Having supra-pubic cath placed on Tuesday

[22cyclist]

For now though, I have had an indwelling catheter for 5 days hooked to a leg bag. I am being admitted in the morning for surgery. I am currently on Levoquin. All my cath is putting out is pure blood. I have been to the ER once for this hence the levoquin, but day 5 of 7 and it continues. Anyone else have this issue? They at first told me infection, but know I can't get anyone on the phone...go figure. Guess I will get some answers tomorrow.

Thanks in advance!

Lisa

[rdmc]

Hey Lisa,

So sorry to hear about your urinary tract issues. That sounds miserable.

Did they do a culture before you started the Levaquin? I'm assuming they think the bleeding is because of an infection, but usually that resolves rather quickly once on an antibiotic.

Hope you get some answers tomorrow. If I was bleeding that consistently, I think I might revisit the ER. Why did they place the foley? I hate foleys (I did get an infection from one and had to be hospitalized on IV antibiotics) but wonder why they think placing a spcath is going to stop the bleeding.

Just my opinion, but it's unconscionable for you not to be able to get a hold of someone.

P.S. Sorry for all the questions, Of course I'm not a doctor, and have no medical expertise. But I've had my share of urinary tract issues...so I'm curious as to what their logic is in placing the spcath.

Hang in there.

[22cyclist]

Update: They called me back finally and said that as long as I was not passing any jelly like clots, that the blood in the urine was nothing to worry about. So that is one thing off of my list.

Now on to the next thing. LOL!

Lisa

[Jules A]

I've seen this in a MS patient in the ED and they were told the same thing. Best wishes to you.

I hate this miserable disease.

[hunterd]

Lisa, my urologist told me that some blood was common, but call immediately if large clots appeared in the bag or tube, bleeding from the incision site, or burning. also the lack of urine drainage warrants a call also. any questions get ahold of me. good luck!

[pennstater]

Nothing to add, but wanted to wish you well.

[palmtree]

My urologist explained the whole procedure to me. It sounds like a difficult thing to go through, but I've heard it's very liberating once everything is healed. I hope your surgery goes well and you have a excellent recovery.

[KatieAgain]

Good Luck With Surgery tomorrow! Let us know how everything goes.

[onlyairfare]

Lisa, I'm sending good thoughts your way, and hope all goes well for you tomorrow.

[22cyclist]

Thanks everyone, everything went well. Still in the hospital, but anything is better than a Foley! Painful now but better still.

Thanks everyone.

Lisa

[Kimba22]

Best of luck, Lisa.

Feel better soon.

[sjc314]

My wife has had a superpubic cathether in for about 5 years now. Sure beats self-cath and foleys. The only complication was bladder stones. The blood may have come from the foley baloon moving around. The bladder lining bleeds very easily. We live in Chapel Hill too so we probably got the SPC from the same place. Do you have someone to change it regularly for you? I do my wife's about once a month. If you are interested you could contact me off list and I could give you some tips I have gained from experience.

[22cyclist]

Thank you! I am in the hospital now for an appointmentbut will contact you later

[Evolvn916]

Sjc314. I self-cath multiple times per day now. My Uro has suggested that I consider the super public catheter. I have pushed back thus far. I haven't asked any questions because.....

Will you please tell me what was drove your wife's decision to use the SPC? How long had she self-cathed before using the SPC? Did she experience an increase in UTIs?

How long did she experience discomfort after the surgery?

Do you know if surgery is also required to remove it if I change my mind? Sorry for all of the questions. Thanks in advance for your responses. Anyone want to chime in....please do so. Thanks.

Oh. One more thing. What are the most important questions to ask the Uro or things to consider before going that route?

[sjc314]

At the time my wife was self-cathing 6+ times a day, often without any result. She just had a constant urge to urinate. She was wheelchair bound and had to transfer to a portable bedside commode which was onerous and becoming dangerous because of her weakening legs.

When the urologist suggested the SPC, I was horrified. The idea of a tube coming out of your bladder through a hole in the front of your abdomen was hard to bear. I did a lot of research on the internet and was put more at ease. I found a support forum in England which helped. (I don't remember what it was. You can probably google one. There are many.) I remember a guy who was paralyzed from a motorcycle accident who loved it because he could go out drinking beer with his buddies and not have to keep getting up from the table

There were no problems with the surgery nor any significant discomfort I can remember. It was a relief for her not to have to self-cath so many times and a relief for me not to worry about her falling. Plus we could now both sleep through the night.

You have to get used to the bag and the tube and care for the stoma assiduously. I was worried about something catching and pulling on the tube so I developed a taping method to relieve the pressure. We originally had a home healthcare nurse come in every month or so to change it but she made a mess and hurt my wife so I decided I could do a better job myself. I have since developed a technique that allows me to change it without pain or a mess in less than two minutes.

You are always going to have a low level UTI with that hole into your bladder. Unless it gets bad, the doctor recommended not treating it lest we develop a resistant bacteria. She drinks lots of water, takes cranberry capsules, and I clean the stoma every day with antiseptic. We have probably only had two infections severe enough to require antibiotics in 5 years.

As far as removing it, you just pull it out. The stoma heals itself very quickly. So quickly in fact that you have to be careful to move expeditiously when changing it lest it heal while you dally.

There are of course aesthetic issues. It wasn't a big problem for us because she was in a wheelchair and her slacks/blanket concealed the leg bag. She is now totally paralyzed from the neck down and stays in bed so I just leave the large bed bag attached all the time.



tl;dr: Don't sweat it. It sounds a lot worse than it is.