Going from a Foley to self-cathing?

Hey all, my radical hyst was on the 15th. I was told beforehand that I would be sent home with a cath. I thought it would be a self-cath, but instead it's a Foley. On Thurs. my onco will be removing the Foley and giving me a self cath to take home. How does this all work out? She hasn't mentioned anything about blocking th foley to build my bladder before then. I'm worried I'll be sent home to self cath and that my bladder won't be able to function right. Actually my fear is that I'll have "accidents" moreso than not being able to go. Anyone else change from one to the other without building the bladder in between??

Hi Vega,

Thought I'd give your post a bump up.

I don't know much about self-cathing, but I do know about foley's...I was never so happy as to be rid of that thing

Actually, after my hyst, I ended up with a foley for 2-3 weeks, and when it was removed, I could go on by own - no bladder retraining required.

Maybe the self-cath is just in case you can't go. Did you have any bladder work done at the same time? From what I've read, most sisters that self-cath do it because they have trouble retaining urine, or cannot go. But, maybe you won't have any of those problems.

Good luck on Thursday!

Dee

Welp, I found out how they do this LOL They do the typical voiding trial, and if you don't get enough out, but aren't too far off...you either learn to self cath or get the foley put back in. I learned, but I'm not sure I'm doing it right. I was having problems earlier, so I tried self cathing...nothing. I thought maybe I did it wrong. Waited an hour and tried to go again, little came out, tried self cathing, started to flow...then stopped, like a switch was flipped to "off". But only a little came out! I did move a tiny bit right before it stopped. Anywho, now I'm uncomfy from sticking myself so much. But the bladder seems to be getting better at emptying. I haven't tried the cath again because I'm getting stuff out...and I"m not in any pain from it. The nurse told me to go on my own first, then I "could" use the cath...but she didn't say if I should do that every time, a few times a day, or what...and I didn't think to ask!

I had to self cath after most of my surgeries. Bladder sling, bladder sling cut, bladder sling cut again.and the cystocele repair. each time i have had to self cath. it is not so bad. Just make sure you get those thin plastic catheters. At first i had to do it every time i voided, but then when your residuals get low enough, maybe twice a day. it is not that bad and It better than that foley. For me that was the worst. sue

I decided to try the self-cath again, just in case... (no pain, no feelng full). Again, very little came out. I'm just worried that I'm doing it wrong. It starts off real good, to where I think I'm retaining more than I'm aware of...then stops after voiding very little. I'm gonna wait until bed tonight and see what happens then.