what scares me most is not being able to pee and the catheter (having hysterectomy 3/6)

There was no catheter pain thankfully, but the way the tube was laying determined if it was working or not. I guess they get kinked. Taking it out was easy, have someone ask you a question like "what road will you travel on to get home?" And before you can think of an answer it will be over. When you pee the first time without the cath be prepared to see blood; that's the extra surgical blood that has been sitting in there from your surgery (I had cervix removed). It freaked me out until I was told nothing was wrong and I couldn't rip my stitches while trying to pee. Ask the nurses to leave the bathroom; my 3 wanted to watch?! Best of luck to you!

I too am afraid of this same thing and I will not even find out my surgery date until March 14th! I have been fine up until the other day when I told my place of employment that I would be having surgery and then the horror stories started:-( Good luck to you!

For those of you who are worrying about a catheter, I must say that it was a total non-event for me when they took it out. I've never had a catheter or surgery. But given that I was strapped up with pain and anti-nausea meds and knowing I had incisions, I was so grateful not to have to get up to go to the bathroom! I had bladder spasms (reaction from removing my largest fibroid which had been putting pressure on my bladder), so again great to have catheter instead of wanting to run to the bathroom constantly only to discover there was nothing going on.

My surgery was March 3. they put the catheter in when I was out. I had been worried but when I woke up I was so thirsty and drank so much water it was a relief to not get up all the time to pee. I went home that night with the catheter. It was only bothersome if the tube got moved around a lot but even that wasn't too bad. Went to the doctors office the next day and she removed it while I was standing. Felt a small pull and it was out! I had to go frequently and small amounts at first but now it's getting more normal. No pain at all and no bleeding. Like a lot of things the worry was worse than the reality. Hope yours is very easy!

I had a little trouble peeing after the cath came out yesterday. Nothing came out the first time i tried. The next time i tried, i just sat there until something happened. Probably took about 5 minutes, but i didn't want to force anything. It was worth the wait! It did sting a little bit because of the cath being in, but it got better after the next few times. Good luck today! You'll do great!

Taking it out should not hurt, maybe just a little sensation as it comes out. Once they deflate the balloon it should just slide out quickly!

I had a TVH and bladder sling Feb 19th and the catheter was wonderful for that first day and night. I did get up and walk for a bit that evening, just took all the equipment with me on the IV pole. Taking it out was a bit painful for me, I am guessing because of the sling incision? But it was maybe 2 seconds of pain, then relief that it was out. And I have had no issues emptying my bladder since, other than being slow to start. I was forewarned that could happen because of swelling so I haven't been concerned about it. I also had some leakage the first couple of days if I let my bladder get too full, but now I can sneeze and laugh and cough and not even a drop! Of course it hurts like heck, but that will go away.

I wouldn't have ever known I had a catheter in, except that my urine had been died blue to check for any leaks when they were done. So I'm assuming that's how they put the dye in. It was in and out while I was under, no pain and no problems.