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Catheter Valve

Posted , 4 users are following.

John-T
John-T

I have stumbled on a great idea that will help your bladder get back to functionning normally.

If some of you guys are like me, wearing a catheter full time for 30 days or more and aren't quite ready to do CIC (self-cath) and also waiting to get a prostate operation, you can use this method to get the bladder used to holding a volume of urine again and improve the bladder capacity to get the bladder to hold between 300-500ml of urine before you empty it with that valve. With the catheter valve, you just need to remove the bag attached to your leg and have the valve attached to the y edge of the catheter near your penis. At least this way it's like not wearing a catheter to train your bladder to function normally again.

Here's the link to the article page: http://www.healthtalk.org/peoples-experiences/long-term-conditions/living-urinary-catheter/catheter-valves

Hope you enjoy it, it's a real stress relief for me

Thanks

John

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • tom512836
    tom512836 John-T

    Posted

    I had a foley catheter in me from March 18 through April 11.  The only exception was for 1 1/2 hours that I was operated on. (GL)

    Today is the 13th and I'm peeing like a race horse with total sphincter control.  I guess I'm just lucky.

    20 years ago I had a TURP and was incontinent for 4+ months.

    Even so, many are not as fortunate as me and I see merit in what you say.  But I also see some possible drawbacks.  If the pressure gets strong enough urine might seep down the outside of the cath tube.  This did happrn to me but I knew it was no big deal.

    Another thing I did was at night when I was swithing from leg bag to night bag  I cleaned myself and applied with a Q tip anti biotic cream or ointment where the foley cath enters the penis.  I manuvered the situation

    so that some of the antibiotic got "up there"  because this is the doorway to infection.  No doctor told me to do this.  It was my idea.

    Tom

    Tom

    • John-T
      John-T tom512836

      Posted

      Hi Tom

      Thanks for the info and glad your GL worked great for you, I'm suppose to get operated sometimes in May with the HOLEP method, apparently the GL method is not suited if the prostate is too big so it's per case, I sure hope for similar results as you and peeing like a horse sounds great to me.

      and thanks for the antibiotic cream idea, I will stop by the pharmacy and pick some up, I'm using a hand sanitizer gel to clean the cath part near the penis and attaching the night bag to my bottom valve this way I don't remove the valve each time to put the night bag so less chances of getting infected. I haven't felt any urine come out of my penis so all good for me making sure I don't over stress my bladder so I keep about 300ml at the most before emptying.

      John

    • John-T
      John-T tom512836

      Posted

      Hi Tom

      Also wanted to know, did you lose the urge to urinate until you got the operation and got back total sphincter control, I had my catheter for over 1 month, originally before all this happened I was urinating fine but was retaining urine so they had no choice to put the cath to empty my bladder, after 1 week they did a systoscopy and right after I went home without a cath and drank about 3 water bottle but could not feel any sensation or urge to urinate so I had to run back to the ER and again I had 700ml retention, so they cathed me so I'm wondering if I lost all urge to urinate due to the enlarge prostate pushing on the sphincter muscle and once they operate I should get back the sensation to urninate, right now I feel some sensation when I use the valve so maybe the bladder needed a rest for that month and will recuperate even more once operated, let's hope for the best

      thanks

      John

  • Supertractorman
    Supertractorman John-T

    Posted

    This sounds similar to the short catheter I had in hospital but had to stop using as I got a sharp pain up to my bladder each time the last drop of water passed.
    • John-T
      John-T Supertractorman

      Posted

      Hi supertractorman

      Thanks for your feedback on the catheter valve, not sure I understand about the last drop of water passing through. I use a normal catheter and just removed the bag and adapted a valve that I made myself so I close it during the day leaving about 300ml of urine in the bladder at the time and then opening the valve over the toilet to empty it, at night I just add the bag to the end of the valve so it's all good for me until I wait for my HOLEP operation.

      Thanks

      John

  • Supertractorman
    Supertractorman John-T

    Posted

    John,  The catheter was identical too your description with no bag, but for me as the last drop went it was like a sudden vacuum and was painful possibly I was still raw after the TURP.
  • roy88359
    roy88359 John-T

    Posted

    Hi John-T

    After a severe UTI and while waiting for an operation I had a catheter with a leg bag which held 750ml. OK during the day when I could empty it as needed but at night I had to attach a night bag with 2000ml capacity. This gave me a lot of trouble as the connection between the day and night bags seemed to frequently kink and urine would back up and could be quite uncomfortable and I had to get up and remove the night bag, empty the over-full leg bag and go through the coupling procedure again. That is until the district nurse told me about such a  valve as you describe. Here, it is called a Flap-flo (or something like that) valve which connects directly to the catheter, i.e. no leg bag and one uses it just like going for a pee without a catheter, that is, as and when you feel like it and at night simply connect directly to the night bag and open the valve.

    The other benefit, which I was really pleased about, was that I could wear shorts with the valve neatly and securely confined in my underpants. I also noticed that the smell of urine which seemed to occur with the leg bag, although nobody ever mentioned it, disappeared. 

    I continued with this arrangement for about six months before having my TURP operation.

    Roy

  • roy88359
    roy88359 John-T

    Posted

    Sorry, that should have been a Flip-flo-I should have visited the link you gave before going into print!
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