Catheter Blues

Hi everyone; first post for me here so thanks in advance.
I had "open" surgery 6 days ago. Everything looks great and no complications except some pain and leaking from the catheter. If I'm at all active the cath irritates my penis and I'm soon in pain. This in turn (I theorize) makes my bladder have mini-spasms and then I get a lot of leakage around the catheter. If I sit around then no problems.

Anybody have any hints for catheter control and protection? Bike shorts? Nudism?

What Doug said. Plus, if you are six days post op, keep thinking about the fact that you are not that far away from getting rid of the darn thing. THAT will be a good day for you.

And welcome to the forum.

I discussed catheter planning with my daughter yesterday (she's an RN on a surgical recovery floor). She reiterated the need to keep the tubing clipped or taped to your leg, and had this little tidbit: whenever you empty the bag, drop an uncoated breath mint (like an icebreaker) into the bag: it will keep the odor down.

I might actually try it....

I was going to post, but all has been said in the previous posts.

The cath is a *****, but will go away soon.

Yes, the catheter is a b1tch, iznit? If you google for "Self Adherent Wrap" you will see a kind of tape that sticks to itself but not to anything else. It is used for sports tape, over bandages, and for compression to treat leg ulcers. You can buy it locally but it helps to know what you are looking for. I found it endlessly useful for taping the catheter hose to my thigh.

I had the catheter in for 12 days in December 2014. It gave me a urinary infection that hurt like H+ll and got worse as I went along. Then minor bladder spasms joined in.
Dr gave prescription for spasm relief but didn't believe it was necessary for infection until I called him at 11:30 at night and practically screamed at him. Then he told me that the infection normally starts about 2 days after catheter inserted, but shouldn't get as bad as mine. The catheter also can cause scar tissue in the urethra, which then can result in poor "aim" later and also blockage of urethra and the new connection between the bladder and urethra.

I used Bactrin (a sulfa drug) for the infection, until I saw the surgeon and he changed to it Cipro. Turned out the bacteria was resistant to Cipro, but the Bactrin had done the job sufficiently. I used pyridium (200 mg - 3x daily) to help with the urethra pain, during and after catheter. Believe me that when the urine hits your poor, raw urethra it burns like fire.

Re: catheter placement - make sure that there is enough slack in the catheter between the mounting point on the thigh and the penis, so that when you sit down (like on toilet) the catheter does not hold the penis up/out. That was the worst. Second catheter (to relieve stricture in urethra and bladder neck) was better, thanks to talking to the nurse before hand and her more careful placement.

Good luck!

Just a follow up: Antibiotic ointment from the hospital is for external use only and causes major irritation when used at the tip/for lube. Went to KY with some help. I've given up on the "day" bag altogether and am just going pantsless until cath removal on Monday. Maybe I'll take the bus to the appointment.