Peeing More and More
I received the first subtle hint on the morning of 12/6/2021. For some reason I could not throw the dog’s Frisbee quite as far as usual. The dog loved it; a quick retrieve meant getting a treat faster. I wrote it off to being tired from the many family visits and travel around Thanksgiving, along with a trip to Block Island to enjoy some quiet time recovering, reading, and watching the ocean.
Going downhill
Shortly after returning to Connecticut, I found myself needing to get up 6 or more times a night. Something was not right, and all of this came on suddenly. A few days later my wife drove me to the emergency room. I would not return home almost a week.
Like many men, I am in remission from prostate cancer thanks to surgery and follow-up radiation. If that were not enough, I had a dance with some non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, now also in remission thanks to 4 months of chemo therapy. Like many cancer patients, I think it would be safe to say that my current level of resistance to things is not at 100%. Add in some aging, and it is easy to see why I like so many others said yes when my MD suggested getting some protection with the COVID shots and a booster.
Taking a toll
Shortly after arriving at the emergency room, I was diagnosed with COVID Pneumonia, and my blood oxygen levels were abnormally low. IVs were installed along with a nasal cannula that delivered oxygen. I believed all was OK. In reality I was clueless as to what was going on. Fortunately, my wife stepped in and authorized treatment as soon as possible.
The next morning in a hospital room, I was unable to figure out my cellphone. Food tasted like paste and no matter how clearly I explained things to the hospital staff, most said they did not follow what I was saying; I finally gave up. The combination of drugs and disease had taken a toll on my mental capacity.
Slowly improving
As I slowly improved the drugs were eliminated or changed, and magically the staff began to finally understand me. To my amazement, the cell phone was working again. At some point, the head of infectious diseases paid me a visit and explained that I was fortunate to have received the covid shots and booster. He suggested the shots may have prevented a more serious outcome and that I was about to be released.
It took me all of December to regain some sense of who I was, much less recall things like passwords and more. As of my writing this, I am in the final week of January 2022 and have regained most if not all of my mental acuity.
No more multiple pee runs
Best of all, I am no longer having those multiple pee runs during sleeping hours. The medical term for sleep-disturbing urges to urinate is called nocturia. Getting up once during sleeping hours is not unusual. After that it can impact your quality of life by increasing the possibility of fatigue-related events, like falling at night or accidents during the day.
Do not be discouraged if your urologist is not up to speed on COVID and its possible impact on nocturia. There are a lot of unanswered questions across the board when it comes to men, COVID, prostate cancer and those unwelcomed wake up calls. Nocturia does not impact all men with COVID; if it does happen to you, know you are not alone.1
As of my writing this, I no longer need those pee pads, and my dog is running farther and farther to fetch her “beloved frizzy.”
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