DeCath day and 1st night without the catheter

Ya know, I had just figured out how to do the whole catheter thing without being completely awkward. Then, they yank it away from me. Come on dudes.

You know the catheter whoops routines - walking away from the cath bucket and getting yanked back by your leash. Can't tell you how many times I tipped over the bucket while trying to reach something. Or, how about setting the cath bucket on the ground with a little drop and feeling the vibrations quiver up the tube up through your penis into your body.

There’s the dropping the cell phone on your lap and yep, vibrations of the very wrong kind. Ouch. Or, the special joy of your leg bag getting way too full during a nap and the intense pressure you feel of having to pee but there’s no where for it to go.

Then there’s weird things..I had accidentally done a kegel while readjusting in the chair. Such a weird feeling because I could feel the entire length of the tube in my body. Yowza.

Got the leg bag emptying routine down to so easy….pull up the cuff of my sweat pants, put my foot on the toilet seat and flip the switch and it was almost like regular peeing. Heck, I even fully figured out the complicated overnight cath bag double-valve system, which was way more complicated than it should ever have been.

But, yesterday was decath day. My wife doesn’t normally do the driving during morning rush-hour traffic and our GPS was in re-route to avoid hazards crazy mode….so she was getting super stressed. Simultaneously, I realized after the three hour drive, my leg bag was now super full and feeling some intense pressure. I was like, I need to empty it, but the stop and go traffic with sudden lurches made that a dicey proposition. We got there just in time, quick pit stop and then off to see the nurse.

I knew it would be quick and not dramatic. Candidly, pulling off the cath hose leg mount sticker was the most painful part. I’m not that hairy, but I’m whole lot less hairy over that patch area now.

I do admit, when the nurse deflated the cath inner bulb and then pulled the stretch of tube out, it wasn’t big drama. But, boy, did it feel different….and it felt like it was three feet of tubing getting pulled out. Such a weird feeling as you your entire urethra is lit up at the same time.

Next phase: pullups/pad time. Early report; Dribble, dribble, dribble. Yep, saturating a pad every two hours throughout the first day. I did do an actual intentional stand-up pee, later in the day, so consider that a victory.

I knew from all of you that I’d be waking up through the night. So, I slept in the bed for the first time instead of the recliner to be closer to the bathroom. Well, wasn’t really ready for that…my abs are still sore and sleeping on the back is the only option. Getting out of be is log roll time and does put a lot of pressure on my midsection. So, rough night.

I woke up about every 60-90 minutes throughout the night feeling incredibly strong pressure in my bladder….do an awkward log roll and rush to the restroom. The good news is that most times during the night, I was peeing a fairly good stream for a short while standing up. But, yeah, dribble, dribble after that. However, my last pad of the night was mostly dry an hour later.

Note: The Tena overnight pads are impressive...definitely brought me a lot of peace of mind. I wore them in a pull-up brief.

We’ll see what today brings.

One weird thing; my belly is huge and distended. I got on the scale expecting to have that standard 10-15 pounds of fluid weight gain. I’ve actually dropped at least five pounds in the past week. Makes no sense.