Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Last night, this morning rather, I maybe slept an hour between 4 and 5am. Teresa got me up at 5:15. I took my shower right away and fittingly or not I noticed it was raining. I had another small bout of diarrhea just before leaving the apt at 6:30.

We quickly caught a taxi to Urogine in Torre Medica, El Tesoro mall. We went up to the 6^th floor where Teresa checked me in with my cedula and blood test results from the other day. I paid 603,000 pesos ($165) for the prostate biopsy. We took a seat in their waiting room with about a dozen others. From the name of the clinic and the sex of the patients it appears this clinic is for both urology & gynecology purposes. After waiting about 15 minutes I needed to relieve myself again but their restroom didn’t have toilet seats; you’d think this would be basic in a medical clinic. I returned to Teresa and five minutes later informed her I was going up to the 12^th floor (same floor as Dr. Rendon’s office) where I knew they had toilet seats. While doing my thing Teresa called me twice so I guess I was called in for my procedure but I was quite busy at the moment. When I returned I sat down and we were both concerned they might skip me. Teresa talked to a nurse and soon they called me and we went to the rear of the facility. A nurse showed us where I could change into a hospital gown. They had a private closet-like room with 3 small cabinets with locks. After I changed and gave Teresa the key I was led into the procedure room without Teresa. The nurse didn’t speak English but I figured out what to do – I faced the wall and assumed the fetal position. An English-speaking doctor came in and introduced himself and explained he would be injecting anesthetic as the probe was inserted. It was uncomfortable but not painful. Then he took 12 tissue samples. That was also uncomfortable but not painful but for the first one more than anything else I was a little startled. At one point after taking a sample I looked over my shoulder and saw the doctor hand something (a sample) to the nurse. The whole procedure took about 10 minutes. The doctor informed me that if I had a fever in the next week I should call my urologist. The nurse cleaned me (god bless nurses), gave me an injection in my butt and assisted me in getting off the table in case I felt dizzy. I changed back into my street clothes and left.

From when I went to bed last night until I returned to the apt I had a washcloth (so that’s what those things are for) in my underwear for protection. If I do it again I would wear one of those adult diapers to bed then again after the procedure.

We had breakfast at Santa Leña café in the mall. We were a little early for the 10am stores opening but Puma was open. I made a trip to the restroom and it seemed like I had a watery diarrhea. My urine is pink but I understand blood in my urine will be normal for a while. Teresa found a pair of workout leggings and top and then I requested we return post haste to the apt.

I was asked to maintain a bland diet for today so I just had chicken soup for lunch and supper. Tomorrow I can return to my normal diet.

In the evening I watched I See You again on Netflix with Teresa in Spanish with English subtitles.

 

The US has 32,070,058  ð 32,103,720 ð 32,203,090 coronavirus cases with 571,400+  ð 571,700+ ð 573,000+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,774,464  ð 2,787,303 ð 2,804,881 cases with 71,351  ð 71,799 ð 72,235 deaths. Medellin has 257,762 ð 259,025  ð 260,496 cases, an increase of 1,166 from April 25^th to 26^th. Envigado has a total of 22,311 cases, an increase of 58 from April 25^th to 26^th.

Joke of the day

My son asked me what it’s like to be married.  I told him to leave me alone and when he did I asked him why he’s ignoring me.