Ugh!
I got an uncommon, but apparently well-known, side effect from my prostate artery embolization. It was something they warned me about during the (very nicely done) informed consent process. Apparently, the beads they use to clog up the arteries sometimes go a little astray. So in addition to blocking blood to my prostate, they also cut off a little blood to some tissues in my digestive tract. It’s not serious in the long-term, but in the mean time I’m having some marked cramps and spasming of some GI muscles. It’s pretty painful and is affecting my mood and ability to concentrate. High doses of ibuprofen would probably help, but I have a weird little kidney illness and NSAIDs are bad for it. So I get to suffer. It’s not supposed to last more than 48 hours or so.
We’ll see.
—2p