supra pubic catheter tips?

I went for my pre-op yesterday, and had a great visit w/my dr.- he answered all my questions. I will be coming home w/a supra pubic catheter, as I am having a bladder sling, too. I had the choice of that or doing a self-cath every time- I chose the supra pubic. My question is- how do you wear clothes w/this thing? I had planned to ride home in my new robe, but how do you snake the tube thru your clothes, etc.? My husband gets tickled just thinking abouth it Any tips on what to expect, care tips, etc.? Thanks

Hi Dec55em,

I had a supra-pubic cath after my surgery, and I also knew about it ahead of time. I think I stressed more about coming home with the catheter than I did about the surgery itself! I have to admit though, all that stressing was for nothing.

You will have a large collection bag and also a leg bag. The leg bag is much smaller than the other and it straps around your thigh very easily. There is tubing that comes out from where the s-p cath is inserted, there is a clamp and the tubing going to whichever bag you are using.

To take a shower, or to switch bags, you will just clamp the tubing and remove the tubing to the bag, and when you're done, just reconnect the bag, and unclamp the tubing to allow drainage. If you're wearing the leg bag, you can just slide your pants right over it. The nurses will give you some directions in the hospital before they discharge you. You may even have a visiting nurse that comes to your house to check on things. I declined the offer as I felt I would do fine without a visiting nurse. But, I work in the medical field so I'm pretty comfortable dealing with these things.

Once I was home, I was grateful to have the catheter. I drank lots of fluids and it saved me from having to go to the bathroom frequently, especially during the night.

If you have any other questions, I'm more than happy to try and answer them for you.

Best wishes and 'S

Yeah, I gotta admit, the catheter is more of a bugaboo than the surgery I think it'll be fine, though- I'll be at my mom's for @ a wk., and she and I both are pretty ok @ stuff like this- she had bilateral mastectomies several yrs. ago and came home w/drainage tubes we had to fool with, so I think we can handle a catheter Can you shower, etc. w/this thing on/in? Does the large collection bag just sit on the floor when you're in bed? Thanks for the help!

Dec55em, the large collection bag has a hook-like handle on the top of it. They will use it to hang it on the side of the bed when you're in the castle. Once home, when I was downstairs and on my sofa, I didn't have anywhere to hang it, so I just set it on the floor and leaned it against the sofa. If I had company, I would just let a light blanket that I had drape over it so it didn't stand out. In my bedroom, I was able to use the hook to hang it on the bedframe.

I was allowed to take showers and get the site wet, but my Dr. suggested using a hair dryer on low setting to thoroughly dry the incision from my surgery and where the s-p cath was inserted. To take a shower, I clamped the tubing and removed the bag altogether, then just reattached the bag after my shower. So, even though I had the tubing from the insertion site to deal with, it was easy to take a shower.

dec55em-- Hope I got your name right. I had my surgery April 23rd & came home with supra-pubic cath. Mine did not have a bag attached, just a valve that I could turn to empty if I could not do so on my own. I think that it is a plus over a straight-cath because their has to be less chance of iritation & infection. I just rolled the tubing up inside my panties. Had no plroblem at all. In fact, the doctor left it in for about 3 weeks + to make sure I didn't have ny problems. Everything went fine. Just think, you don't even have to pull your pants down all the way when your away from home. Good Luck! PS. Sorry I didn't see your post sooner----been on vacation.