Taking Catheter Out

We have a doctors appointment Wednesday...how does the doctor know that the catheter is ready to come out?

I don't know either.

Our surgeon does all his catheter removals on Tuesdays, which is either 5 or 6 days after surgery (depending on whether surgery was scheduled on Wednesday or Thursday the week before).

I have read (somewhere) that the stitches in the urethra are much more exact with DaVinci that with other methods. Maybe that means they don't need to concern themselves with total healing prior to removal of the catheter?

Goodness… Green … you’ve just scared the  *&^%  out of Our Wicket … LOL J   Quote from previous posting… from Wicket Gee Blue wish you had told me this:       Worry??????   Why???      Worry causes stress ~!@#$%^&*()_+@#$%^&*    Stress causes all sorts of bad stuff…    It gets you nowhere…    It drains you of strength… and    What’s going to happen is definitely going to happen whether you worry or you don’t worry…    So ~ No More Worrying.   Okay      Before I worried myself sick about Curtis' surgery...not that it would have done a bit of good since I'm a born worrier especially about my hubby or kids!!   Hey ~ Ellen,   Thought this might be the right time to send this…..   xoxo   Here’s a special HUG just for you !!   Knowledge is Power, Knowledge/Power takes away the fear.   And you’ve done GREAT!!!!!!!   Each surgeon has their preference for each step ~   Surgery prep, kegels, catheter removal, etc….   This is where we put our complete trust in our surgeon to know.   I’m sure over the time span that they have done the procedures… they have it down to the perfect time period.     Our surgeon was on vacation so the surgeon who assisted with Buddy’s surgery took the catheter out.   Buddy was on a special examining bed.   There's a tray to catch the catheter end and any leakage that may follow.   This tray was built into the bed just below the buttocks and thigh area..... While talking with us ~ he gently worked the little attachment to deflate the balloon and gently slid the catheter out.   He told Buddy to go ahead and get dressed and he’d be right back in to answer any questions we had.   We saw no blood and only a few dribbles.     We took the adjustable underwear with a pad in it…. Buddy felt very comfortable with this.   Not knowing what to expect we planned for heavy leakage and ended up with a few dribbles.    Remember…..Each day gets better and better and better.       Our thoughts will be with you extra on Wednesday and we continue to keep you close in prayer.   In Friendship ~ Lee & Buddy    

Curtis and Ellen,

I'm sitting on pins and needles thinking about you today. I hope everything went well! I know you'll post as soon as you are able. kat

I took mine out myself. My doc provides do-it-yourself instructions..was a little apprehensive but was easy..

My surgeon took it out 9 days after surgery
It felt like he was pulling a waletmelon thru a hole the size of a pea

No blood no dripping

Befgore my catheter was removed they checked the healing, for leakage I guess, by filling my bladder with a solution then shooting xrays in various stages as it emptied. All this was does by an x-ray technican who then reviewed the images with one of my uro's and the tech back back and pulled it out. There was no pain involved just felt weird to be filled up with cold tap water.
Ron

If you cut the tube with scissors (it is double walled) the whole catheter will fall out into the toliet or where you are placed. Worked great for my initial total urinary blockage, put on Flomax it worked well, decided I was doing good enough and decided it was leaving, before seeing my uro-doc, whom laughed and was not upset about it. Don't drive a stickshift car with one on (fyi)!

NY-Sooner your experience is unreal, likely the nurse didn't have her blank___together. You did read my post above this, mine literally fell out on its own...I did try pulling it out without to much trying and noticed that doesn't work, I had no info or manual on this...just decided it was leaving. Cut tube (double walled), the air lets out of the bulb thingy and it will either fall out or easily come out. I did about 9-10 days, doc said 14, I over trumped him!

The filled mine with liquid, then used an Ultrasound after they filled it, no one , not even myself had any lead lined protection on , so I know it was not an X-ray. There was a nurse and an ultrarasound tech in the room

Once they confirmied no leaks they deflated the bubble and it slid right out along with the fastest stream of urine i ever had in my life as the filled the bladded to the max.

If there was any pain it was the pain of having to go so bad but not a 10 out of 10 that for sure , the relief more than outweighed any pain

No scans, no xrays here either.

Prior to having it removed, I read on this site about the scans and xrays and some patients waiting at the Uro's office right after removal to demonstrate they can urinate OK before being sent home. So I was expecting something more than draining the bulb, pulling it out and nothing else.

The nurse who removed mine just sent me straight home and said to call if I had problems (she was specific about the possible problems but I forget what they were). She said it had been 8-9 months since the last patient had problems related to catheter removal so that helped put my mind at ease. The one thing they did do was start me on an antibiotic a couple of days prior to catheter removal that I took for a total of 5 days.

Dan

I had my surgery way back in 1996 and than the catheter was removed at 3 weeks! the doc said go in the shower, release the fluid from the balloon and pull it out!!! When i started it started to hurt I stopped somewhat scared, but than I pushed like when your trying to pee and can't..and pulled the catheter each time I "pushed" and it came out easy with no pain!

Pocketman said...
Yesterday (11/5) morning I was subjected to a cystogram. They filled my bladder with some ice cold solution and then with my bladder full, asked me to move around on a table. When finished, they drain the stuff back into the bottle in preparation for the next guy. I must have done something right because the radiologist commented "perfect" and told me I'd likely be rewarded by having my catheter removed. Oh happy day!

Then met with urologist/surgeon and, as "promised" had catheter removed. Holy moly, glad I was asleep during the insertion. It wasn't really painful, felt more like urinating at 100 psi for 1-2 seconds.

My catheter removal experience from a previous post.