Stricture Redux

mmc wrote:
YOU TALKN' TO ME!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I guess I should "man up", put on my big boy britches, and quit whining........

Bard is the Cath of choice for this girlieman.

I think the brand of catheter can make a difference also.

I have to self cath every time I have to go (in case that makes anyone feel any better about having to do every other day). I started with Bard 16 and then bought Kendall 16 to save a little money. What a waste of money. The Kendall is softer material and I think the holes in it are smaller as well. Takes forever to drain my neo with the Kendall but the Bard lets much more flow through and it is easier to get to where it needs to go.

Mike

Warren, the Coude tip will help alot. That is what I use. A #16 semi rigid, red rubber coude tip. I tried a non coude tip, and had trouble like you. The tip will help you "make the turn" big time. I am still cathing every other day, and still belly aching about it.
I look forward to the day when I can stop. But for now, it has become a way of life, and I am dealing with it. It is keeping me open, which is the goal.

Happy Cathing, Jim

It's been a while since I've been on the forum, so I thought I'd give you all an update. I had been self-catheterizing for a few weeks when one day the catheter just wouldn't go in. I stupidly figured that the stricture had suddenly tightened and was determined not to need surgery again, so I kept trying. It ws not painful, but I did not succeed and bled like a pig. We were supposed to see my son in Chicago in a few days and I was a wreck. My urologist assured me that the stricture couldn't tighten so muchso fast and encouraged me to try again the next day with a 16 fr catheter. All went well as ifnothing had ever gone wrong. I switched back to th 18 fr catheter and things were OK.
At my follow up visit he said we should go to every other day catheterizing. Well, 3 out of 4 times I had difficulty passing the catheter. And that last attempt was s compete no go. I learned from the first time not to injure myself trying. On Monday I had to cancel my morning patients and went for an emergency cystoscopy. My stricture is wide open, but I have a depression in the urethral floor just before it curves up toward the prostate so the catheter is trying to go straight ahead when it should be turning upward. The solution: a coude catheter. So far I've done it once without any trouble. He switched me to every 3 days so tomorrow is my next attempt.
I'm still sore from October's surgery and Viagra has not helped with the dead organ which resulted. When I ask if my recovery is unusual my urologist answers that it was a very dense stricture and a difficult surgery.

Warren, I hope this will take care of your problem once, and for all. I had a Cystoballoon Tuesday to open me up. So you are not the only one at home with a catheter or "dick stick" as I call it. I should be able to take mine out today or tomorrow if my urine color stays good. Hang in there, we will be better off in the long run. Jim