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Posted 2/26/2010 11:41 PM (GMT 0)
Surgery on the 24th in London....returned home to-day....Everything seemed to go quite well with the surgery, hospital and care which
I received from St. Joseph's and Dr. Chin in London Ontario. Surgery was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. but got in 1 hr early and was in recovery
until 8:30 then got to get to my room and watch Canada vs Russia Hockey game, felt good enough that I was really only in 1 full day from open surgery.....now the catheter is a whole different story, I am having a lot of trouble getting that thing to stay in one place especially the overnight
bag.....I am finding the leg bag way better and the hose is so much more flexible than the fuel line they have for the other, if anyone has any suggestions as to how to hold the hose in place as to not ripe it off your penis, I have even tried duck tape with no luck.......Zimmer
Posted 2/26/2010 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the other side. Glad that you are doing so well. Do keep us posted. Next thing is Walk Walk Walk Walk. Can't say it enough.

Jeff T
Posted 2/26/2010 11:49 PM (GMT 0)
I'm glad that your surgery went well and that you are home. The night bag hose is really stiff, if you have some velcro straps to hold it in place. I just kept it tape to my thigh at night. During the day i had sweats that had a opening that is like in tightie whities and just let it hang out that way.

Neal

Posted 2/27/2010 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
zimmer, glad and thankful you are not only on the other side safely, but back home. sounds like you are doing great for an open surgery guy like me.

just make sure that you don't like down and fall asleep with a leg bag on, the risk is having the urine suck back through the catheter itself and back into you bladder. Your urine is only sterile while its in the bladder, the second it exits the catheter, its not. You could get a serious infection in both your bladder and kidney if it back up inside you.

what i found works best, is they make an adhisive Y holder, the Y on the cath of course for your thigh, that has a swivel joint, that moves with your movements, they work great. I can get you a brand name if you want one.

walk walk, and rest rest

david in sc
Posted 2/27/2010 1:36 AM (GMT 0)

Zimmer

Glad that everything went well for you in London.

I will second Jeff T's advice to walk, walk, walk, walk.

I hope you got the clip for the hose for the night bag.  I got the night bag at the hospital.  There was a simple clip on the hose that clips on to your clothes. 

I slept on the couch until the catheter was removed because I was afraid of doing damage if I tossed at night.  Attached the hose clip to a cushion.

Using the clip helped anchor the hose.  Forgot to use it once.  That's all it took to remember every time after that!!

As David says, don't use the leg bag at night.  You wouldn't want to get an infection!

Skeener


Posted 2/27/2010 5:03 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Zimmer,

Welcome to the other side. Now just take it easy for a few weeks and give your body a chance to heal. Do as much walking as you can comfortably handle, but don't over do it. The 'tubing' can be a bit of a challenge, but as long as the cancer is all gone, it should be just a bit of a nuisance. You'll get used to it to some degree.

Wishing you a quick and complete recovery.

Magaboo

Posted 2/27/2010 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
Zimmer,
I wrapped a bandage (or a tape) around the tube to secure it to my leg and prevent it from pulling it out of my penis.
Posted 2/27/2010 3:44 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to read that you ate on the other side, home, and having a 'normal' recovery period. Take care of yourself, drink water, walk, flush out the baddies, repeat as able.... smilewinkgrin
Posted 2/27/2010 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
Eh Zimmer, good to hear all went well and you are back home. That alone made me feel instantly better.

One good thing about any cath problems is that by the day it comes out, you'll have all the little problems associated with the darn thing, fully figured out!
Posted 2/27/2010 7:33 PM (GMT 0)

Glad to see youon the other side of this thing.  Now take some time to heal.  Good luck to you.

Mika

Posted 2/27/2010 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
Zimmer,

Glad to hear you are home with one less part.
I used the big (night) bag all the time. The various tape patches and holders failed for me, as I had bladder spasms and leaked a lot - the urine washed the patches off faster than I could put them back on.

My best alternative was some light-weight elastic bandages - one was a J&J "Coach" brand, and Walgreen's has a house brand - one wrapped around above, the other below the catheter Y joint. Get two sets - after the shower, hang one set up to dry. You might get 2-3 uses out of one.

At night I put the bag in a squatty bucket on the floor, and clipped the hose to the bedside. I packed my sides with a couple of pillows to keep from rolling over on the tube.


Nothing to look forward to, but I was fortunate to have the catheter removed after a week.
Posted 2/28/2010 3:03 AM (GMT 0)
I had a TON of trouble with the catheter attachment things provided initially in the hospital, which amounted to small adhesive squares with velcro loop things for holding the tubing. They didn't hold very well and also came off my leg all the time. Finally a nurse brought me a regular around-the-thigh catheter strap which stayed place very well and allowed me to give my self some slack in the tubing so it wasn't tugging on my penis. Finally I felt like I could walk around a bit, and get by at home.
At night I placed the bag in a sturdy trash can right by my bed. Still hated the thing and had trouble sleeping, but that was mainly because I couldn't roll around.
When I showered the leg strap needed a little help, since it would loosen up when wet, so I would add a bunch of surgical tape to it just for the duration of the shower. I also tried protecting the strap with plastic wrap in the shower.
Also to relieve the irritation at the tip of the penis, my doctor gave me a little tube of lidocaine gel which helped when it got really sore.
Before long it will be just a memory. Best wishes.
Posted 2/28/2010 7:48 PM (GMT 0)
Day 3 of being home and getting a bit better every day....have a home care nurse that has comes in every day so far to change
the bandages over the staples and drain hole. The Catheter is getting better thanks to Purgatory and his tip about the Catheter Stabilization device which has a swivel that sticks to your upper thigh and clamps on the hose and holds everything in place ,it is so much better than anything else I tried, the home care nurse was impressed with it as she is unable to get one for her patients, I got one from a nurse relative that works in Detroit which is across the river from us as we live in Canada. Next date on the schedule is March 9th back in London to get the catheter out and get the results of the Pathology reports from the Doctor...thanks for the well wishes everyone...
Posted 3/1/2010 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Zimmer,

Glad to hear that you are back home and doing so well. Getting used to the catheter will become quite routine after a day or so. When I was in London, they gave me an extra leg and overnight bag which helped. As David said, don't sleep with the leg bag. It is a sure way to an infection.

Good luck on your catheter removal. It is quite uneventfull in the pain department except for the sudden flood of urine on the floor and my feet. Once my feet were dry I regained composure, all was well. Headed straight to Tim Hortons for a large double double and headed home eh?

Take care and be well,
Regards,
Bill
Posted 3/1/2010 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hey, Zimmer,

Nice to have you among the wonderful gang over here on the other side.

I used the clip to attach the thick tubing to the bedsheet on the side of the bed, and then just left the bag on the floor. Worked perfect. While I had the bag I found sleeping with several pillows behind me so I was sort of sitting up, and a big huge pillow under my knees, pretty much matched the way they had me in the hospital bed and it worked well.

After getting the hang of the bag I found it wasn't totally without merit. I was able to drink countless cups of tea at bedtime and sleep the night through. First time in years I'd slept 8 hours and more without needing to get up to off load.

Drink, walk, drink, walk. It's not long until football camps open and if you're going to quarterback the grey cup you need to be ready.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless
Posted 3/1/2010 3:20 PM (GMT 0)
Sleepless just put the bag on the floor - I did too, for one night. That was the night the valve to the bag stopped up with debris, backed up, and I woke up with a stopped up bladder. After that, I hung it upright in a squatty bucket so that it stayed upright. Note not every mop bucket will do - you want one that has a wide bottom to not be pulled over if you move the tube too much. That too took a bucket failure one night to learn.

Not saying everyone will have the "extra excitement" of a bursting bladder at 3 a.m., but if it does happen, expect #10 pain and urinary tract infections for a couple of weeks to follow. Been there, done that.
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