Hi, well the good old NHS has given me fun today.
Some of you may recall my mention of a stabbing pain in my tum…about 4 inches to the right of my suprapubic catheter entry site. Ive had it on and off since the spc was fitted.....6 weeks ago.....sometimes worse than others. It doesn
t like travelling in the van either.
I have mentioned it to district nurses a few times and they dont seem too concerned about it. But last night when I turned onto my side in bed…whoa! did it chuffin` stab me! The pain continued for a while and I was very worried.
I rang the hospital ward today, where it was fitted and explained. I asked if it ought to be changed. The date for my first change was 3rd Sept…almost 9 weeks from the op. When I was discharged the doc said I should come back in 6 weeks for the change. The 1st change HAD to be in hospital.
But my discharge form said 8.5 weeks. Well that would take it to just 4 days before my holiday and I wanted to be sure it was working well before that. When I mentioned that, I was told the date was the soonest I could be fitted in to the clinic. So I reluctantly accepted the date.
Anyway in todays call, I spoke to a staff nurse who asked if the district nurses had changed or tried to push the catheter further in? Eeek! I cringed at that thought! They hadn
t!
The staff nurse spoke to the registrar, who said I should see my GP, incase it was nothing to do with the catheter.
I rang the surgery and the receptionist said the doctor wouldnt know about catheters and I should ring the district nurses. Deep breath…ok. I did that and explained all over again. The nurse who answered the phone said they wouldnt do either and it was up to the hospital to do something. I asked if she would ring the ward and see what she could find out for me.
Next the district nurse rang back, saying one of them was coming to change it!!! Eh? As I put the phone down, nurse Maxine walked in to our house!
Well I didn`t have 2 mins to think about it or get nervous, Max whipped the old spc out and put a new one in…all done…no pain…no tugging or twisting just an odd feeling of pressure in my belly and bladder. Easy!
So there you go…job done…but such a rigmaroll to get it sorted, eh?
I was quite worried about my 1st change, as others here have had some awful problems.
Now I feel at ease and cant forget it and enjoy my hols mext month. My next spc change is in 10 weeks.
As for the stabbing pain, it isnt present right now, but if it returns, I will speak to my GP about it.
luv Pollxx