Scheduled for CT Urogram.. Anyone have one of these?

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So after many, many years of periodic random bedwetting and urge incontinence, I've started seeing doctors about it, since it's getting much more frequent the last few months.
Tomorrow, I'm scheduled for a CT Urogram, they want to check out my "innards". They told me to drink 32 ounces of water, a half hour before my appointment! I did a trial run of the 32 ounces of water yesterday, just to time it and see how long before I had to pee. Right about a half hour later, I was ready to go, and at 40 minutes, I was starting to leak into my "Just-in-case" diaper!

So has anyone had this kind of CT scan? I'm curious how long it takes, and if people with incontinence issues ever wear diapers DURING the procedure?? Based on my trial run, if it is a long test, I'll be leaving a puddle somewhere.

 

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CT scans typically last 1-2 minutes.

 

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I have had one, the biggest thing I remember how it hurt as I was so full of pee, and I couldn't pee for the test, and my retention is so bad, and leaking like that, but the tech made me feel so comfortable trying to get on table so terribly full and leaking with the straining to lay down or get up

 

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Had any number of MRIs, in last few years, and you made me realize I always restrict my fluids, beforehand, try for morning appointments, pee just before the doctor's office.
Bring your supplies, warn the MRI tech and the nurse. Heck, try to get in touch with the nurse (your doctor's, the tech) before hand and ask.
They HAVE to have met this one, and they are the ones who want 32 Ounces (ouch!). They are the ones trained to deal with this - that's what you and they are there for.
I don't even do 20-ounce drinks (coffee, tea, or whatever),anymore, and that can get uncomfortable.
Don't know about you, but I avoid sugar, too.

 

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Well, I had my CT Urogram today. My urge incontinence has been acting up for the last few days, so I thought I better wear a diaper to be on the safe side, since they wanted me to drink 32 oz of water a half hour before my appointment!! I went to the bathroom and totally emptied my bladder just before I left for the clinic. During the drive there, I reached that "half-hour before" mark when they wanted me to drink the 32 oz water.

I got to the clinic 15 minutes before my CT scan, and I was already feeling the urge to pee again. Obviously the 32 oz of water had not run thru my system that fast, but I figured between what I had drank earlier in the morning, and my urge incontinence, that's why I had to go again... Even though I had just gone a short time before, at home. After checking in, they had me sit in the waiting room for a while. 15 minutes seemed like an hour! During the paper-work process, I felt like I was going to explode any secound. I mentioned to the lady my situation, and she called back to the CT nurse, and asked her if I could use the restroom. I thought maybe I could just let a little out, to take off some pressure. Of course, the nurse said "PLEASE try to hold it!!" To get the best scan results. It was about 10 minutes more before I was in the CT scanner room. I told the CT nurse about my "pending disaster" and also that I was wearing a disposable brief just in case. She said "Well, this will just take a few minutes!" She had me lay down on the platform, the only requirement was to lower my jeans to my knees, (I was covered by a sheet.) so my diaper stayed on during the procedure.

The whole scan took about 15 minutes. They scanned me twice, then stopped and put in an I.V. and injected a contrast dye, waited about 10 minutes for it to migrate thru my system, then scanned me twice more. I made it to the half way point before my bladder said "Enough Already!" and I started leaking into my diaper... Not a lot, but enough that I was REALLY glad I didn't just wear underpants!

When it was done, I mentioned to the CT nurse that I had leaked a little, worried that it might skew the scan results. She assured me it would not affect the pictures. As I was putting on my shoes, my bladder again reminded me who was in charge, and I left the room with a moderately wet diaper.

As she led me out to the lobby, she said "And the restroom is just down that hallway!"

Gee, Thanks!

 

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Such compassion there...that’s disappointing what were they thinking. They could have offered a place to get cleaned us or some wipes at least

 

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that didn't occur to me and you're right, jr. Maybe if we learn to ask, they'd learn to offer. I sometimes get one of those surveys on "how did we do?" If you get one, add that in the comments, or down-check the rating, which can sometimes cause the survey to ask why.

 

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Today I had a phone interview prior to knee surgery next week. I asked her if I could wear a diaper during surgery. She said, “Why, do you leak or something?” I wanted to yell, “No, I thought it’d just be fun to wear one.”

 

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"Why? Do you leak of something?" Sheesh, what an insensitive, stupid sounding question. I sooo totally agree with your thought. In general, the vast majority of nurses are sensitive and practical, and their orders & training and disciplinary systems, ensure things like this don't happen. There has to be an exception that proves the rule. Mention it to the doctor or Administration. SOMEONE needs to talk to that nurse!
I had been on steroids priods to a brain surgery, and the nurses just assumed I'd need one after surgery. I did.
I've no idea if i had one during surgery as the aenesthesia wiped my memory even from the time I was still in the lobby. It's an interesting question. Might depend on the operation, length of surgery. They HAVE to take it into account. Even just considering the sanitation/sterility concerns. Some operations seem to automatically get you a catheter.

 

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Oh fresh, that’s terrible. Snow I would have loved to hear their reaction. That would have been hilarious.

 

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Snow, I wish you would have said, "No, I just thought it would be fun to wear one." If you're like me we always think of these zingers well after the time has passed! Unfortunately some nurses who ask smart-aleck questions will always slip through gates and end up with patients). She definitely should have some sensitivity training as well as a talking-to from her supervisors. I wish you would mention it to someone the next time you go in.
For MikeD's venture to the CT urogram place, nurses and technicians really do need to realize that their patients do have various human needs and those places need to get away from the idea that "we are running our practice for our own convenience, not for the patient's convenience and comfort." That's a pretty medieval school of thought and modern 21st century medical practices need to get away from that thinking. I'd like to see how those people would react if THEY were the patient!

 

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SO the doc's office called me today about my CT Urogram... They said everything looked normal, and to call them in about 4 months for a follow-up visit. By that, it sounds to me like they don't have any idea why I'm wetting the bed 2 to 4 times a month, and have occasional urge incontinence.

Has anyone else had a similar situation? I'm guessing I'm one of that small percentage who wet due to heredity or something else, and no physical cause is ever found. I kind of suspected as much, but it is a relief that there's nothing evil lurking inside me. If that's the way it's gonna be, so be it. I've
already been managing it for sometime now with diapers and such, so it's not a big life altering event...

 

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It’s sad to hear about medical staff not showing compassion. No excuses, but Maybe it’s just the times we are living in and many medical professionals don’t want to be there. By you wearing protection, you are showing the staff a courtesy in my opinion. During my second surgery, my bladder was lacerated. It was due to adhesions while I had the temporary colostomy. I had a catheter for almost 3 weeks to allow the lacerated bladder to heal. Before they could remove the catheter I had to have a Cystogram performed. Not the same as a CT Urogram, but similar. This was necessary to ensure m bladder was healed before they could remove the catheter. Since my catheter would leak at times I wore a pull-up to the test. The X-ray tech actually commented that she wished more patients would do this. That many times after these tests she would have to clean up the area herself and by wearing protection, I was showing a courtesy that many do not. It is also a messy procedure as they have to inject fluid and dye into your catheter and not every Catheter port is universal. Trust me on that. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that there are great people out there in the medical field who truly care about what we have to go through and appreciate the courtesy we show others.

 

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Hi Mike D, It is a relief there is nothing "evil lurking inside," or at least one less thing to worry about! But...If it were me, the next time I see that doctor, even if it's for a test, shot or something unrelated to the scan, just casually ask, "Oh, by the way, do you have any idea why I'm incontinent, if the scan didn't show anything?" And then add, "Could it be heredity?" And if it is heredity then you already know what you're doing about it. Bottom line, you weren't really satisfied with the scan process as it didn't show anything where they could pinpoint a cause. Now it's time to put them on the spot and try to find out what's really going on. Good luck and glad you're OK with what you're doing!

 

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billliveshere... Well, at my initial visit with the urologist back in June, I asked him if it could be heredity related, given my bedwetting history as a child AND my father's bedwetting history. He did say that was a possibility, but he wanted to see the results of a CT Urogram to rule out any phsyical issues.

Since the nurse told me the other day to call back in 4 months for a follow-up visit, without giving any other advice, I can only assume that they too figure it's heredity related. Of course, they could have told me that, but then they probably would charge me for a "Tele-visit".....

 

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I had a Zoom visit (not for incontinence) and it never occurred to me what they are charging. I didn't realize I was that dumb. I won't find out what the charge until I get the EOB. Then I won't know whether they charge less/same/more unless I'm willing to research through a mountain of EOBs! Then I'd have to figure out if the "visits" are actually the "same". I might get curious enough to ask the secretary or finance clerk, though. This was a routine "visit" also - she was checking to see if the change of blood pressure Rx was working. You'd think it would be less - they don't have clean up the office, you don't sign paperwork, but that assumes the medical industry is practical or rational. Ha! Fat chance!

 

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billliveshere... Well, at my initial visit with the urologist back in June, I asked him if it could be heredity related, given my bedwetting history as a child AND my father's bedwetting history. He did say that was a possibility, but he wanted to see the results of a CT Urogram to rule out any phsyical issues.

Since the nurse told me the other day to call back in 4 months for a follow-up visit, without giving any other advice, I can only assume that they too figure it's heredity related. Of course, they could have told me that, but then they probably would charge me for a "Tele-visit".....

Four months seems crazy without any updates or advice! Similar story here, neither the GP or urologist really delved into any history of bladder or bowel issues, asked me how I was managing or gave me any advice. I made a bladder/bowel diary with fluid intake as I'd read this was a common thing they made you do (and I was curious myself to see whether I was overreacting)and again, no questions from the urologist about urgency, frequency or accidents. My after-dribble is a chronic thing but I'm sure it's getting worse and I've been leaking more over the last couple of years or so and the frequency/urgency issues have really been turned up to eleven in the last few months. The GP didn't see anything wrong with me getting up to pee twice in the night in spite of the fact I could sleep through until fairly recently, even after drinking fluid relatively late. Plus, this has the added issue of the dribbling after every urination so whilst I don't wet the bed per se, I have to wear a nappy to bed to protect the sheets.

I've been having some quite worrying additional symptoms over the last few days (fatigue, strange sensations in my hands and feet, muscle weakness, brain-fog) which have probably come about/been exacerbated by the stress of moving house and starting a new job. (I'm autistic so multiply regular stress by a thousand and you'll almost be there!) Rather than trying to make a last minute appointment where I am at the moment, I decided to call up the new surgery even though I'd only just registered. They couldn't have been more helpful and have booked me in for some tests and are thinking it may be neurological. When I mentioned the urology issues they seemed interested. So whilst if anything I'm far more worried about my health at the moment, it's nice to think that somebody actually cares about my health and thinks it isn't normal for a twenty-nine year old to be in nappies 24/7!

I'm not surprised though, I've had many dealings with the healthcare system at my current address for mental health issues and they've all been useless and stressful. I was misdiagnosed as having various things and it wasn't until a therapist I was seeing noticed some autistic traits that I actually got the correct diagnosis and could manage my condition better.

Sorry for the long post, just feeling really stressed about health stuff at the moment. What was just a bit of dribbling has possibly turned into something much more serious

 

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Hi Sci Fi Fan, glad to hear you've contacted a new doctor, rather than wait for those strange new symptoms to possibly develop into something worse. I hope y our appointment is soon. If those symptoms get worse, do call them again and explain what is going on and maybe they can "squeeze you in" quickly. I think at this point, what with Covid and all, everybody is worried about his health to one degree or another. Unfortunately that seems to be the norm for now.
And MikeD, if I were you I would tend to also believe your incontinent must be hereditary, if they only said to come back again in four months. They did tell you the test showed no abnormalities. I know that isn't much to go on, but I would assume that if there really is something other than just heredity, the office would call you and have you come in sooner than four months. So I would just "stay the course" for now and continue to do what you've been doing. If for some reason that doesn't work out any more then I would call the office again, explain what's going on and ask to come back to be re-evaluated.

 

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See! We keep telling people on here to get a new doctor, and look what happens! Good on you, Sci_Fi_Fan, and thanks for posting.
Been reading John Scalzi, lately. I like some his old "Whatever" blog non-fiction - reading one of his collections.
Then there's Terry Pratchett's Disk World series. Just got the last one read. I have to take them spaced out, or I pee when I laugh.

 

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Sometimes changing doctors can make all the difference in the world!