APR Bladder question

I had the colectomy, but I had a nightmare with the catheter.  Perhaps my experience can be helpful.  The day after surgery, they removed the catheter and said I had to urinate a certain quantity (was it 100cc?) to keep the catheter out.  I did, but the nurses did an ultrasound and freaked out, saying my bladder was over-full.  They asked to put in a one time catheter to drain the bladder, to which I agreed.  They used students (it is a teaching hospital) who screwed up the insertion causing enormous pain and irritation.  The nurse then freaked out and inserted something like a "french catheter," which they left in (not temporary).  They then said they were going to send me home with a catheter, which I found unacceptable.  I insisted on getting a double-dose of finateride (a hormone inhibitor) and perhaps the flomax (my memory is a bit foggy on that).  I then had a heart-to-heart with the surgeon (as you have found, the doctors control everything in the hopital).  She agreed to remove the catheter and set some urinary goal, which I met, but was still hesitant to send me home.  I promised to go to the emergency room if there was any problem, and she released me from the hospital.  I had no issues when I went home.  I figuered if I went into the hospital with a functioning bladder and no catheter, why would I leave with a catheter?  Surgeons should alert mature men to take Finesteride for a month before surgery.  I also have no idea why they need the catheter for surgery.  Why not just use an adult diaper or a "trucker's catheter" (a condom like device).

My advice is to double the dosage of the meds, add finesteride, and to beg, cajole or threaten the doctor to get the result your husband wants.  The longer they leave the catheter in, the more difficult it will be to return to normal function.

Sorry about the situation you are in.  I hope I am of some help.

That is very painful and sometimes can be so difficult to go after surgery.  So glad to hear that he is finally going on his own.  Sometimes it just takes the bladder extra time to wake up and function again.  Glad he is a happy camper.

Kim

Pamcakes said:

We wish we would have said

We wish we would have said something. Now Richard has very little control. It’s getting better, but I feel so bad for him I know he is getting so frustrated. I picked him up some of the man pads until he gets full control again. 

This is one of the odd issues that the doctors never discuss beforehand.  About a year after surgery I addressed it with my surgeon and she got very huffy and defensive, saying she needed the catheter in case she needed to open up my whole abdominal cavity--but she had no response to why one of the other strategies would not have worked.  I think getting the catheter out as soon as possible is one of the solutions.  I also think taking medication for prostate enlargement before the surgery would be another.  Hopefully, this post will help someone in the before-surgery category.