Got home awhile ago from uro's office. Glad my mother was available to drive me, as I was in no shape when I got out to drive even a few blocks. It was a painful catheter change out. Even with sedation and numbing gel. What hurts the most is pulling out the old one, felt just like someone stuck me with a jagged stick in the SP hole, my penis, and my rectum, all at the same time. The dr. said he was watching my face, and when the cath just barely touched the bladder wall, I was white with pain. He jelled up the entrance hole real good, but remember, with an SP catheter, you have 2 minutes or less to make out a tube swap, or the hole will try to close over.
We have somewhat of a plan in place. I see him again near the end of June. He wants to do another day surgery probably first week of July, if not late June, so that he can get up me with a scope again. He knows I am too much pain to deal with it awake. He wants to see first hand if any healing is taking place in the bladder and bladder neck, and to check on any possible scarring since he was last up there at the start of March.
If there is evidence of healing, he would remove the SP cath for good, and leave me with a foley catheter in place, and allow it to stay 3-4 weeks to allow the wall of my bladder to heal, and then, if all went well, remove the foley, and see how I can be on my own without a cath. So that means, that by the end of July or first of August at worse, I could be cath free. Still depends on how much natural healing has taken place. Been almost 6 months since my radiation ended, and still very little evidence of any healing, but just might need more time.
If it doesnt look good up there and in my bladder, then he would be forced to abort things and put a new SP in place, and try again in a few more months. He said from the way I react to any touching of the bladder area, and how the pain interconnects to my penis and rectal areas, is more evidence of just how serious the collateral damage is from the radiation. He is going to report todays finding to my radiation oncologist, and see if they can offer any help or remedies.
At home, mother just left, hurting is starting to subside, got pain pills when needed. Knew this would be an ordeal today, but once again, my dr. was very conscious of the pain factor and did the best he could to make it as easy as possible.
David in SC