Living With A Urinary Catheter › Forums › Urethral Strictures And Their Treatments › I made it! › Reply To: I made it!
Steve,
I still have problems with my suprapubic, although its getting a little better in some ways. My nurse said they start to really mellow out after about two years, so people like us never see any real relief because we don’t have it that long.
I keep mine secured to my hip with a Statlock, then I tape it a couple of inches from the stoma so that the catheter is pointing down. Any other direction and the tip tends to push against the bladder wall. Also, if you have urine in the tube and it starts sloshing back and forth, that can change the pressure inside your bladder, which can give you spasms that you usually feel in your penis and not the bladder itself.
Cleaning is another issue. If yours weeps, like most of them do, then keeping the area clean really helps. I have to keep the hair in the area cut so that nothing sticks to it and starts pulling.
Yep, my surgery date is coming up. I’m anxious in a good way and bad. It’ll be nice to have this finally behind me, but surgeries are always stressful. It will be nice to have to get up in the night to pee. Never thought I’d think that.
Clayton