the catheter......!

I'm assuming that I will have one of these but for how long? I usually end up with problems urinating everytime I have one and I don't want to be bothered with it. Do I have a choice after surgery???

JB

Hi,

I'm not sure what the norm but mine was off the morning after surgery (when I could get up). Talk to your DR about your concerns, maybe there is an alternative?

Take care and Good luck!

Because they probably won't want you standing up for up to 24 hours after surgery (I know with my last c-section in 2000 they kept me flat on my back for 24 hours with a morphine drip -- it was wonderful, too!!) you will most likely have one for at least several hours. With my hysterectomy, they took it out the day after my surgery.

However, many women report they are able to pee almost immediately. For me it took about 30 hours or so to be able to do so on my own, and it took about 3-4 weeks for my bladder to really wake up and be able to hold any amount of urine. Of course, my bladder was almost completely adhered to my uterus, so that probably had something to do with that.