Just wanted you all to know that since having my Supra Pubic Catheter fitted 12 weeks ago life has got so much better.
As a lot of my friends on here know life was getting very difficult for me with my MS affecting my bladder and it would empty without any warning. I could have been anywhere when it happened. So embarrassing.
I know a lot of you suffer in this way and if Supra Pubic Catheter is mentioned don’t stress about the procedure as I did. I had many a sleepless night worrying about it all. As I’ve posted on here before I had the procedure done by local anaesthetic and it went really well. Two injections into the tummy and didn’t feel a thing.
Poll has been a real godsend, she is always there whenever I am worried about anything to do with life with a Supra Pubic Catheter. Thank you Poll!! You’re a treasure.
I had a suprapubic catheter fitted in late June. There have been some teething problems but it is now settling down and it is indeed a tremendous help. I’d like to just mention my main problem with it in case it helps another newbie. Be very aware that if the catheter blocks or silts up, you may need regular bladder washout which you District nurse can carry out. I knew nothing about how to recognise the problem as it was not explained to me and it eventually became so uncomfortable that I called 111 and a district nurse came out to me in at 2 a.m. I have nothing but praise for these wonderful dedicated people and I now know what to watch out for.
My first was at 12 weeks, which I think is the norm. But it was such a struggle and painful to remove, that the nurse said my next would be at 6 weeks. But I got a few blockages, so I now have it done every 4 weeks, which works well.
It was supposed to be at 12 weeks but it was changed at 10 weeks because of the blockage. We are now aiming for 10 weeks with bladder washouts every 2 weeks.
I have started using the tap rather than a leg bag during the day and find it much more comfortable. Not so good when I forget to turn off the tap. Elder moments like that I can do without!
That’s why I posted to try and take a bit of the fear away.
I self catheterised for about 5 years which worked really well for those 5 years then all of a sudden this stopped working. I would self catheterise and then 2 minutes later the bladder would empty about 400mls. So annoying. Especially when it happened in the middle of Asda.
Hope your self catheterising works for a long time yet Carole.