CIC with Red Rubber Catheters. A trip back in time.
Posted , 9 users are following.
As many here know, I am a big fan of the Coloplast Speedicath, a single use hydrophillic catheter. That said, I recently ordered some red rubber samples to try out. The idea was that if I ever ran out of Speedicath's, it might be a good idea to have some red rubbers at home, since they are reusable.
I'm not a stranger to red rubbers, since they were the ones my first cath PA gave me. But it's been awhile. It's actually been quite awhile, so long awhile that after awkwardly lubing the tip, I tried a "dive bomb" only to remember that red rubbers don't dive bomb, not stiff enough. Me bad. So that catheter went into the sink for future cleaning.
Then I remembered that unlike with the Speedicath's I needed to thread the red rubbers in using my hand. Hand washing should be sufficient, but after using a
no-touch dive bomb for all these years, the idea of touching the catheter didn't sit well, so I hunted around for a pair of surgical gloves and fortunately found a few in the back of my supply case. They were not in a sterile pack, so I generously doused them in hand sanitizer, probably not the best idea since alcohol can sting, but that's what I did.
So then I tried again, and things finally worked as they should, just a lot slower with a lot more steps, and of course with external lube. I definitely will keep some red rubbers around for the eventuality that one day I might run out of the single use Speedicaths, perhaps not packing enough in a travel situation, but I don't look forward to using them at all. The stiffer single use hydrophillic catheters like Speedicath have spoiled me.
That said, practice makes perfect, and I'm sure if I kept at it, things would go smoother and faster with the red rubbers. And if I didn't have insurance to cover
the hydrophilics, red rubbers might become my first choice.
Jim
2 likes, 21 replies
uncklefester jimjames
Posted
jimjames, good to see you posting. I haven't seen any posts from you in a long time. Maybe I'm just missing them.
hank1953 jimjames
Edited
Hi Jim, I tried the red rubbers and you are right, they were too soft for dive bombing. Also, the dark red color makes it difficult to see if you had minor bleeding or not. However, I suspect that these catheters would not cause bleeding that easily.
Why did you consider these red rubbers ? I have been using Cure catheters which are soft, but firm enough that I can still dive bomb with. And they have hydrophilic version as well.
BTW, are you still doing OK with sardine and spinach supplies during these chaotic times ? Take care. Hank.
jimjames hank1953
Edited
Hi Hank,
I ordered some red rubbers because a couple of months ago I was
concerned the supply chain for catheters in general might get broken due to Covid. The red rubbers are reusable. That was the only reason. There are also some reusable stiffer plastic catheters but I just settled on the red rubbers because I was somewhat familiar from the early days. And right, impossible to dive bomb. Yes, I stocked up early on both sardines and spinach and probably will have some spinach tonight! Hope you're doing OK in these strange and unsettling times.
Jim
patrick45945 jimjames
Posted
I ordered some as well for the same reason but haven't tried them out yet...and hope I don't have to! My supplier was happy to honor my request for a 3 month supply of SpeediCaths! Hopefully I will continue doing this until this pandemic passes.
Patrick