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Pain from catheter
Hi. I had a TURBT last Friday (thought I was going for a biopsy), which was immediately followed by an intra-bladder mitomycin treatment. I have not yet talked with my Dr since the surgery, but his nurse told me I have a papillary, urothelial cancer; I guess that means I’m lucky. I have an appointment in about 10 days and my understanding is that I will have another intra-bladder treatment.
Here is my problem. The BC diagnosis was made during a HoLAP (laser prostate reduction) because I was retaining 600+ cc of urine in my bladder. I had an indwelling catheter for about 6 weeks, until the time of my prostate surgery. When the first catheter was inserted I was told it would be a little uncomfortable, but not painful. The pain was intense, one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. After that I had several re-insertions (catheter, scope) while awake and while the pain is not getting worse, it is certainly not getting any better.
I dread having to go through that procedure again, though, of course, I must. The only thing I can think to do is ask the ‘inserter’ to apply some of the pain killer, but to wait a minute or so before they insert. But I am still told it is not painful, implying that I am over reacting.
Do any of you have a suggestion? Ed
Ed6 Replies-
I’m glad I found you gals and guys.
Ed
Ed
Hmmmm… That sounds like the numbing gel should do the trick for that. I don’t have any experience with pain at that point. Good thing since I have to self cath now ever time I go. Once my prostate was removed, I could probably use a garden hose without pain. (Figure of speach).
Unless they are taking a running start from across the room to insert the catheter… That would also explain it. :)
Mike
:blink:
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
Hello Ed,
Welcome to the party. Ed I’ve been dealing with medical problems
for almost twenty years. With my wife help and pushing, one of the first things i learned was you must drive your own boat or have someone like my wife who will not take no for an answer!!
While not enjoying the things i’ve been through i have had the
greatest doctors and nurses i could have asked for. But still
you don’t take no for an answer!! Don’t let them intimidate
you, even those at times we are in a poor position to speak up.
And yes it’s not just you, i have also had some very painful
caths. I never found the pain lotion much help. I had my Dr.
give me a Rx for oxycodone. Take one an hour before. Pain problem
solved. It may even help minimize the embarrassment of your position thing. Drive The Boat!!!
Hope this helps.
Duke
Thanks for the quick replies. My original post is unclear. My prostate surgery was done back in December and that is fine. My urinary retention was less than 30 cc when last measured. My TURBT, and mitomycin treatment,was a week ago today.
The pain is at the distal end of my urethra (area of initial insertion) and pain there continues until the catheter is completely inserted. After that, it is fine–no pain, no discomfort. The pain also occurs during catheter removal, but it is not so bad (perhaps because it is faster).
Ed
Ed
Ed,
The nurse or whomever told you it doesn’t hurt doesn’t have much common sense.
Your original problem was prostate constricting your urethra which caused urine to be retained in your bladder. By the way, I think that is a risk factor for bladder cancer all by itself as the longer urine stays in the bladder, the longer the carcinogens that the body is trying to expel through urine stay in contact with the bladder wall. No studies on that yet but it is a theory of mine.
In any case, if your prostatic sphincter is so tight that you have retention issues, it makes perfect sense that trying to push something through there would hurt like the dickens.
I had issues but it wasn’t super painful and it only hurt when they pushed through that spot.
What did help was having them put the numbing gel in there and then waiting for 10 minutes for gel to work.
Also some people have problems with small urethra which I would also imagine could cause some pain.
I think that laser reduction procedure actually takes a while to work so it could be it hasn’t reduced the constriction yet. You should talk to the urologist (not the nurse) about that.
Mike
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
Ed, I know it is different for the guys, but in 2001 when I had a surgery,I had a catheter placed right after surgery, while I was still “out”. When I did wake up the pain form the catheter was terrible. After complaining to my doctor, they took that one out and replaced with a different size – made all the difference in the world. Perhaps they have the wrong size?
Maybe some men will chime in soon.Nancy
Nancy S
Ta CIS
dx Ta 11/06
dx Ta CIS 10/07Sign In to reply.
