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Husband’s TURBT 03-11-15 – Catheter questions
My 51 year old husband had his first TURBT today and is home with a catheter. His tumor was large (left side and dome) and he has a large prostate. The procedure took longer than anticipated due to the anatomy of his bladder. He was in a lot of pain (8 out of 10) in the recovery room. I thought the pain may be a result of the amount of the resection. Nursing staff indicated regardless of the procedure, some patients experience significant discomfort when cathed while others tolerate it reasonably well. The 2 hour car ride home was an ordeal. Every bump in the road was felt and brought my husband to the verge of tears. The good news is that the pain is currently a 5 out of 10. The cath can be removed in two days. The doctor gave the option for us to do this at home in lieu of the four hour round trip to the hospital. My husband was initially reluctant about that before the drive home but is now all in favor. We got instructions on cath removal from staff and it seems relatively straight forward to do.
He was discharged with a large collection bag. The bag was placed on a clean absorbent pad on the car floor for the ride home. Keeping the bag low seemed easy enough, but I noticed fluid not draining or draining slowly from loops or bows in the tubing. The tubing suddenly seemed longer. We stopped the car to help with drainage. Once home and in bed, it seems like care is needed to make sure the back of the collection bag is not sucked onto the inlet port to the bag.
Any tips on managing the catheter are appreciated, especially 1. Any thoughts/comments about cath removal at home? 2. Is it okay to loop the tubing if the bag is always lower? 3. Can the night collection bag rest on the floor or should it hang from something lower than the catheter?
Thanks for the feedback.
Husband’s journey:
01/2015 1st cystoscopy
03&04/2015 TURBTs-CIS
07/2015 Finished BCGx6
08/2015 biopsy-BENIGN!
10/2015 Finished BCGx3
12/2015 Cysto, redness
01/2016 TURBT, Benign
04/2016 Cysto
05/2016 Finished BCGx3
07&11/2016 Cysto’s
1/2017 Finished BCGx3
2/2017 Cysto, redness
3/2017 TURBT, Cysto due 9/20175 Replies-
Thanks, Sneckie and Anita (DougG’s wife). The cath removal went well. The words of praise were it didn’t hurt any worse than when the scopes were removed in the doctor’s office after two different cystoscopies. My husband was so happy to be able to
walk about freely! He had been moving about the house with the cath but very gingerly.No issues with incontinence but as other forum contributors have described, the frequency is, well, frequent, about every 30 minutes. He is drinking more fluids and may reduce intake slightly, but maintain at least 8 glasses daily.
There is some blood spotting but not in the urine. The Dr. described the prostate as large and the source of the blood and that it should resolve itself as part of the recovery. Also, there will be more conversations about the prostate after the path report and bladder treatment is planned.
We have one day left of Cipro and Pyridium and have contacted the Dr.’s office about possible refills. Based on other forum topics, pyridium seems to be effective for many to have a gladder bladder.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences. The forum threads have been very helpful in planning for the TURBT recovery.
Husband’s journey:
01/2015 1st cystoscopy
03&04/2015 TURBTs-CIS
07/2015 Finished BCGx6
08/2015 biopsy-BENIGN!
10/2015 Finished BCGx3
12/2015 Cysto, redness
01/2016 TURBT, Benign
04/2016 Cysto
05/2016 Finished BCGx3
07&11/2016 Cysto’s
1/2017 Finished BCGx3
2/2017 Cysto, redness
3/2017 TURBT, Cysto due 9/2017
Madlove,
Glad things are going well. Doug put the big catheter bag in a plastic ice cream pail in case it leaked; this was also easy for him to carry around in the house.
When you wrote “The 2 hour car ride home was an ordeal. Every bump in the road was felt and brought my husband to the verge of tears.”, I thought to myself…oh yeah, I can relate. Makes you feel so helpless, doesn’t it?
Best wishes,
Anita (Doug’s wife)
Anita
Forum Moderator
Caregiver
I removed my own both times without any issues you may want to do it in the shower it may leak on the way out and he can clean up easy. I had 2 turbts 1 st one was long multiple tumors 2 were large and rest small. I Still have pain and go about every hour night and day my last turbt was on 2/9/15 I’m on peradium for pain it helps some. My new urologist put me on cipro last week and it has improved.
Thanks. We’re game for home removal of the catheter, especially since the pain level is much improved 24 hours plus out from post-op, about a 3 out of 10. I appreciate the comment about looping the tubing. Fluid intake and output are proceeding apace. The recovery nurse demonstrated emptying the bag and all has gone well. Thanks again.
Husband’s journey:
01/2015 1st cystoscopy
03&04/2015 TURBTs-CIS
07/2015 Finished BCGx6
08/2015 biopsy-BENIGN!
10/2015 Finished BCGx3
12/2015 Cysto, redness
01/2016 TURBT, Benign
04/2016 Cysto
05/2016 Finished BCGx3
07&11/2016 Cysto’s
1/2017 Finished BCGx3
2/2017 Cysto, redness
3/2017 TURBT, Cysto due 9/2017
Sorry you two are having such a hard time but I am glad you found us,welcome. Catheters as you are finding are a bit unhandy to say the least. And if it comes out in three days you will have just have gotten the hang of it when it comes out. I can tell you that they do come out easier than they go in. I would not hesitate removing it yourself if you are at ease with the instructions. If not had you thought of getting a visiting nurse in to do it? Visiting nurses can be found in most phone books. Also your family practitioner might also do it if you give them a call and tell them the situation.
The amount of urine you will see in the tube naturally varies as the urine is excreted by the kidneys. If you think there is not enough urine coming out you might want to up liquids. If urine stops coming out at all you need to call your Urologist and let them know as the catheter can become clogged after a TURB and the solution can be as simple as it needs to be irrigated.
Just make sure you keep the bag lower than where the tube exits the body. Looping the tube is fine many bags actually come with a little clip that makes it easier to do. Just make sure that the tube does not get a kink in it if you do so.
Always check with your doctor if you have questions or worries that is what they are there for. I hope this helps a little.
Cynthia Kinsella
T2 g3 CIS 8/04
Clinical Trial
Chemotherapy & Radiation 10/04-12/04
Chemotherapy 3/05-5/05
BCG 9/05-1-06
RC w/umbilical Indiana pouch 5/06
Left Nephrectomy 1/09
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