Mets Day 42 - Potty training

So far, the neobladder seems to be holding up well.  I've plugged the SP tube, and every few hours practice peeing normally.  Sitting and bearing down seems to work best.  I practice stopping and starting the flow, which I was told is an essential life skill.  It takes multiple attempts to drain the neobladder.  Sometimes I try pushing on the area where the neobladder is located to help the flow.  After I'm unable to get anything else out, I uncork the SP tube and measure the amount of urine that comes out.  Only once has it been over 50 cc. 

I'm making all of this up as I go along, because I have yet to meet with the physical therapist that can coach me in neobladder training.  Hopkins has promised to send me the names of their therapists in the DC area, but so far I have received nothing. 

Even though my neobladder does not have the nerves in it that signal when it is getting full, I have noticed that I can tell when it is filling up by how it feels different - like there is a bit of weight that is pulling or pushing down a little bit on my intestines.  So while I'll never again be doing the cross-the-legs nervous dance, or other manifestations of an urgent need to pee, I can still be attuned to my body to know whether I need to go. 

For the first couple of evenings, I elected to not try the plug at night.  Instead, I hooked the night bag onto the SP tube, and slept (or tried to) with the drain line attached.  Tonight I'm going to try keeping in the plug, and seeing how it goes.  I've been warned that incontinence at night is common. 



We still flush the SP tube three times a day.  The amount of mucus that we have been extracting seems to be declining.  So far, I have not had any problems with my urethra getting plugged with mucus - a very good sign that I'll be able to avoid self-catheterization. 
I would very much like to be done with the SP tube.  The opening where it emerges from my body is irritated and painful.  When I move and the tube catches on something and pulls, I feel a jolt of pain.  Stretching my right leg while going up and down stairs must be done slowly and carefully.  Hopefully, my potty training will be sufficiently advanced so that the SP tube can be removed next Tuesday.