Indiana pouch

Alan, you seem to be making a great recovery. Regarding the problems with your stoma, ask your uro to refer you to a specialist stoma care nurse who will, I am sure, offer you the advice you are looking for.
I hope you continue to do well.
Maria x

Alan...there are waterproof bandages out there...kind of expensive but i would use them if i were to go swimming in the sea or even a swimming pool.
I take baths regularly and have a Indiana pouch and navel stoma and never have had an infection from bathing. Though until i got all my various tubes removed i took showers. Pat

Hi all,

Just to say that I had my RC on Jan 21st and am now the proud owner of an internal (Mitrofanoff)pouch. The operation went well and I feel like I'm well on the way to recovery. However, I still have a catheter in the Mitrofanoff and an SPC, both of which are due to be removed in the next couple of weeks. The Mitrofanoff has been leaking around the catheter, so much so that I'm wearing a Stoma bag over it at the moment (I replace it every night after flushing out with Saline). But it's getting better and I'll probably ditch the Stoma bag soon. Any thoughts on this? Also any thoughts on how to protect the Mitrofanoff if I go swimming in the sea? I've already had one infection (it happened in hospital)and I haven't even started catheterizing yet!

Cheers...Alan

Joe...my surgeon and my urologist both wrote letters to the insurance company stating why i was at risk for re-using catheters and that the cost of treating my UTI's would far outweigh buying l30 catheters a month. The insurance company agreed and so thats history. I even sent the catheters to them which clearly stated on the outside "for one use only". Its worth a try. If that doesn't work try the advocacy group for assistance. blcforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=1518.new;topicseen#new
Pat

You do things a bit different in the UK i've noticed as regards follow up CT scans and it seems kind of individualized as to irrigation so i may be misleading you. The irrigation is a saline solution for irrigation purposes only and you use it quite freqently in the beginning as your new pouch has not the slightest idea it is now a bladder and produces huge amounts of mucus which the saline helps break up so you can eliminate it. My instructions were after cathing to use a solution of 30cc's of the saline which is poured into a small bottle with a bulb syring and then put back into the catheter and squeezed into the pouch...it doesn't matter if you get the solution back out or not...sometimes you get some of it .. sometimes just a bit of it. After about 6 months the pouch begins to understand it is now a bladder and mucus production decreases and the need for irrigation decreases. I now do it about once a week as i have just learned it also helps keep any calcium formation away.....see i'm still learning!!! If you go to the home page there is an entire section on cleaning the catheters. I'm fortunate that my insurance will cover the costs of all that i need so i do not have to re-use. It certainly makes life much simplier when you're out and about and encounter a dirty restroom. Its also a good idea to have a couple of different types of catheters on hand...the coude tipped one is especially good for men i hear. Pat

Thanks everyone for your input. Three points.

We don't seem to use re-usable catheters over here. How do you sterilize them? They might be very useful for traveling.

Not sure what you mean by irrigation. What does that involve?

Mucus. Is that something that settles down over time or do you have to keep on fighting with it?

Take care (chin up Lisa...it sounds like you're doing really well after only 2 weeks).

Alan