Well Good Morning all- it's 6AM here, a good time for me to give you all an update on Bob &the continuing saga of his new neobladder. I never realized, until this nightmare began, just how seriously messed up the health care system is in Canada-but I think that topic is best-suited for another forum. We picked Bob up on Thurs. He had been readmitted for the 3rd time & we very nearly lost him twice due to infection. As with the previous discharges, they sent a few supplies to take care of the catheter & gave him instructions on the flushing etc. Well, yesterday morning when Bob got up he said that they hadn't sent any saline solution this time, & since it was just salt/water, could I mix some up for him?(Bob &I are not a medical people- if a nurse or Dr. tells us something, we usually believe them.) I called our daughter Andrea (a vet nurse)who informed me that saline solution is sterile & I couldn't just 'mix it up in the sink'. My reply was 'what difference does it make when he is using the same syringe all the time?' Well,I could have heard her without the phone after that- 'what do you mean that he is using the same syringe, did they not give him a upply & stress how important cleanliness is blah, blah, blah?''No' I replied, 'in fact, they told him & showed him how to re-use a syringe'. Well, it became quite a day after that- I verified with the head nurse on his floor that yes, they re-use syringes. I called the surgeons office who were appalled & said that they would inform the surgeon. Andrea brought over supplies of syringes, gloves, sterile containers & showed Bob how to use them. So,I'm sure we are on the right track this time. This is probably why Bob has had all these infections- this last one was in his bloodstream!! I'm angry at my ignorance, the hospital & their cost-cutting. Syringes cost about 30cents- if the hospital asked us to supply syringes, we would have. I'm starting to feel like I live in a backwards country where they never heard the word 'hygiene'. That's it for today- Best regards to all, Lorrie