Peeing on my own after 4 wk foley catheter?

Hello everyone, I have a question.
I have a vescovaginal fistula after LAVH. I'm almost 6 weeks post-op & have been draining my bladder with a foley catheter in hopes my bladder will heal for 4 weeks. My uro thinks its healing but if she discovers it's not with the cystocope she'll do surgery. Either way the fistula will be gone but will I be able to pee on my own after this catheter is taken out? It's been in so long

Hi Ursula, I had a foley for 5 weeks, and was able to pee on my own right away, it was great!. Unfortunatly my vesicovaginal fistula didn't close, so I'm waiting for surgery. I pray that the foley is going to work for you. Let me know what happens.

Hi mojo1234,
Thanks for your reply. That made me feel soooooo much better.
My uro did a test where she filled my bladder to capacity then checked checked vaginally for leaks & couldn't find any. I've been told my fistula is less than 1mm. She'll know for sure when she uses the scope next week.
May I ask how you found out yours was still there? I believe it will be fixed soon. I've been told this is a highly successful surgery.
We're almost there, free at last!!!

Hi Ursula. That's great that she couldn't find any leaks. I had a dye test and cystogram that were both negative. So the URO was convinced that my 4mm hole was closed. My GYN could still see a hole very high in the vagina so the URO did a cystoscopy and saw the hole was still there and put a lot of dye in and the did dye come through the vagina. So he said that my fistula will not close at this point and that I needed surgery to fix it. I'm going in on Aug 5th. He said that he didn't use enough dye during the dye test. Your fistula is pretty small so your chances that's it's closed are really good.
Let me know what you find out when you have your scope done. I'm assuming you've had a scope before, but if you haven't they don't really hurt, they're just a little uncomfortable. Is she doing the scope under general or with local anaesthetic.? Mine were done with a local. Good luck!

Hello mojo1234,
So far I've never had the scope done. I had a cystogram done when the leak first appeared & it did show a small hole at the base of my bladder connecting with the stitch area. My gyno's removed a couple of stitches thinking that was the problem. I've been leaking less & less (vaginally) ever since. Last week I had a CT urogram (cat scan dye test) done & i didn't show any leaks. My uro scheduled me for surgery next week where she'll put me under general anaesthesia & check first with the scope, if no fistula is found she'll wake me up, take the cath out & I'll be done. If the fistula is still present she'll proceed with vaginal surgery & I'll have the cath for 2 weeks. She claims this is an easy surgery. Let's hope!
I'll be praying for you

Ursula, Good luck! If your hole is still there, it's way easier on you doing it vaginally. Hopefully you won't need surgery.