more catheter questions

[Liane]

Everyone has been so informative on the helpful hints thread, that now I have another concern and wonder if others have experienced the same things. During the 3 weeks that my husband had the catheter after his RPR, he had a reaction to the tubing, not an allergy, and it caused great discomfort, which the doctor says happens sometimes. When it was removed, he was unable to void after a few hours, so we returned to the ER where it was reinserted. Now it is out again, and after having a scope he is urinating well, but he has pain urinating and just standing. It has only been 1 1/2 days since the procedure, but has anyone experienced anything similar? We are getting really tired of this as it has slowed down the healing process tremendously. Thanks again.

[farscape66]

All I know is I had a kidney stone operation in Janurary and had to wear a catheter for 4 days afterwards due to unirary retention. The doctor said it should not hurt and recommended I continue normal life, drive, walk, etc. I was however in so much discomfort I could barely walk. I had to hold to the wall to walk. They acted like I was crazy or imagining it. But I was not, it really hurnt.thank god it was only 4 days, I was about to go crazy.
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My point is not everyone reacts the same, make sure your doctor understands this and tries to get to the bottom of what is wrong.

[rfj120]

Hi again Liane. So sorry to hear things are going so slowly. I couldn't help but think all the time I was dealing with that stupid catheter that there has to be a better way! I also had a great deal of pain and discomfort with the catheter and a lot of redness around the head of the penis but it cleared up fine when the catheter was removed. My doctor made a point of telling me when it was removed that the problem you described (inability to urinate) occurs in a minority of cases. Luckily I didn't have that problem and my flow was good initially. (My problem came several weeks later when scar tissue caused a blockage.) I had no pain in standing but urinating was often uncomfortable for a week or so: I'd describe it as a raw feeling more than a painful one. It improved gradually. I'd be concerned that if there's pain even without urinating there may be an infection present. You may want to have it looked at, especially if there's no improvement.

[positive4u]

Liane,
Often times when they have to splice the urethra back together & during the healing process, scar tissue does form (as rfj120 alludes to) causing increased irritation and sometimes blockage of urine. I was able to void after catheter removal. But 6 months later my stream slowed down and would often "split" into 2 streams. My urologist did a scope & cut through the scar tissue that had formed. Have not had a problem since (about 1 1/2 years now).Hang in there. You've been through a WHOLE LOT already, but things will get better.
Positive4U

[Ron Z]

The bladder actually shrinks with a catheter - it is stretching. This area has ben through a lot of trauma. Keep walking and standing up straight to get things back in place and work out the soreness.

I had the same - I thought getting the catheter out would be great - it was a set back but just another hurdle.

Yesterday was my one year surgery anniversary! So far - no PSA levels and I am continent!