Gathering Some Information and Courage

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Greetings from the "Great White North" generally known as Canada.
Yes it is snowing today.
I am 66 and about 3 years ago I had a green light lazer surgery to shave down my enlarged prostate to help to provide some relief from the frequent urination,low pressure stream etc.etc.
The surgery was a clinical success but did nothing to solve the many issues that accompany this medical condition that many of us are all to familiar with.
To make a novel into a shorter non fiction story and get to the point I will now try to land the plane.
My urologist tells me I have a "massive bladder" and there is nothing more that he can do exceptpoint me towards the world of self cathing twice daily.
I have been and continue to be very hesitant and nervous to start down this path but the waking up to a wet bed pad along with the dribbles during the day has made my situation feel desperate for many reasons.
I am looking for any opinions,suggestions , tips,personal experiences to help deal with my considerable apprehension and hesitation to go ahead.
Thanks in advance.
G.N.

 

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I, too, have been told I have a very large bladder which accounts for some of my issues. I had green light surgery in 2008 which was a short term fix. I have a long history of retention and poor bladder control. Four years ago I had a total robotic prostatectomy due to prostate cancer. Since my bladder seems to be breeding ground for diverticula, I also had a large (grapefruit size) diverticula removed. I was encouraged to try and self catheterize as well. I gave it a try, but ended up with a very painful infection. I told myself never again. It was also suggested that I think about an artificial sphincter. By that time, I had so many tests, procedures, etc. where things were stuck in places that should not be, I decided not to consider it. Pushing a button in order to pee did not seem to me any better than wearing a diaper. Since I had been wearing diapers often and on for a few years it wasn't that big of deal to continue with this form of management. I am 73 years old, and have now developed heart failure and spinal stenosis. More doctors, more tests, more procedures. Getting old is not for sissies. I wish you luck in your decisions

 

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I was diagnosed with a nuerogenic bladder six years ago from a spinal cord infection and been self cathing since then.Once you get used to it and get a routine down it's not bad.You just have to make sure to wash your hands with anti bacterial soap and use hand sanitizer before cathing to avoid infections.

 

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Prior to the surgical removal of my prostrate, my urologist highly recommended that I self cath twice a day to empty my bladder because I had a very enlarged prostrate. The doctor's office provided me with a few reusable catheters (usable up to a month) to begin the process. After using the catheter for 5 days, I ended up in the hospital for 3 days with UTI. When I left the hospital, I was depressed over the fact I still needed to self cath for a couple more months until my surgery.

However, there is a happy ending. First, do not use a reusable catheter. You have to be very careful in cleaning it because getting UTI is common with catheter use. I switched to a disposable hydrophilic coated sterile catheter with a coude tip. The lubricated catheter entered very easily and smoothly. The coude tip which is especially recommended for persons with an enlarged prostrate enters the bladder more easily and without pain. This type of catheter is very easy to use and pretty much eliminates the chance of getting UTI. After some practice it became very routine and took only 5 minutes to complete. Also, if your on Medicare, call a medical supply company in your area to order them at no expense to you.

Hope this information helps.

 

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I've self cathed for years - I think I started in 2014. It took a little while to really get the hang of it, and a couple of weeks for my body to get used to it so that it was no longer painful. After that, it's been mostly uneventful - I've had one UTI in about seven years.

My doctor started me with very small red rubber catheters and tubes of lidocaine gel to squirt into my urethra first. The catheters were extremely flexible, which made them hard to put in, and the gel was messy and difficult to use. I soon switched to hydrophilic (self lubricated) catheters, which are much more slippery than the lidocaine gel and don't make a mess. They're also more rigid than rubber catheters, and I switched to a larger size that made them even more rigid (and thus much easier to insert) and sped up the whole operation. It's at a point now that I can stand at a urinal and cath without anybody knowing there's anything unusual, though I usually prefer to use a stall for a little more privacy.

The big complaints I've heard about catheters are that they're painful and they cause UTIs. The pain goes away after a while; I remember being terrified of them when I started, having had a couple of Foley catheters inserted when I was hospitalized at various times. With basic precautions and single-use catheters, they shouldn't be causing a lot of UTIs, though we're all different and some may be more susceptible.

YMMV, but that's been my experience.

 

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@GDN I self cath 2 or 3 times a day. After a few days you get used to it. I don't get any pain. I have had a coupke of infections in 3 years.

 

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Firstly I would like to thank all those folks who took the time to pass on some valuable knowledge based on their experiences which is always much better then articles,books,YouTube, brouchers
etc.
One observation in examining the catheter is that as as a former career member of the Fire Service I seem to recall spraying a lot of water through hose lines that
weren't as big as this #14 appears to me now
I am hoping to forge a head soon.
One of these days...
As a polite Canadian is likely to do is to say thanks once more and good luck to everyone that is going through these trying times.
GDN