I had the TURP procedure at St. Luke’s in November, and I was discharged on Sunday. My initial recovery went well, but then I developed blood clots in my urine and on the early morning of Thursday, it became so painful that my wife had to call an ambulance to take me to the St. Luke’s ER so that I could have another catheter inserted. I was discharged later that day, but late the following day, I developed clots large enough to block the flow of my urine through the catheter.

Again, I had to come to the St. Luke’s ER where I was admitted. My system was irrigated and then I was sent back to the Urology floor in the 5500 wing. For the next two days, I was experiencing discomfort. By Sunday, it was decided that I should once again be discharged. That morning, my day nurse was Lainey Ogle. Lainey was remarkable with both me and my wife.

The discharge procedure was complicated, and we needed comprehensive care and explanation. The first step was to remove the catheter and have me urinate on my own. Unfortunately, I was not capable of urinating and a catheter needed to be reinserted. Knowing that the only way that I had found relief was by having the irrigation procedure utilized, it was suggested that my wife and I learn how to provide out-patient irrigation for me if necessary. Both of us were squeamish; neither of us has a medical background. But my day nurse, Lainey Ogle, spent well over an hour showing us how to give me the irrigation procedure should it become necessary. This required a considerable array of equipment which we needed to take home.

Lainey patiently explained to us how each container, piece of tubing, and flushing device worked. She went over this with us two or three times, even though she had a full patient load elsewhere on the floor. Not only did she show us mechanically what to do, but in a situation in which both of us were quite apprehensive about going home and being responsible for this complicated care, she calmed us down and gave us the confidence that we could handle the situation. Very fortunately, upon discharge, we were able to go home and over the next five days there were no clots formed that necessitated the irrigation procedure. I believe that the reason in part for this was the outstanding pre-discharge care that Lainey had given me, as well as the relief that she provided us by showing us what to do in the case that an irrigation procedure was necessary.

Lainey was extremely professional, knowledgeable, and caring. In my two stays at St. Luke’s, I felt very positive about every nurse that I had. But no others seemed to have the combination of medical knowledge and outstanding bedside manner that Lainey Ogle had.