www.incontinentsupport.org

I assumed when you said "catheter" you were referring to an indwelling Foley or self cathing.....and the followups have indicated that is so.....

But may I just throw in the idea of the condom cath? or maybe a sheath urinal? as considerations. Neither are invasive and carry low risk of UTIs.

JoeK

JoeK,

My medical condition is known as a "incomplete paraplegic". The site of my injery is at L5/S1. Actually, things start at L3 and go to S1. Because my injury is so low I'm mobile and able to walk, but the nerve damage in S1 is what caused me to be bowel, and bladder incon. Being a vet, I receive my treatment from the VA healthcare known as the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Clinic. Almost everyone is in a wheelchair. There are only a few of us within the clinic that are mobile so in some way I feel like a fish out of water compared to others within the clinic.

Because of my mobility (able to walk), I have a nick name. My nick name is "Walkie Talkie". I can walk, and I can talk. I'm going to guess that there are probably 500, or so vets in the SCI clinic. There is only a few prerequisite in to join the VA SCI clinit, and this is have a "severe" spine, or neck injury. Due to the nature of these injuries, all of the SCI vets that I've spoken with regarding incon use a cath. If there are others in the SCI clinic that use diapers I know it is not many,....I would guess LESS than a have dozen, or so.

I see my Urologist year two years, and last year when I saw him he was suggesting I condsider the use of a cath. I've used them in tha past for a while and I hate them....pure and simple. I don't have a urine retention issues where I can not void,....... my problem is just the opposite,.........I'm not able to keep/hold any urine in my bladder. If I was NOT mobile, or I was only bladder incon, then I "might" consider using a cath, but sence this is not the situation, I just do see how I would be doing myself any good to use a cath since I would still need to type of protection from bowel incontinence uless I wanted to go to the extreme and use a bag for both,......no thank you. I'll continue using what works best and is low tech. The highest level of risk is getting a diaper rash and when you compare that to a UTI,...... it's a no brainer for me.

Are you sure you put it in the right place? Sorry I just had to ask that.

The last time I saw my Urologist I had tubes going in both sides,....front, and back. I don't know what would have happen if I would have passed wind. I probably would have blown the test.

I don't know why,...but I just had to add that. I think the Devil made me say it.

Johnstone,
When I had my urodynamics, I had catheters in both ends too. As they filled my bladder with fluid, I couldn't feel my bladder getting full. After a couple minutes, I got a strong urge and I pee'd straight through the catheter and all over the floor. Being a naval hospital, the poor female corpsman was like ah....He's peeing! She had to clean it. I felt bad. Isn't incontinence grand? I was pretty embarassed. But oh well. Not much I could do.

Sounds like my last visit to the Uro, I fortunately only had the front tube, which was more then bad enough, and I started draining before they had the chance to remove it. They had the measuring collector beneath me, so no mess to clean up, still embarassing to not be able to hold it any length of time... they are used to that stuff, but still for the person getting the procedure, it is certainly embarassing... Makes me think that the back tube would have picked up the spasms internally that went off when I reached the "OK I am done" point, not about to rebook for another session any time soon to find out! Puffy

_________________
Puffy
BC, Canada
Fighting the "Bladder Battle" since 1995

One of the normal things for a human to do is relieve him or herself when the bladder is full.
One of the most embarrassing things is to empty it in front of a doctor or worse yet a young nurse PT.

I think anyone that has had an urodynamic EMG EEG test has similar stories about their experiences.

What we have to remember they have seen it before but it is still hard when a young Nurse PT is doing the test and she is the age she could be your granddaughter.

Incontinent got to love it

2lyle

I am having a bad retention problem. My last Urodynamic I had 950cc removed from me. I have to go to my Urologist in a few weeks. I am going to ask him about a Foley.
I tried self cathing-it caused bleeding and a lot of pain.

I am now in a Foley. My Urodynamic test didn't go good. I didn't have any feeling except for severe pressure.The Nurse saw the pressure rise and stopped the test. That pressure could have hurt the kidneys. So the Urologist came in and started talking an operation. I said no thanks I'll try the Foley first. My urethra is sore, but a lot of that was due to the test. She had me bleeding
When you are in that chair ,naked below the waist, and hooked up to a lot of equipment, and then elevated in the air to her eye level, that is a most helpless feeling. You can't get up no matter how you try. She must have really filled my bladder as she took almost 900ml out.

Two changes later and I am doing well with a indwelling Foley. I now wear a Duette double balloon catheter. The eyelet is between the balloons. My Insurance covers all of my supplies and I don't have to worry about changing anymore! Now I can go anywhere I want to and not have to carry supplies!