Removing Cath yourself?

[zoolady1]

Anyone done this? They told me to, the nurse calls me today and says oh, come on in tomorrow we'll remove it..
I tell her the Dr. said I could take it out myself..
Anyone done this regarding the balloon and have no problems, now I'm worried..I hate having to drive back to the hospital to just have this done and hubby needs to go back to work tomorrow..
Anyone?

[Babs RN]

I have removed my own, and it is relatively easy. However, I am a nurse so that gives me some added comfort. If you have any questions, you can email or PM me.

Good luck and hugs,
Barb

[ICNDonna]

I have removed foley catheters for both myself and for my husband. It's not difficult at all. I'm sure they gave you instructions on how to empty the balloon so the catheter will slip right out. The first time I removed my catheter, my uro suggested I empty the balloon with the syringe until I was sure it was empty, then just pull the cath out. It worked like a charm.

Donna

[zoolady1]

Silly me, I used a needled syringe, so of course only got a small amount out, my hubby wasn't paying attention and me I was doped up..I ended up going in this morning, 2 seconds and voila! All gone!!!!!! Yippeeee!! Now all I need to do is get the courage up to go pee for the first time..HaHa.

[saptree]

Hmm, I get to remove my own tomorrow morn. They gave me a syringe to deflate the balloon. Does it make the pain worse for a while? With the cath left in, it has made this hydro a breese.Well, I'm a little more sore today than I was my first day home.

Sherry

[VJgirl]

Hi,
I wish I had the choice a year ago to remove my own foley catheter. A RN removed my foley catheter while I was standing next to my bed in the hospital without deflating the balloon. Can I even tell you the pain and the trauma I have been through this year. When she initially 'yanked' it out...she reached up under my hospital gown and forcibly yanked it out of me. I bled so much and me and my husband were freaked out. That was one year ago...Now I have a severe case of IC, have tried all the standard treatments and now Urogyno is recommending Interstim??? I have a severe case of frequency and retention from the nerve damage she caused. My urethra was infected and scarred and due to that, I had 6 weeks of UTI's last spring that wouldn't go away with antiobiotic treatment. Finally, when a urologist treated me with all kinds of meds to take care of the urethra damage, my UTI's cleared up. However, I was quickly diagnosed with IC through hydrocysto with a new wonderful urogyno in the Forth Worth area. I've had DMSO treatments, PFT treatments, I'm on Elmiron (4 a day), bladder washes (many). I'm taking Effexor, Urelle, Vicaprofen for pain, Neurontin....etc. I'm a true mess. I lost my job due to missing so much time from work. I was a viable full-time employee before this awful nurse got a hold of me. I went on a part-time schedule with my job last June, and have worked very few days since December. My boss could not keep me. It's very sad. Now my urogyno wants to do Interstim. My treatment plan right now is PFT and bladder washes until I schedule my Interstim. I'm so confused...does anyone have any advise for me?

Hugs,

Cindy

[saptree]

Cindy,
Sounds like a lawsuit to me. Amazing how many dumb nurses are out there. I have ran into a few. One gave me 1.5 yrs expired ladocaine, and wondered why I had severe dizzyness afterwords. I'm lucky she didn't kill me.
What are bladder washes?
Sherry

[VJgirl]

Hi-

Bladder washes are meant to numb the bladder if you're having spasams. It's a bladder instillation consisting of Heparin, Marcain and Sodium Bicarbonate. This is what my uro/gyno uses in me. Some docs use different combos. They work to numb my bladder for about 4 hours. If I'm having a lot of spasams (bladder and urethral), I'll get bladder washes 4 or five days in a row. These seem to have a cumulative affect if I have them several days in a row.

Hope this helps,

Cindy

[saptree]

Cindy,
I'm sorry you lost your job over IC. I'm scared the same thing may happen to me. I have to take alot of time for dr appns. My dr filled out family medical papers saying that I don't have to work if I'm in a flare. But if that were the case I would only show up about 10 days a year. Its like we live at the uro office. I'm soon to have my own designated parking space. ;-)
I could use a good numbing wash right now. Delayed pain reaction, I suppose. But the hydro pain is finally kicking in. But I can't take any heavy hitting pain meds right now because my husband is working on our new house and I'm alone with our 15 month old. He is so full of energy, he is running me raggid today. I was given vicodin, it makes me very loopy. To take it, I have to stay in bed.
I'm starting DMSO, heparin, sodium bicarb in three weeks. I had straight DMSO three yrs ago but never went thru the tradition six weeks because of mysterious rashes. Turns out the rashes were from the PT who was double dipping in her cream. I went to PT for PFD, but I think it was the wrong type for me. She had me do kiegles over and over, which overall made me very sore and worse. My current doc says he follows Dr Parsons treatments. So when Elmiron instills don't work, he moves back to beginning- hydro, then DMSO cocktales. I remember the DMSO being extremely painful afterword. I'll probably be missing some more work. Bad enough I had a baby last year. I'll never get promoted and will probably be at the top of the layoff list. Although when I am at work, it seems like the dept doesn't run without me. I work for a pharmaceutical company- a chemist. A chemist that hates chemicals. I'm transitioning into paperwork.
Sherry