Post Prostatectomy Clothes: What did you wear with a catheter?

I was fine with wearing sweat pants or other loose fitting pants with the leg bag with regular underwear
Sleeping was fine once I got into a comfortable position on back or side but I really did not have any problems.

Had my catheter for 10 days and my clothing choices made it more bearable. First, buy a pair of "break away" or "tear away" pants. (same thing, different names) They are the gym pants basketball players take off so easily courtside. About 30 bucks online. They snap up the sides. Then just run your Cath tube out the side between the snaps. Boxer briefs are great underwear as they are snug and go farther down the leg to hold Cath tube secure. Plan on living 24/7 in a recliner chair in front of the tv. Getting in/out of a bed would have been painful for me. I also bought a cheap small garbage can to set beside my recliner to hold my Cath bag. Fresh batteries for the tv remote and follow all dietary advice you receive. Lots and lots of liquids! Walk frequently around the house but avoid stairs. My wife waited on me to a degree I will never be able to pay back. Hope you have the same! Best wishes!

I just wore one size oversize sweat pants and ran the tube out the leg cuff. I didn't do anything different for sleeping. For sitting, my recliner was fine.

One suggestion: I hung the cath bag in a big plastic bucket (3 gallon) with a lid to keep our dog out. I cut a V in the lid for the tube. I carried the bucket around. I live in a rural area, so I went out for walks around our front pasture carrying the bucket. My wife did all the shopping, so I just stayed home. I never used the leg bag until I went back to the doctor to have the cath removed.

Wide leg sweats/pajamas, cleanser and Vaseline for tubing irritation, hard side clean bucket to hang catheter bag on when sitting. Don’t let it drag empty with proper procedures. The length of time it’s in only raises the chance of infection..I knew I had an infection my urologist and his NP ignored me. I went to my GP started atb after urinalysis positive and then had to up it when culture came back.. if your symptoms say something is wrong don’t ignore it, kidneys are worth protecting..

Thinking everyone is different, but for me, boxer-type underwear worked the best. I stayed in these boxers for the first week, walking around the home when possible. I wanted to minimize the chances for a urinary infection, thus did not switch between the nighttime and daytime bags. I see that others were able to sit in a recliner - Would have been great. For me, I had some of the gas that was used during surgery lodge in my diaphragm. This caused severe pain (referred pain in the right shoulder) whenever I would sit up in any position. I had to either stand or lay down for the first week. Note - There is no way to get rid of this gas, other than time for it to work its way out.
For me, that catheter was the worst part of the radical prostatectomy surgery. - Getting the catheter out was absolutely wonderful - No pain and such a relief!!

Best of luck with your surgery,

Jim

I used an old pair of pajama pants, cut a slit in leg about 12 inches long so I could shove the bag down in and out through the slit with tubing. Put the foley bag in a reusable grocery bag and carry it when I went out for walks. I used a trash can for the Foley bag in my recliner and sleeping on a single bed pulled out from wall so I could flip from one side to other and move bag over to either side in a can at night. I never used a leg bag. Night bag holds so much more,
Keep it below your body sleeping or sitting and be careful moving around with the tubing. As others say it’s a pleasure to be rid of at weeks end but I got pretty good at dealing with it in a few days.

Did the same except for the bucket lid. Didn't go anywhere other than the back patio or yard. Walk around as much as you can. Ate oatmeal and easy to digest food. No real discomfort. Too sore first night to empty large cath bag so my wife did. I was in hospital only 1 night though. After this I did my own cath bag emptying. Operation and after effects no big deal. I had ordered incontinence pants and wore for 8 weeks but really didn't need fortunately. Good luck with surgery. I never had pain after surgery.
Cath removal was nothing.

I purchased several pair of sweat pants but found that I did just as well during the day with loose fitting casual pants. Unlike several others who have posted, I did use the leg bag every day. In the morning I would wash out the large bag and leave it to dry and switch to the leg bag. I liked having the easy mobility without having to tote the bag around. For nighttime sleeping my wife bought me a flannel night shirt, although an earlier post that suggested cutting a slit in the leg of your pajamas sounded like it would work well. I hung the bag on a small plastic trash can - really no different than using a bucket.
Good luck!

Thanks to everyone for your replies and personal experiences! Very helpful. I plan to continue to monitor and share with this support group as I get past my surgery and into the recovery process.

Best wishes and God Bless.

THIS POST WAS SO HELPFUL! I wish I had seen it earlier. I would have ordered those breakaway pants in a heartbeat. You cant get them at sports stores here in Minneapolis. They would have been a game changer. My husbands catheter is due out on Thursday so by the time they came it would be too late. I have cut a hole in a pair of sweatpants but the breakaways would have worked so much better. Thank you for posting, it will help a lot of people. One thing I would add would be to get some of these StatLock Foley Stabilization Device, we didn't think of these ahead of time either and he feels the need for something to stabilize the catheter. Not expensive $8 and you just leave it on I think. So two things to order ahead of time. Wish I had known. On another note, he has had significant pain after surgery. I think this surprised him. Also swelling in his belly and a really scary looking hematoma about 12 inches square . I honestly thought he was bleeding internally. He did call the on call resident t Mayo who said not to worry unless his legs swelled and he got headaches. It is not as easy a procedure as he thought.