So afraid I am starting to block up again

It's been six months to the day that I finally came off my nightmare world of 5 catheters after surgery.  My stream at best has been no more than 40-50% pre-surgery.  By the end of a busy day peeing, I hurt a lot up there on a good day.  The doctor who did the corrective surgery thing on Jan. 13th, said he was afraid to open it up much more, for fear of leaving me incontinent for good.

Since Thursday morning, I feel like the flow is now 50% of the 50%, every pee hurts any where from a 2 on the pain chart to a 6 or so.  When I woke this morning, after not peeing at all for 8 hours, I was certain that I couldn't pee at all despite the pressure in my bladder.  Took me 3 painful attempts to empty that.

My doctor does come to his sattelite office right up the road from me on Mondays, might have to call and see if he can squeeze me in somehow.  I am so afraid of another complete blockage and ending up in the ER with a painful catheter insertion after all this time.  I am wondering if the scarring is starting to cause problems again.

I hate all of this, seems to be no real end to the suffering and torment.  I write this aching up high in the bladder neck area where all the trouble started.  It's going to be a long night I am afraid, just don't want to end up in the ER, they so botched it that time before.

a very sore David in SC

David,

Hang in there. I wish there was something I could do to help, but afraid thers's not much we can do but say a prayer .

David, I hate to hear more bad news coming from you. You sure don't deserve any more worries and problems. I hope this new bladder problems can be cleared up without any surgery or side effects. Good luck buddy.

Hey David, rotten news.

My father-in-law had some major pee issues and he had a very narrow diameter catheter which he was able to insert himself and drain his bladder.

He did this for a number of months --- perhaps over a year ---- when he needed to. This gave his system time to heal/adjust, and in the end he didn't need to do this anymore.

Don't know if it would work for you, but he found it an easy thing. No big deal. Slide it in, pee, slide it out. And, of course, keep it all sterile.

Best, Sleepless, AKA Sheldon

Best of luck to you. With all you've been through you have more courage than most of us here. You have a steel will to continue on, here's hoping the catheterization goes easy tomorrow.

David:

I'm really sorry to hear about your latest troubles.  Hopefully you will get an early appointment with the doc and he will find an easy fix.

I know many of us will check back today to get your update.

Tudpock

Monday Morning 0800 - longest period of sleep I got was 4 hours, my bladder was full of course when I woke up a while ago. It took me over 25 minutes spread out over 4 to 5 trips to the toilet to painfully squeeze out what I could. Then, almost embarrassed to say, I put on a Depends pullup for the first time in 5 months, that way as I was walking around the house, I could let gravity do its job, and I am purposely wetting if I feel the urge. Any thing is better than that feeling of blockage, the sharp radiating pains coming up my back as I write here. The dr. office will be open in minutes, I am hoping they will see me asap, as I feel this is an urgent situation, my dr. will be there and he knows the complication from his own surgery on me. It was a miracle we didn't end up in the ER yesterday. It was a painful miserable weekend, I felt so sorry for my wife, because she wasn't able to enjoy her self after working a hard week. I feel guilty for that. Will update later.

But thanks again for all the support.

David in SC

Hi David, So sorry to read of all your problems. My thoughts are with you and I hope your next post will bring better news.

Take care, Roger

Thanks Roger. And Wigs, I am 100% dry and have been for some month, this has to do with surgical complications at the bladder neck, been trouble from day one.

Hi david,
Sorry to hear about your urinary problems. I was half way through IMRT when I had a serious bladder neck constriction and I could not urinate at all. It was indeed a very painful experience. The Dr. put me on Flomax and it cleared up the problem almost immediatly. I also know of a guy at the cancer center who uses a dialator every day for relief. Might be better than the cath. Ask your Dr. about that. I don't know if this will be of any help to you. Hang in there. This PC is an ugly beast sometimes.

Dear David,
From what I was told, it is a flexible rubber tube you insert with a little KY jelly until it passes the restriction. That's about all I know. I'm sure most Uro's will know about it. They are available at pharmacies. It won't hurt to ask. it sure would be easier than a Catheter.

Hi David,
I took the weekend off from the net, so I didn't see your posts...And now that I'm back, I wished I had found better news for you. I, too, am sending prayers of hope for you, and I am awaiting your doctors assessment...

Tony

David:

I’m sure every problem is different. However, here is what was done for a stricture caused by my IMRT. This took place about 19 months ago:

1. Dilation followed by three weeks in a Foley. As you know, no fun and inconvenient, but most activates are possible (sometimes with a bit of pain) if not over done.
2. After the Foley was removed I was shown how to perform clean intermittent self-catheterization (CISC). The reason for the CISC was to keep things open over time. CISC entails washing your hands carefully, washing a catheter carefully, lubricating the catheter, cleaning the end of your penis, inserting the catheter until there is some flow and then leaving it in for 30 seconds or so. No big deal.
3. My CISC program started at 3 times a day for a few weeks, 2 times a day for the next few weeks then once a day. I did the once a day for about 6 weeks, the a few times a week…ect. Now I do it once a week. So far so good.

In my case the CISC was done to ensure the urethra stayed open, not to specifically drain the bladder. Also, in my case, CISC is done after urinating so it also works as a check to see if the bladder is draining well. If/when it gets to the point where it starts to be difficult to insert the catheter, I’m supposed to contact my Uro.

I don’t know if something like this is possible after your Uro has already cut the stricture once. But it might be worth asking about.

Best