Clothing while having a catheter

Hello,

I am having my robotic surgery in a little over a week and just wanted to know what most wear while walking outside with the catheter.  I will be at a hotel for 3 or 4 days after surgery and they do have a lot of walking areas.  I plan to just use the large catheter bag and just carry it in its own bag.

- My wife bought 2 pairs of basketball pants that snap all the way down the leg.  They are loose fitting. 

- What about underwear with a catheter.  Do you just go commando or use boxers or briefs under you pants.  (Seems like the catheter would get in the way with any undergarments and do not want to irritate the area any further if possible)

- Need to also consider getting some slip on shoes of some sort as I do not want to have to tie sneakers every time to walk.

- They also want you to walk every 1.5 hours.  I guess it is important to elevate your legs while sleeping.

Thanks for any advice

Loose clothing and boxers worked great for me.

You may have also read or heard to buy a bucket to put the cath bag in at night. That way if it has an accidental leak you don't have to worry about carpets or flooring in your house!

Get that Neosporin ointment and keep the tip lubricated on your penis where the cath goes in. It helped tremendously for me.

 

A few tips: Yes, wear loose and light athletic / running pants. I got mine especially for surgery at K-Mart for under $10. You will have (should ask for) a smaller portable bag that will strap on your leg. A short piece of catheter "extension" will go into this bag. One thing that I was glad that I did was to put extra adhesive tape on my leg (going over the cath tubing) just in case my catherter tube snagged onto something or if the bag started to slide down my leg. This way the adhesive tape on your leg takes the stress of the catheter pulling and not your bladder! Two times, I accidentally snagged the catheter (once when I woke up and got out of bed forgetting that I had a catheter attached to the large bag that was in turn attached to a plastic recycling bin.) By the way my recycling bin was just the correct height and also had the abiltiy to catch any urine overflow (that never happened). You may also have to put adhesive tape to keep the small portable bag from sliding down you leg. Shave the area where the tape will go.

You can wear jokey underwear when you go out for support...just run the cath. tubing out of the "pee hole". Your scrotum may swell a little and jockey briefs have good support for that.

You wear the smaller leg bag when you go out of the house or spend more time out of bed. You use the large bag in the beginning and at night when you sleep.

I dreaded the cath, but quickly found it to be no big deal at all for the 10 days that it was in. I also thought that it would hurt when it was finally removed. But when it was removed, it actually felt very nice! Go figure.

Good luck.
Bill K. from NJ

I agree; loose work out pants and boxers . I never got a small leg bag. I flew home on day 4 with large bag pinned to inside of my pants. Used wheel chair pushed by airline to get from terminal to terminal and gate to gate. Going thru security was easy. They asked me if I could stand I said no (LOL) and I was pushed around the X-ray equipment. When I got home I hung out in my boxers. I used a treadmill for my walking duty so didn't go out. Got foley removed on day 13 by local urologist. No problems. Catheter is not a big deal.

I would recommend boxers for sure.

Never lay down with the leg bag attached, it can easily "back flow" toward your bladder and kidneys.

The leg bags that attach with Velcro straps never stay up as well as the straps that have little buttons

I was on my original cath for over 2 months, I was not allowed to drive the first 30 days - which killed me, then my uro gave me permission after that.

Having had 21 catheters and a total of 1 1/2 years of catheter time, I never had a single one hurt coming out. Felt creepy each time, but didn't hurt.

David in SC

that's impressive.