My Urologist Visit

Went to my urologist for a four month checkup. Nothing happened during that visit other than he was going to have his nurse setup an appointment for me with another specialist out of town. I told the doctor that my bladder is getting worse. I have to use 3 to 4 Dry 24/7 diapers a day to keep dry. He didn’t say anything about it.

So Friday, his nurse called me with appointment information. While talking with her, I asked her if she would ask the doctor if I could use a Foley catheter for a while to give me a break for a little bit. The Dr. agreed and the nurse said if you can come into the office before they closed that she would put one in me and hook me to a leg bag. I told her I would be there as quickly as possible.

When I got there, she took me back to an exam room that she had all ready for me. While she was getting her gloves on and starting to open packages, I just dropped my pants, took off my soaked diaper, got a wipe out of my bag and started wiping my diaper area. Doing this while the nurse and I was just chatting. This nurse is a young nurse and very cute too. She joked about me wiping myself, she said, you don’t have to worry too much about that cause I am going to use what I have to wipe you again. So I lay down on the exam table with my pants down. She spread my legs some and put a glass measuring cup between my legs. They use them to drain the bladder into. She put the catheter in me and let it drain. Neither of us could believe how much I had in me. I told her I no longer can tell when my bladder is full; it just goes when it wants to. Once I was all drained she started to hookup the leg bag but dropped a strap in the urine. Once she got out another strap and finished, I got up and pulled up my pants. She left the room to go get me a night bag so I don’t have to wear the leg bag while sleeping. While she was out, she found me an extension tube so that I could wear the leg bag down at my calf. So I dropped my pants again and she knelt down and moved the bag down my leg. She told me if I have any problems to call her and that in about 6 weeks she would take the catheter out and I would go back to my diapers.

What was so interesting to me was I didn’t have a care in the world when I dropped my pants and started removing my soaked diaper. I didn’t give it a second thought and she didn’t have to tell me to get undressed either. When I lay down on the table she pulled the curtain so if someone walked in the room they couldn’t see what was going on. I didn’t even think about that when I was standing there wiping myself. Someone could have walked right in while my pants down, soaked diaper in hand, but I am now starting to get to the point that I don’t care.

I agree cheking i became the same wya as you are. After a while of dealing with the same docs and the same nurses you just lose that embaressed thing and get whatever thing done to you quickly. The bad part was that other then my incontinence i was for the most part healthy otherwise. And my doc and nurses were both females. My doc was about 40 something and attractive but not hot either, but my nurse there was in her late 20's and hot as hell . When i first went there they gave me the diaper and showed me how to do them up properly by showing me . yeah i was beat red the first few times, but after it just got to be another appointment for me. My nurse there always pated my butt when leaving she got a kick out of it and after a while so did i , it was kinda our joke type deal. but your right after a while you just lose that "ohh god im in a wet diaper standing in front of a woman and she sees me" thing!!!

Checkingoutall,

Please keep us informed about your experience with a Foley catheter as an alternative to diapers. Sometimes, when I'm totally disgusted with the drudgery of diapers 24/7, I wonder about a Foley catheter. But then I tell myself that one UTI would be worse than a little diaper rash.

I hate cath's fpr that very reaon!!! I dont mind my diapers anymore as much as i used to. Well being in them only at night helps alot but still cath;s suck way more then diapers do in my opinion

Not only do I normally wear diapers 24/7, but the doctor wants me to self cath 4-5 times a day. The nurse never showed me how to put on a diaper but one of them did work with me, teaching me how to self cath. 😳 At that time, I had to cath because the medication the doctor had me try shut down my bladder and the only way I could pee was using a catheter.

My urologist has never said anything about diapers. :'( I personally feel that he doesn’t think wearing diapers is a option for someone my age.

Using a Foley, I have never gotten an UTI, but using the intermittent catheters all time, I was getting them a lot. My bladder is so messed up that the only way I could tell I had an UTI was the color and smell of my urine. One great thing about using the Foley is that I don’t have to worry about my fluid intake; in fact, I always increase it so that the bladder doesn’t go to log without getting fluids from the kidneys.

I have mixed feelings about Foley catheter or diaper. I love my diapers. 😁 I am dealing with an internal abdominal wall tear that isn’t healing very well. I have found that when I am hurting real bad from it, that if I keep my bladder empty, helps the pain some. With no pressure pushing on the tear from inside helps some on my pain. During this time it will allow me to take a little less pain pills.

I don’t want to live full time with a Foley because I want to enjoy sexual pleasure without it too.

I had about the same reaction as checkingoutall. No embarassment at all. For some reason I lost all voluntary control of my bladder. It just fills and empties as it sees fit. When it first started I tried diapers but didn't like them. I like tor remain acitive but would flood every diaper I tried and having it run down my leg. My urologist first suggested trying a Foley for a week to see if that helped. After a week eveything was still the same so he tried for two weeks. When that didn't work, I told him to quit messing around. Put it in and leave it. He said that was fine as long as I came back one a month to get it changed. It has been in for three months now and I would hate the thought of going back to diapers. With the Foley I can live a more or less normal life. With diaper I was always afraid to leave the house for embarasment I am considering having a suprapubic catheter put in to allow for normal sex. My urologist is recomending it but that is a big step.

I'm currently trying my first foley; all the external devices have been unreliable or painful (adhesives not nice to my skin). We'll see; after diapers for about 5 years, I don't have much objection to them, but looking for alternatives that might be more comfortable overall---underpants feel good!

Gimwet

I have to wear 24/7 and have to intermittent cath 4 times a day. I've grown to love my diapers but have to admit that sometimes a diaper and intermittent cathing is just not convenient. I really hated cathing in public rest rooms and lots of times would just skip it but that led to UTI's. After talking to my doctor he let me try a foley. The first day or so was a bit unpleasant but after that you don't even know it's in and it is so much more convenient to just empty a bag. Been using a foley on and off for about 5 years and really like it. But I also really like wearing a diaper so sometimes I just disconnect it from the bag put on a diaper and let it drip into my diaper. I don't do it for very long because I don't want any problems. I haven't let my doctor know that I do this because I'm sure he'd lecture me not to.

When you say you have been using a foley off and on for five years how much of the time are you using the foley? Most of the time or only some times? Don't mean to get personal. Just trying to adjust to my own situation. Have a good holiday season.

As to the question about using a Foley, how long will differ from person to person. When my doctor started me using a Foley, I used it for about 3-4 months straight. Now I only use a Foley when I am going to be away with a large group for the weekend. I find it's easier using a Foley during those time instead of trying to carry and conceal my diapers. When I do use a Foley, I keep it in for at least a week or two. It also depends on how bad my bladder acts up while using a Foley. I personally prefer my diapers.

I have tried Botox Bladder injections to see if they would help me use less diapers, but so far they haven't worked the way the do on others.

Thanks. That's good information to know.

Like checkingoutall said it's different for each person. My doctor told me that the longer the Foley was in the more likely I was to get an infection. So when I first started using Foleys he would only let me go 2 or 3 days with it in then have it out for a day or so then Foley again for 2 or 3 days. This progressed to letting me have one in for the workweek,Sunday to Friday and now the minimum time it's in is a week but sometimes up to a month. My bladder act up less with a Foley. I still prefer my diapers but sometimes a Foley hooked up to a belly bag is just so much more convenient.

Does your doctor let you put the foley in yourself? My doctor insists that I go to his office and have the nurse do it.

At first the doctor or the nurse put it in, now I do it myself myself

Each doctor has what think is the right way to use Foleys. As I may have noted, mine changed it out about every 4 to 6 weeks. After I had the Botox injections, I started buying my own and putting them in. The cost to have the doctor to do it was getting out of hand. They taught me to self cath, so putting in my own Foley isn't that hard. This isn't something that I recommend, it just some of the ways I have learned to deal with my incontinence.

I have never tried a Foley. I cath 4 times a day, new cath each time, clean the area, soap and water, use latex glove's, clean the penis with iodine, use sterile lubricant, and still get infection's. When using the Foley, is the rate of infection's reduced? I use Guards during the day, and Diaper's at night. I don't mind either pad, as it's sort of erotic. The worst thing about the cath, is so many restroom's are filthy, and have no privacy.