Posted , 6 users are following.
I did a minor update yesterday, so some of this will be a repeat.
Last 24 hours have been interesting with some ups and down, but mostly positive.
On Friday afternoon I was called by a nurse in the urology office and told to remove my Foley catheter at about 9am Monday, then come into the office for a 2pm appointment and voiding test. Well, yesterday (Monday), I called the office and spoke with a nurse and told her I was concerned that if I removed the Foley too early, and was in retention, that I would have 750ml in my bladder by 2pm and be in much distress. She told me I had to get the Foley out as soon as possible, otherwise I might fail my voiding test.
I then went into the shower, the used the little syringe that they gave me, and sucked out the saline solution from the Foley (15ml), and slowly and carefully began to ease it out. When I did this some years ago there was only a minor tickling sensation. This time, however, there was more pain. Once I got the Foley out I could see why - where the balloon was deflated there was a rough surface, almost like sand paper, on the catheter. Also, the Foley was large, 20fr. Bottom line, the Foley was out and the pain would have been a lot worse had I not done this myself, carefully and gently. The other way to deflate the balloon is to just cut the tube that has the syringe port and let the saline solution drain out on its own. Very easy.
So, the Foley came out at 11:15am, and I went to my uro appointment at 2pm, concerned that I would fail my voiding test and would have to have another Foley put in. My urethral lining was very tender and I was concerned that the pain of another insertion would be extreme. I took a Tylenol before going to my appointment.
The nurse came out and got me and had me go to the bathroom to pee as much as I could, then went back to the exam room. She then did a PVR ultrasound. My previous one, before the operation, was 200ml. This time it was 93 ml - a big improvement. My thought was that the TURP removed some prostate tissue that was preventing me from emptying the bladder. The doctor came in and he said he thought I would be OK and didn't need to put in another Foley - big relief for me. He said he would be in the office for several hours and if I got in trouble, he would be there for me.
So, I went home and voided a couple of times, measured my flow, and I was emptying at about the same rate as I was with the Foley - just under 130ml per hour. This was a big psychological relief for me because I didn't want to go back to the office or end up in the ER.
This continued all evening, flow was OK. Now, the rate of flow was still only about 5ml/second - still being blocked, but, the sensation of being constantly full (retention) was much better.
I got to sleep a bit early, went to the guest room so I would not wake my wife with my constant ups and down through the night, and did get up about every hour and a half on average, peed into the plastic beaker, logged the times and amounts, and concluded that I was going to be OK. The big difference last night vs before the operation on Friday was that it only took me 5-10 minutes to empty my bladder before I could get back to sleep, vs 10-30 minutes previously. And, when I got in bed that little tickling feeling in my bladder that said "get up again" was almost gone. So, the retention issue was definitely improved, and it's only been 4 days since my operation.
The doctor tells me there is still swelling, so things should improve. Prior to the operation I was progressively getting worse and a bit scared. I am definitely feeling much more optimistic now.
As mentioned yesterday, the pathology report came back on the tissues and no cancer was detected - a big psychological relief.
My urine test strip this morning still showed blood in the urine, but less, the leukocytes are less, the minor amount of protein in urine is less, the PH is up a bit, so basically an improving report. I now know I made the right decision to move forward with this operation - very thankful to all here who encouraged me.
1 like, 3 replies
dennis47445 tom86211
Posted
Tom, good news! Congratulations. I can imagine what you have been going through. I had similar experiences with my prostate and bladder. Not the best feeling when I had to go to emergency to have a catheter placed into my bladder.
tom86211 dennis47445
Posted
Dennis,
Yes, I had that same ER trip in 2014 when I went into total retention due to radiation to the prostate for cancer. Incredible pain on the way to the hospital. Once the nurse shot me up with pain killers and got the catheter in (ouch!!) and the urine started to drain, all the pain went away. Had to have 6 Foleys in and out for 5 weeks until the prostate swelling went down and I could pee on my own.
dennis47445 tom86211
Posted
I had to wear a foley for over a month, maybe longer, I can't remember. After a while it had a not so pleasant odor. It was noticable, and must have penetrated the bag that held the urine. Even after a shower, I could smell it. If I had to wear a foley everyday for the rest of my life, I would not be a happy person. Now that I have to cic, it is a 1000 percent better than having to wear a Foley! I feel for those that have to wear one because of their circumstance.