How to deal with catheter while recovering after prostate surgery?
I plan to have prostate surgery relatively soon. Onc big concern I have is how to deal with the cathether for 7 to 10 days. I live alone so I am thinking of hiring a private nurse for one hour in the morning , and one hour late afternoon to help me change from night bag to leg bag in the morning, and from day bag to night bag in the afternoon. An experienced nurse will know how to do it in a sanitary way to avoid infection. An alternative I am thinking is always keeping the night bag, which has pluses, but too bulky to drag 24 hours. Any suggestions?
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On a separate but related topic, it is a bit embarassing, but I would ask anyway since this is great community of people willing to share their experiences honeslty to help others. Maybe I am overthinking it - again - but I am wondering if the cathether gets in the way when one sits down on the toilet for bowel movement. When I sit down on a toilet and imagine the cathether sticking out, it appears to me it will get tangled up or become an obstacle and possibly yank and irritate the tip of the penis. Are there any tricks to navigate this without the cathether getting in the way? Or is this yet a non-issue I am just worrying about?
It makes a lot of sense to have a designated space for this to handle the job efficiently and with miniminal chance of cross-contamination.
Four days after surgery, I drove to clients offices and worked on computer problems they had. I didn’t take any time off after that, But the work I did wasn’t strenuous.
I was 62 at the time and running a computer consulting company.
There really was no pain after the fourth day for me, a little Tylenol was all I needed.
Well, I’m getting at Is that results may vary.
Hey again,
Thanks for the reply. I just wanted to add that my organized bathroom countertop was nothing formal. It was just like when you prepare to cook a meal: you get your ingredients out and organize the kitchen counter with them. It was always quick: my alcohol prep packs were in a box on the counter or at times in a drawer. I just pulled two out, tore them open and pulled them out laying them on top of the package they had been in. After emptying my catheter bag in the toilet, I'd walk to the bathroom counter, use one alcohol prep pack to clean the disconnected end of that catheter bag, and the other prep pack to clean the opening of the smaller leg-strapped bag, or just the opening of the penile catheter orifice waiting attachment of the new bag, Simple...no big deal. I just did it that way to minimize the time that the catheter attachment tip was exposed to the air.
I put the bag in a box next to the bed on the floor, put something next to it to make sure it stands up Empty it when I wake up. I don’t sleep more than about six hours so it doesn’t fill up. I also make sure I don’t drink much after 6 o’clock in the evening,
Thanks so much for detailed post and all advice 🙂 !
You are very welcome Soli < 3 , and yes, as you said in your previous post there is so much to digest regarding PC in general and also all the details about a surgery.
I am sure that once all of this is over we will have a good laugh about our "million questions" and super diligent preparations but you know, better safe than sorry ; ).
I know from personal experience that after surgery it is very tough to reach a surgeon and ask questions. Once he/she deems you "not in mortal danger", you for all practical purposes are not even a blimp on their radar. One is lucky is NP answers a question the same day and not the next one after you fumble through Google and find the answer yourself lol.
Quick question for @jeffmarc:
When you are sleeping at night, is the day bag attached to your leg or loose and hanging on something next to your bedjeffmarc
When you are sleeping at night, is the day bag attached to your leg or loose and hanging on something next to your bed?
I would like to thank @surftohealth88 for sharing the video. It is the best one I have seen on the practical steps of cathether care by a patient doing it himself.
Thank you @rlpostrp for sharing. There is lot to digest and think about! It is very clear that there are pros and cons of only using the large bag only vs swithcing between the "night" and "day bag". The idea of having an organized bathroom countertop of cleaning supplies is a great idea. I was actually myself thinking about that in the last couple of days. I was debating whether to clear the counter or get a small table next to it which might be a slightly lower height and hence better to work with. As for the 3X4 sticky, I had one put on my for a TURP procedure in 2012 and the nurse used what she said was a medical grade adhesive removers that contain oils that dissolve the adhesive. In may case the adhesive was on only for a couple of days, I am not sure if it would have worked as well for your case.