Greenlight prostate surgery

Vaughn,

You can learn to self cath and get rid of that in-dwelling cath and bag. I'm a semi retired construction guy too (electrician) and self cathing is easy and painless. And from what I've read, causes far fewer infections than the in-dwelling catheter.

John

Hi, Johnclen, I'm almost 87 years old and have urine rentention. I am thinking about sel cath.  I have a foley catheter in ,and once a month they change it ,put a new in ,Very painful! How many inches do you have to go in the to reach the bladder, when you sel -cath-?

Thanks  very much,

Frank it is diffrent in every man.  When you go for the next change tell them you want to try to do CIC youself.  Give it a try.  I have a friend that has been doing it for over 20 years....Ken 

Hi Frank,

Self cathing is far better than the foley. I'm a tall guy so I need most of the 14" speedicath. The compact coloplast won't reach the bladder for me. But that said, it really doesn't matter. A few more inches is nothing to be concerned about because there is no pain involved anyway. I would guess that at around 8" I can feel the catheter meet some resistance and I feel a strange sensation. I think that is when I arrive at the prostate. I just slow down and advance it very slow. A few inches more and I feel a pinch or poke sensation. That is the sphincter. I stop pushing and just keep a very gentle pressure on it. Just barely pushing and not advancing it. I take some deep breaths and wait. The muscle soon fatigues, in 30 seconds or so. Suddenly the catheter starts to move. A very short distance after that, the catheter enters the bladder and the urine starts to flow. I push it in about another inch. Then I just wait while my bladder empties. When the flow stops, I start to pull the catheter out very slow while I watch the end of the catheter. The urine will suddenly start to flow again for a few seconds, then stop. I just wait. Out a little further, and it will do the same again. I stop each time and wait for the flow to stop, then pull it out very slowly. Once it is out a few inches I can just gently pull it out the rest of the way. The secret is to be slow and gentle. The whole thing takes less than 5 minutes. I use the coloplast speedicaths. They are prelubed and need no additional lubricant. I wash the tip of my penis with an alcohol wipe before beginning and hold the catheter only by the funnel end, not touching the length of the catheter which goes inside at all. I've had no infections.. I hope this helps. Ask your doctor about the self cathing. I learned how to do it by reading all I could find on it here on the internet and by watching you tube videos, nurse training videos, and coloplast instructional videos. If you have more questions, just ask.

?John

Hi John - thanks to you very detailed posts and jimjames I have been self-cathing ok for a few months now - I could not have done w/o you guys - thanks.

Could tell us a bit about your BPH history? What is the nature of your BPH - a large median lobe or other obstruction or just a large prostate like mine (300gm)? Have you ever had any procedures done? I had PAE 2 months ago but with no benefit - just a large bill!

Thanks

Neil

Hi Neil.

My problem came on very suddenly. One night I was competely unable to urinate. There was no warning and no symptoms that I noticed. I drove to the emergecy room and suffered greatly. The next week my doctor diagnosed the problem as BPH. But it was a guess. Nothing was done to confirm it. I've had no procendures done. My urologist told me if I was happy with self cathing, I would need no surgery.

I learned to self cath out of self defence. No more terribly painful trips to the ER. And that was the best thing I ever did. I was put on Tumulosin which I am still unconvinced that it helps.

John

 

John

I am astonished that the DR merely guessed you have BPH! were there really no tests done at all? What about DRE (Digital rectal examimation?)

Where do you live? I agree the Tamsulosin is rubbish, and will likely just give you Retrograde Ejaculation. So are you saying that one day you were fine and the next you had AUR out of the blue?

And what symptoms do you now have?>  eg urgency, slow flow?  getting up in the night? any retention?

Id be very interested to know more as you have had the same as me. Sudden AUR out of nowhere. In my case it was after a heavy nights drinking though!

So true. Tansulosin didn't help me at all. And is expensive stuff.

I live in Wisconsin Jezz. The AUR came right out of the blue. After an hour or so of drinking beer. I think I had about 5 1 pint glasses that time. Up until then i had no symptoms. I get up once during the night, early in the morning just an hour or two before I'd normally get up at 8.

Four days after my emergency room visit I visited my own doctor to have the foley removed. My doc was in the process of retiring so I was seen by a physician's assistant. He tried to do a DRE but was unable to reach the prostate. And that was it. He started me on Tamsulosin.

I was then sent to the urologist a few weeks later. We just chatted. About a month later I had an ultrasound to check for urine retention. That's when I had the attack brought on by drinking to much water. Hopefully the ultrasound also gave him pictures of my prostate. I will talk with him again in December. I'll ask then about the ultrasound results as far as shedding light on if I actually have BPH or not.

i see my own doctor this month for a routine check up and will ask her about maybe stopping the tamsulosin. I figure I can always start taking it again if it's actually doing something.

In the mean time I self cath around 6 or 8 times per month. Twice now there was no drinking at all, of anything, involved and I got AUR right out of the blue. But usually it is from filling up on liquids. Wine does the same as beer. So does water.

My uro offers laser surgery, but told me if I'm happy with the catheterization, I really don't need it. I'm not sure whether this will get worse or not. If I had to cath a few times a day then I would consider some sort of treatment.

Hi Are you able to urinate ?If you are, why do you have to self cath --Idon't get it??

Hi Frank,

90% of the time I can urinate normally. But I have sudden attacks of acute urine retention. I can't pee a drop. One or two catherizations gets everything back to normal.

Thanks Johnclean, That info is priceless.  H ow many times a day do you sel cath? Would this amount be the same for all of us? or does how much liquid you consume make the difference? Do you have to self cath throughout the night ,{bedtime sleeping]??

Thanks very much!

Hi Frank,

Usually I only need to self cath one time for the problem. Other times just twice. So usually at night before bed or when the problem becomes apparent and then sometimes again in the morning. Only a couple times have I had to do it during the night.

John

Hi John, I had the same problem,one day i felt a mass on my stomach.went to a urologist ,he said its my bladder i had urine rentention. he then put a foley catheter in me .It's been 4 months,now, i still have urine rentention. I thinking i should learn how to sel cath.He suggested doing a Turp after he did a Cystoscopy. I? m almost 87 years old. I don't know??

Hi Frank. If it were me, I would most definately learn to self cath rather than have the foley in permanently. As for the Turp, there are many threads here which discuss that and the alternatives to it.

Hi Johnclen, I want to learn all i can about self cathing.Do you sit down or are you lying down when you do this?I can't hardly believe their is no pain.

Looking forward to your reply.How often do you do this,or is each person

different,depending how much iquids you consume ,and how late you do this?

Thanks,

Hi Frank. I've found the best way to do it is sitting. Some guys prefer standing. The sensation is strange, but not at all painful. Doing it slow is the key. I do it only once or twice per incident of acute urinary retention. Others who have chronic retention or just can't urinate without a catheter might do it 6 times per day. And it depends on how much liquid they consume and whether or not they can urinate normally. I've seen the number 400 to 500 milliliters. So a person would self cath before the bladder reached that number. That would then determine the number of times per day. I've done it just before bed and one time I had to get up in the middle of the night to do it when I had consumed a large quantity of liquid that day. Otherwise I sleep at least until early morning before doing it again.

Coloplast has some good videos showing the procedure. And there are many articles available which explain it. I would send the links to you but that's not allowed on this forum.

Talk with your doctor or his nurse about it. I'll be happy to tell you all I can.

John

Hi,Johnclen< Thanks for that info.I will go on you tube,learn all i can.I wondered how do you know when to self cath? Do you get bladder pains,or do you just do this like routine,maybe every 6 hours? Self cath before bedtime.and don't drink any liquids after 7 pm. The  foly catheter

in me,drains out most nights around 2,000ml ,thats a lot

Thanks,

Frank, right now Over night I am getting getting 15 or 1600ml in the bag by morning and I don't drink all that much in the evening. Maybe 1 bottle of water. When I was self cathing I would cath before I went to bed and in the morning I would normally have 3 to 400 ml. Going to ask the Dr Monday about that.

Hi Frank.

In my case everything is fine for a week or two and then suddenly when  I feel a normal urge to go, nothing will come out. Or perhaps just a dribble. That's when I know I need to use the catheter. Usually after just one cathereization, things will return to normal for another week or two. The worst it's every been is three times in one week, and two cathesters per incident.

John

Hi Frank,

There is a great book I read called The Secrets of Male Catheter Insertion. by Ronald M Bazar.

John