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Catheter care

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ES28567
ES28567

Hello,

I'm going to have the HIFU procedure next week. (I'm a little apprehensive of both the procedure AND the recovery). I was told I would have a catheter for 5 or more days. The time duration will be determined by how the HIFU procedure goes. I have seen some comments from time to time on here about how to care for a catheter to make it more comfortable for the duration of time it is in. I can certainly try to go back and find those helpful suggestions but if those with experience wouldn't mind reposting in this discussion it would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks.

0 likes, 29 replies

29 Replies

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  • dennis47445
    dennis47445 ES28567

    Posted

    5 days of wearing a catheter, will be very easy. I've had my catheter, in now for around 2 months. After awhile, you'll hardly notice it...only when I move a certain way, I can feel the catheter moving around in my body. I am hoping that this will be just temporary, because wearing a catheter for life, will drive me nuts! On a temporary basis, it's not a problem at all.  You'll be fine.

  • ES28567
    ES28567

    Posted

    Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions and support. I hope other men (who have a catheter in their future) will find this post and benefit from this information.
  • ES28567
    ES28567

    Posted

    Hello everyone,

    I am in Florida and just checked into our room. MRI is tomorrow and consultation with Doctor. HIFU is Tuesday morning.

    For anyone who wants to follow my experience, I am going to start a new post on this specific event so it will be easy for anyone to find that is thinking of having this procedure.

    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 ES28567

      Posted

      Hello  I live in Orlando also.  I hope all goes well.  Take care and god bless  Ken
    • johnclen
      johnclen ES28567

      Posted

      Good luck to you. I hope everything goes perfectly.
    • carolyn96211
      carolyn96211 ES28567

      Posted

      Hi there ES

      OMG cannot believe you are now ready for HIFU 

      Hope all goes well for you will be thinking about you along this journey ....

      Just want to say George ok... So don't worry all will be well..

      George now 8 weeks into recovery and at last no blood in urine ....so just chill and relax after surgery and no excertion .. And blood in pee and debris is all normal.. George is good and at last no blood....we have Uroligist appt 16th Sep and the PSA blood test ...that will be the 12 week follow up...this will continue every 3 months...and I'm sure it will be the same fore you....this time next year George will have a MRI....

      so God Bless

      love Carolyn

    • ES28567
      ES28567 carolyn96211

      Posted

      Hi Carolyn,

      Good to hear from you. I am just a few hours out of the procedure and mostly doing fine. I started a new post specifically on my HIFU procedure to make it easy to do a search on HIFU. The post is HIFU EXPERIENCE. You are welcome to follow along and please feel free to add your own comments as to George's experience (even if it differs from mine) as my purpose is to bring some additional exposure to this procedure and almost a play by play of what to expect should other men choose HIFU. Everyone's procedure and experience will be different so other points of view are welcome. You also have a unique perspective as George's nurse/aid so I think you add a lot of insight to this post. (But only if you want to).

      Thanks for your thoughts

  • ES28567
    ES28567

    Posted

    Hello everyone,

    Just wanted to say thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

    Everyone is welcome to follow along on my post "HIFU EXPERIENCE " and post comments.

    Just a quick note here (because it has to do with the catheter). My penis is very sore (on the inside). Looks a little bruises on the head. Inside is very sore from the tip to about 2 inches back. It's a sharp pain. Wondering if they hurt it while inserting the catheter. Any thought?

    • johnclen
      johnclen ES28567

      Posted

      ES

      I was sore for two weeks after the catheter was removed. I blame it on the brutal and uneducated nurse who inserted it in the emergency room. It felt like she was shoving a gravel impregnated garden hose up there. After watching the nurse training videos I found on the internet, I am convinced her method was completely wrong. But on the other hand, the lubrication used to insert it will be absorbed and cease to lubricate after a few days. Hopefully your urethra will heal with the catheter gone.

      John

    • ES28567
      ES28567 johnclen

      Posted

      Hi John,

      Sorry you had a bad experience like that. Thanks for sharing. My catheter is a Foley and will remain in place for 5 days. Also, I was still out while it was inserted so don't really know how gentle or rough they were.

    • carolyn96211
      carolyn96211 ES28567

      Posted

      Hi the ES

      glad you out this end of op.....yes George very sore and a few little bruises...he stayed in overnight coz of the pain in his willi😥They gave a shot of morfhine and some Anesthetic gel down there and it eased the pain...ask for some it will help...but pain will go..George had catheter for 7 days...you will be fine just chill and try not to move about to much when you get home..

      Take lots of care

      Carolyn

  • ES28567
    ES28567

    Posted

    So I am on my 3rd Foley catheter and so many of the comments on this post have been helpful. I'm hoping to be finally rid of the catheter this Thursday but in the meantime, I do have a couple of questions maybe someone can help me with.

    First, sometimes when I switch from the leg bag to the overnight bag, the overnight bag seems to have suction and does not let the urine drain into it. I will wake up with urine backed up the tube and into my bladder but the bag is still empty. I have to pull the sides of the bag apart to create space for the urine and that seems to take care of the problem. Is that normal? (I clean the bag with water and white vinegar and I make sure there are no kinks or restrictions and the bag is always way lower than where I am laying).

    Second, I have gone a few times with just using a plug and no bag and this has worked fairly well. However, when I pull the plug and let the urine drain out my bladder, when the last little bit of urine finishes coming out, there is this quick little sharp pain in my bladder area (like the suction is released or something).

    Has anyone else had that sensation?

    • dennis47445
      dennis47445 ES28567

      Posted

      I had a Foley for around 3 months.  I did not change the bag at night when I slept.  I kept on using the same leg bag.  No problems when I slept.  There is a valve, so the urine has a hard time flowing up towards the bladder.  I had no problems with infections etc.
    • tom86211
      tom86211 ES28567

      Posted

      I used a Foley for 5 weeks and always used the leg bag and never a night bag. I read an article that said that the night bag was for a hospital setting. As I never used it, I can't really say for sure. With the leg bag the urine flowed easily into it during sleep. I woke up once or twice per night and emptied it into the toilet. Very easy. 

      I kept the drain tube lubricated with Neosporin so that it didn't irritate the tip of the Penis and I had no issues with infections. Overall, my experience with the Foley was much better than I had expected. 

      Since you are going to remove the Foley Thursday here's a little trick I learned from the Internet and it worked great for me. The nurse will give you a syringe that you insert into the Foley and drain the liquid from the balloon in your bladder. Then, you get into a shower and run warm water on your abdomen. You gently pull on the tube and it just slips out in the shower. Very easy and comfortable. A lot more comfortable than having a nurse do it. 

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