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  • neobladder home care

    Posted by briteleaf on January 19, 2023 at 4:43 pm

    I am getting a neobladder surgery in a few weeks. Trying to figure out what kind of supplies I will need for homecare. Currently, I have a bladder with no feeling of fullness, no feeling a need to urinate and no ability to urinate. I self-catheterize 4 times a day. So, I already have plenty of catheters and lubricant. Should I get diapers or urine absorbent pads? Cotton? Vibrating alarm watch? Mattress protection? Hoping someone who is post surgery could give me some ideas. 

    VinceD replied 1 year, 10 months ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • vinced

    Member
    January 20, 2023 at 8:02 pm

    Things I would make sure that I have prior to home release:
    1. Several bottles of .9% sodium chloride wash. Your doctors/nurses will be using this to rinse out your neobladder several times per day. I am 10 months out from surgery and still use it once a week to make sure I get the mucous rinsed out of my neobladder. There will be a ton of mucous in the early stages, this gets better over time, but you will always have some in your urinary tract. You will be rinsing a lot, every few hours to begin and you don’t want your urinary tract or catheter line clogging up.
    2. 50-60ML catheter tip syringes to irrigate with the saline. They will send you home with these and they are reusable. Try to get your hands on a few extras so you have them in case you need them.
    3. Bed liners. There are several types of disposable and washable liners. 
    4. Wound care… tape, bandages, cleaning supplies. Again, they should send you home with them, but make sure you have enough to change your bandages daily if need be. 

    Once the foley catheter is removed you should make sure you have some depends type undergarments for night time incontinence if you do not use a condom type catheter solution as joea73 recommended. I use pad liners in my underpants during the day (though I hardly need them), and undergarments at night. 

    A neobladder is a wonderful thing. For the most part I can do pretty much everything I was able to do pre-cancer. The only issue is occasional drip when sneezing or doing heavy lifting/sudden movement. Nothing the liners can’t handle. Set your expectations accordingly. It’s no longer a muscle, so night time bladder control may remain an issue even long after the surgery. For me this isn’t a huge issue, and it can largely be managed by managing your fluid intake prior to bed time and getting up every ~4 hours to empty your bladder. If you easily fall back asleep like I do, the interruption is nothing.  

    I wish you a quick recovery!

    Vince

  • joea73

    Member
    January 20, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    I know a couple fellows who chose to use a condom catheter at night though they are continent.  They say they can sleep through the night without worrying about accident while sleeping.

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