Tomorrow I will be speaking to my urologist, but in the absence of a very convincing argument to the contrary, I have already made up my mind that self catheterization is not for me. I can deal with the discomfort of the catheterization, but I cannot deal with a life of persistent urinary symptoms when that is what I'm trying to avoid (as well as recurrent surgery). Unlike most people with urethral strictures, I don't develop obstructive symptoms like slow flow. I develop inflammation which results in pain. Every time this happens from beginning to surgery through recovery I have a month of burning, frequency, severe burning after urination, and, as difficult as it is, improvement only when I try to urinate as infrequently as possible. It's a month spent with my teeth clenched.
If one self catheterization resulted in enough inflammation to make the tissue swell so that I couldn't pass the catheter 2 days later, and now I am experiencing increased symptoms including urethral pain and burning after urination, all associated with persistence of my microscopic hematuria, what do I have to look forward to if I do self catheterize 3 times a week for the rest of my life?!?
The inflammation I have will not resolve until I have healed, and it is my understanding that self catheterization must start (and continue) before healing so that the stricture does not have a chance to scar down.
Thanks for listening, and by all means, please share your opinions on what I have said.
And for those who have to self catheterize for other reasons, please remember that my experience is not the universal or even expected outcome of self catheterization, otherwise it weould never have been recommended.
