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Posted 4/19/2008 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
If anyone is still awake out there....Kent feels like he has to urinate..no pain. The cath has air bubbles in it and there is some urine in the bag. I'm watching it to see if it keeps filling. Has anyone else had this sensation? (Gets cath removed in 3 days)

Thanks!!

Cindy

Posted 4/19/2008 4:27 AM (GMT 0)
It's normal to feel the urge to urinate with the catheter in. This is because the end of the catheter inside the bladder is filled with saline water and it sits in the bottom of the bladder, this caused the sensation of a full bladder, hence the urge to go all the time. I had that feeling the entire 12 days with the catheter in.
Posted 4/19/2008 4:32 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you Stuckintraffic..He just took the cath bag off to see if he can pee that way. Seems all of sudden nothing is coming down the tube and he has just had 2 full bottles of water and some ices. Thank you though for letting me know about the sensation. He hadn't had that before. Each new thing that comes up, worries us alittle (or me alot!)
Posted 4/19/2008 5:11 AM (GMT 0)
As I recalled with the catheter in I could not pee at all even if I try, the catheter is supposed to drain everything. For me it took about 20 to 30 minutes after drinking water to start seeing urine in the bag. There were few times I did feel heavy in the bladder and not much draining in the bag, I just started walking and moving around more and in my case it appeared to help start the draining.
Posted 4/19/2008 5:30 AM (GMT 0)
If it is blocked you will know very soon. Mine blocked in hospital. Bladder swelled.....real pain. Keep an eye on it.. If it quits draining....go to Hospital.
Good Luck.....

KW
Posted 4/19/2008 1:33 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you! I made him drink alot and it finally started back up again. Took awhile though. I will be so happy when this thing is out!!
Posted 4/19/2008 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
and Kent will be even happier...
I was like a kid waiting for Christmas, the last few days could not come soon enough.
Glad everything worked out for Kent.
Posted 4/20/2008 12:14 AM (GMT 0)

I found my urine production was very erratic over the course of a day. Between the hours of 10am and 1pm, virtually nothing, despite drinking a fair amount of my favorite liquid. On my first day home I could see the clear tube leading to the bag was full, but next-to-nothing going into the bag.

So I contacted the nurse who calmed my fears, and also explained that there is a valve at the neck of the bag which stops back-flow, so the clear tube is normally full. 

So I think if your bladder doesn't feel full, it probably isn't. But even so, I still remained concerned about blood clots. Later, I did see one clot inside the neck of the bag, so I'm still unsure whether a clot can be big enough or solid enough to block the valve completely.

Posted 4/20/2008 12:21 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much! Kinda scarry when you don't see any flow. It was so full this morning though, it eased my fears. Thank you for writing. It helps to hear different experiences.
Cindy
Posted 4/20/2008 12:28 AM (GMT 0)
Greetings, Kent and Cindy.  Glad to hear that everything is working well.  I found that there were times that I didn't think my catheter was working correctly but it always seemed to fill up.  It was a glorious day when I had it taken out.  It will be a day of rejoicing on Monday when Kent's comes out.  Keep us posted on how things are going.  David

Posted 4/20/2008 12:57 AM (GMT 0)
Hi David!!
Thank you. There is so much behind us now. When I think back to when we first found out and what has happened since then, its just like a blur.
I'm so glad everything is going well for you too. I will let everyone know what the pathology report is and how things go on the big day!
Posted 4/21/2008 5:52 PM (GMT 0)

Piano said...

But even so, I still remained concerned about blood clots. Later, I did see one clot inside the neck of the bag, so I'm still unsure whether a clot can be big enough or solid enough to block the valve completely.

Yes, they can, it happened to me once. I woke up in the morning, and when I went to change bags, the overnight bag was virtually empty which had not happened before. I panicked and managed to get in to see my surgeon on a semi-emergency basis. They backflushed it or something and were able to see some clots come out, so they were confident that clots had caused the blockage. It drained fine afterwards. I'm sure that from the clinic's point of view I totally overreacted, but that's what they get for not warning me it could happen.  Anyway, it CAN happen, but it shouldn't be cause for as much panic as I had...  
Posted 4/21/2008 10:18 PM (GMT 0)

I agree, I also got into a needless flap over not very much.

For a blockage at the neck of the day bag, I think a reasonable self-help emergency procedure is to pull off the tube where it feeds into the bag. Which is what I tried to do, and punctured the tube -- it was wedged on solidly. I ended up cutting it off with a sharp knife and shortening the tube slightly. I felt reasonably confident doing that as the tube I had was designed to be trimmed back to suit leg length and bag configuration -- maybe all are like that.

With the bag disconnected, it then should be a fairly easy matter to flush or back-flush the bag and remove any debris from the neck of the bag -- I didn't actually try this.

If you have the bag disconnected, and over time, there is still no urine coming out the open tube attached to your catheter, then you need medical help. You probably have a catheter blockage. I believe back-flushing works there too, but you need someone to help who knows what they are doing -- at least for the first time. 

Posted 4/22/2008 2:01 PM (GMT 0)
As a note of caution for those who might be tempted to do the backflushing of the catheter line back into the bladder.  First, know what the technique is, this isn't something to learn by doing, and Second, use sterile water, tap water will not do, you'll most likely end up with a raging bladder infection.  Even with sterile water, you must take care to avoid backwash once the first flush is sent back to the bladder. 

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