Following is my experience and hope it gives you some guidance. My catheter was removed three weeks after removal of my bladder. For about four weeks or so it seemed like I my neobladder was emptying. I started having severe pain in my lower back and went to the emergency room. It was determined that my bladder was not emptying and was backing up in my kidneys. I had to start doing self catherization. I have been doing so for four years without problems. Bottom line is I know of no way without medical tests that you can determine if your neobladder is emptying without self catherization. If you have to self catherize, my experience is it is it is no big deal. I do so about every four hours or six times per day. It is not painful.

Measuring urine recovered via catheter after attempted neobladder emptying by voiding is what the Urology staff at Mayo did for my husband. They are pretty satisfied with less than 100ml residual after voiding. But my husband now has kidney damage from backup of urine when ureter blocked so he needs to avoid a full neobladder. He caths usually 4 times a day. It has gotten very quick and easy with time.

I've had a neobladder (I'm female) since last early November and haven't had any problems or infections. (Fingers crossed). One thing my surgeon explained was that you don't want to go too long without using the bathroom with a neobladder. If it stretches too much, you are more likely to have difficulty emptying well and have to catheter. I routinely set my alarm at night to get up every few hours. He suggested not going past 4-5 hours. To be safe, I wake up every 3 hours to void. Just sharing in case it helps! I love my new bladder. So thankful I was able to go this route. Good luck!!