week and see if they help the process at all.

I'm not sure how long I'll have the drain, but will have followups every 7 to 10 days to get a look at the output as well as a catscan to check out the abscess.  They will also do a barium flush (through the catheter) to see if the abscess is connected to anything else (the pouch in this case.)  I have tried sitting twice since yesterday with little success.  Getting around has gotten better through out the day, so hopefully tomorrow will give way to more vertical adventures.  Here's to a good week!