Upcoming hysterectomy 9/15: Ok... truly freaking out here!

Supposed to have a vaginal hysterectomy and rectocele, and had urodynamics testing last week, and do need a cystocele too. I went to talk to the urologist today to find out exactly what he is planning to do. He`s saying a uretheal sling.....all is well and good to this point,..... and then he tells me that after they take the cath out the day after surgery, that I`ll have to cath myself every time I pee for maybe a few weeks, to make sure my bladder is emptying fully. That freaks me out, plus the fact that if I`m not, that he`ll go back in and reopen the stitches in the vagina to either tighten or loosen the sling .....and that he would do that in his office!
The more I think about it the more freaked out I am becoming....both learning to cath myself and the thought of having any kind of procedure like that in his office! What do, they stick a needle inside of you to numb you before the do it?!?! Or just DO IT???? (Neither idea is anything I`m at all dealing with!
Can they not make sure that everything is working before I leave the hospital and fix it there by putting me under?
I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING LIKE THAT DONE BEING AWAKE!
Has anyone here ever had to do this?
Seems like if they send me home, not knowing if the bladder is emptying completely, that i would not have to cath myself, but could send a urine sample every week to the lab at the hospital...eventually it should show a bladder infection starting if the bladder is`nt working right in that way. (The past 3 months I`ve gotten a bladder infection each month because it`s not completely emptying, since the prolapse has gotten so bad.)
The cathing and the idea of the possibility of having a procedure like this done in his office is making me considering not having any of the surgery at all, I`m so freaked out by it. PLEASE let me know if anyone out there has had to deal with this before I change my mind about this whole thing!

i didnt have a vaginal hysterectomy and did not have my cervix removed so i don't know if that makes a difference but i had a urethral sling put in a few months ago. i didn't have a catheter. i had to pee before i left the hospital and at my follow up had an ultrasound of my bladder to make sure it was emptying. i was also told that if i couldn't pee or was retaining urine, i would need the sling adjusted but not in his office..at the surgical center.

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Originally Posted by dressedupinblue i didnt have a vaginal hysterectomy and did not have my cervix removed so i don't know if that makes a difference but i had a urethral sling put in a few months ago. i didn't have a catheter. i had to pee before i left the hospital and at my follow up had an ultrasound of my bladder to make sure it was emptying. i was also told that if i couldn't pee or was retaining urine, i would need the sling adjusted but not in his office..at the surgical center.

Thanks for your response.
An ultrasound sounds just fine! No problem dealing with that at all.
If my hubby could be shown how to cath me, and try it once in the hosp,.... if he could do it without hurting me, I`d even consider allowing him to do it once a week or so for a few weeks, till things start healing, just to see if I was retaining urine after peeing. (It would take longer than that for it to build up into a bladder infection. Presently that`s happening about once a month for me) So I can`t see doing it every time I pee, which they want me to be doing every couple of hours.My mind is simply refusing to consider doing that....it makes me just start shutting down completely and then I start considering having no surgery at all and just keep on living with all this prolapse and bladder infections,
I`m going to call the urologist tomorrow ....I feel I should have some say in what I am willing to do or not do, and then he will have the opportunity to help me find an alternative, or he may want to refuse to do the surgery if he so chooses, which he`d have every right to do.
I also need to know that if he does have to do a sling revision, that it would not done in his office with a just a local, but in the hospital while I`m asleep!
I was doing surprisingly well with all of these exams and surgeries coming up....until today when he told me I`d need to do this self cathing.....and now I`m just totally freaking out at the thought of it.

Hi stampit3d -

I cannot answer the self cathing, but for my surgery a catheter was installed after I was asleep. I woke up with it in, and it was left in until the next day.

We have lots of ladies on this site, so hopefully one with experience with this procedure will see this post and respond.

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Originally Posted by marestail Hi stampit3d - I cannot answer the self cathing, but for my surgery a catheter was installed after I was asleep. I woke up with it in, and it was left in until the next day. We have lots of ladies on this site, so hopefully one with experience with this procedure will see this post and respond. :

I hope there is someone out there that can tell me that the urologist will have a "Plan-B" concerning the self cathing to be sure I`m emptying my bladder fully.
I tried to calm myself down enough last evening, after super-stressing , more and more all day concerning it, and after I controlled my crying enough to try to see through the tears, I made myself put on my glasses, go in the bathroom, and using a mirror, look at myself to see the urethea opening. I know where it`s supposed to be, but my eyesight, at that distance, will not allow me to see the detail, and I do not want to be trying to learn, after just having a hysterectomy, rectocele and cystocele surgery, to make "stab-in-the-dark" attempts at finding it.
Even though the hubby is willing to try to help me, if he hurts me, then that`s off the table...plus he`s a really big man, and our bathroom is a "one-person-bathroom", where you sit sort of angled on the toilet, cause if you sit straight on, when you go to get up, you will hit your head on the wall in front of you, it`s so close. I do not see the two of us finding any way to work together on this project in such a cramped area. (Heck, we`d probably get ourselves wedged in there and have to have to call 911 to come with a GIANT can opener to get us out....and THAT would certainly give the EMTs something to talk about for the rest of their careers!)

Hugs! While I don't personally have self cathing experience over on the Pelvic Floor and Bladder Issues forum we have lots of ladies who had to self cath for a period of time. You do have to do it after you void. You cannot wait until your bladder is over full or you will end up with bladder spasms or an infection. It is very possible you won't even need to go home with a catheter. Bladders can be very sensitive but not everyone has trouble voiding after surgery. Here's a video about self cathing How to self cath

I could not find a place to click on anything that might be a video, so either I don`t know what i`m doing, or you may have forgotten to attach it(???)
I called the urologist office today and left a message about my concerns and shortly after a gal called me back to reassure me that there was not only a "plan B" but a "plan C" as well.
She said that most gals only have to self cath for 2-3 days, and some not at all, but she told me that if I wanted to try, that one of the nurses would help me BEFORE the surgery....and if I don`t want to, that they can take the cath out in the hospital, let me try on my own, then they`d do an ultra sound to see if I emptied completely or not. If not, then they could recath me and send me home with it for a few days. Then they`d have me come back in to the office and try again a few days later.
I`m so thankful that I have options!
She also said that she will be talking to the urologist to let him know what I`m experiencing and about our phone call. She said the reason he wanted me to do the self cath was because he feels it`s the best way to go, but that he will certainly be willing to work with me for what I want and need. What a BIG RELIEF!
I will watch the video if you can tell me where to find it though, in case I work up my courage to try the self cath.....not nearly so scary now, knowing that it`s not a requirement for having the surgeries.
You gals on here are the greatest!

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Originally Posted by stampit3d I could not find a place to click on anything that might be a video, so either I don`t know what i`m doing, or you may have forgotten to attach it(???)

To see the video, just move your mouse pointer to the words "How to self cath" and click with your left mouse button. It will go to another site, and start the video.

Wow, my surgery is in 2 weeks and my surgeon never said a thing about a catheter after leaving the hospital! That sounds scary & awful. I just know they are cutting my fibroids up, taking my uterus, tubes and cervix and they pull it out through vagina through a tiny incision up there and sew it up. This sounds awful, I don't blame you one bit...I'll be alone and will have no one to help me...self-catheter, I don't even get it...I hope this doesn't happen to everyone? So scared for this stupid surgery on too many levels. Well good luck, hope the cath thing works out for all of us!

[quote=marestail;1527304703]To see the video, just move your mouse pointer to the words "How to self cath" and click with your left mouse button. It will go to another site, and start the video.

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WOW! ....Now, I know I`m an old lady, and not very "Puter-Savvy", but I`ve never seen anything like that before!
I guess I did`nt find the video link, cause I had`nt happened to run my mouse pointer over the words, and I had no idea attaching a video like that was even possible! Ya learn something new every day!
Thank you for the video. I`m so glad to have been able to watch it, as it helps me know that, for sure, my first instincts, concerning self-cathing, were right for me.
While the video makes it less "scary", it also shows me that there is no way that would work for me, and if I had to do it, I would be canceling my surgeries and live with myself the way I am.
My Dr. wants me to cath or pee every 2 hours.....not only would that be the only thing i`d be doing when I got home, (besides washing towels, washcloths and equipment)
Also there is no place, or room, in my tiny house to lay out all those materials.....not to mention that I have arthritis and can`t even begin to close my dominate hand......and I have a "Potty-Cat" that thinks he has to keep you company and warm your ankles every time you go to the bathroom......(and if, for any reason you want to keep him out, then you have to listen to him crying on the other side of the bathroom door!) This whole thing would make me a nervous wreak!
I can much easier deal with the possibility of coming home with a cath for a few days, and then make the hour trip back to my urologist office every few days to have it removed to see if I can go on my own and completely empty my bladder. Hopefully will not have to repeat that too many times before things are working again.
It would be great just take it out the next day after surgery and find i`m be able to do that right away.....but we`ll see. I know a lot of you gals here have had to be patient to wait for that to happen, and so I may have a problem with it for awhile too....but at least I know there is a "Plan-B" that does not include self cathing!
Thank you again foir the video!