home with foley for a week

Well I made it home on Wed. & Dr's said surgery went extremely well. When I woke up in recovery they told me I would probably be going home the next day, everything went so well. I had a LAVH/BSO with an additional procedure to restructure my inner labia that had grown to outer labia. Tuesday after the cath. was removed though I could not release my bladder fully after a temp cath. to drain me and several tries and walks to try and get things moving again, I spent one more night in the hospital with the cath. and we tried again on Wed. no such luck so Doc said I would have to go home with foley cath. for 1 week to give my bladder time to heal (both bladder and bowels were involved with the endo.) and then everything should be working well again. I tell you this is a real eye opener and I am praying that things start to work correctly again!!! I really feel for anyone that has to have a permanent leg bag, etc. this is not at all fun and is not at all comforatable on the fresh incisions of the labia repair. I can not sit up and it is causing stress on my back. Other than that all is good and I feel better than when I went in, I am sorry I am whining, I just know that all of you understand!!! Thanks again for always being there for me!

Hugs,
Aimee

Oh, Aimee,
This was my first experience with a foley catheter and I don't envy you your extra days or the extra pain of your labia repairs. I kept getting mine kinked and wondered why I felt like I really had to pee? You right it must be so hard to have one all the time. I hope all your pipes start working soon and your pain eases as well. Keep us informed and I hardly think this counts as whining. So you still have a few good whines due your way. Take care,
Marg

Oh lordy hun *I feel for you....I now caths are no fun at all..When they removed mine the nurse said we will give you 4 hours to fill the lil thingy they have for ya up before we cath ya...And then she says just lay down sleep & get some rest hun..I was like heck no I only hvae 4 hours to fill the dang thing..So I spent the next 4 hours drinking water like crazy & trying to pee all I could..right at the very last few minutes did I pee & boy I mean pee lol..So they let me come home without the cath...I was so glad..I will keep ya in my prayers hun that all starts working well soon & the cath will be gone very soon...

I had mine in for ten days, and it was no fun. My surgeon did tell me later that most women who have to go home with a catheter actually recover more quickly. His theory is that having the catheter in slows you down and keeps you from doing too much too soon.

Regardless if that's true or not, once the catheter was out I recovered pretty quickly. I should warn you though that not everyone else is going to be as excited as you are about your new-found ability to pee all by yourself when the catheter is removed. My mother actually hung up on me after I'd rambled on and on about how wonderful it was!

Aimee,

Oh, you are not whining! Are you kidding? That must be so uncomfortable and I think you are a real trooper. I thought my foley was uncomfortable, but I didn't have to come home with it and I can't even imagine how it feels with the labia repair. ouch!

Hope the foley is gone soon and the rest of your recovery is easy.


janelarson,

you crack me up!

I had almost forgotten how incredibly focused I was on my ability to pee on my own once I got home, but you reminded me. I felt like a two-year-old, and you are absolutely right, the only people who understood the significance of this achievement (!) were here at Hystersisters. It's amazing the things that become important after this surgery.

Hi guys! I sure did need to read your entries tonight! I am post op 1.5 weeks and I still have my cath too. Sorry if I'm repeating myself. I wrote about this a few days ago. Last Tues. I took my cath out at home and all went okay. The stream sure wasn't anything to get excited about but I was going. Then that night I woke up at 0400. I needed to go badly. I got so nervous and uncomfortable. I'm a nurse so I know how to cath people. I actually had to teach someone how to cath themselves before. But, at 0400 I forgot all of that. I called the doctor in a panic. The doctor calmed me down. I ended up self cathing. Boy am I going to be a better nurse after that experience. I will never say to anyone again "don't worry you'll be fine..." Now we will go week by week he said. I'll try again on Monday. I am trying to drink a lot of water and take anti inflammatories to help with the swelling. I hope it works for all of us!

I'll be thinking about you guys. Meg

Thanks everyone for your support, it's been a really emotional day and your words helped to cheer me - even if only for a moment or two. Tommorrow is a new day

Pyung Ahn,

Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day for you, and all the days that follow as well.

Barbara

Oooh, bummer! I had to bring mine home but got it out the next day at the dr's office, and I thought it was awful. Had been doing too much at home and got nauseous in office, nurse fussed at me (but she was right). Had to go back later in the day and see if I'd pee enough and thank the goodness it was. A whole week--yuck! I sure hope you get to doing better real soon.