Being admitted into hospital was, shall we say, an interesting experience. I reported to the Surgical Assessment Unit as directed but the receptionist didn’t know anything about me. She asked who referred me and I told her it was a Mr Ellis and to call him if there were any queries.
Things weren’t looking good when as receptionist couldn’t find Mr Ellis on the phone system and none of her immediate colleagues knew anything about me. I was politely informed I wasn’t allowed to sit in the waiting area as that was for patients who were expected.
After a few minutes of deadlock, a nurse arrived, dressed as the Blue Nun, and brought some news. Yes they were expecting me after all, through being fast tracked in. Before long I was lying flat on my back on a hospital bed. My new consultant was there, ready to examine my abdomen and also present were a junior Doctor and the Blue Nun. It was the consultant who started the conversation…..
“Tell me what you see”
“His tummy”
“No don’t touch him, before you feel him just observe and understand what you see. Tell me first of all the different areas of his abdomen”
The Blue Nun mumbled her answer. The junior Doctor joined in with some medical terminology. Turns out the Blue Nun was simplifying too much and the junior Doctor was over complicating according to my consultant. Eventually they agreed I probably had bulging bladder.
Next the consultant said to the Blue Nun “examine him with your hands and tell me what you find. Is it as you expect it to be? What is different?”.
The Blue Nun was very nervous but nevertheless complied. She even went as far as tapping her fingers on me over quite a wide area. This was followed by the consultant who then said he agreed with Mr Ellis and I had a distended bladder which needed draining.
It was decided that the junior Doctor would fit a catheter under the supervision of a nurse who was trained to do this. I can tell you that having a plastic tube shoved up my willy was a daunting thought but I really had no choice. They opened the kit and started off with a syringe of some clear gel being squirted down the urethra. I’m not sure if this was a lubricant or an anaesthetic but either way it was followed by a tube making me wince a bit as it was guided right up into my bladder. Another syringe was used to somehow inflate a balloon to keep the catheter inside my bladder.
Almost straight away urine started filling the bag clipped to the side of the bed. And then another and another. In fact there was 3.8 litres! The hospital staff all thought that was quite a lot and suddenly my tummy was flat again. Phew.
After twenty minutes I started to shiver and feel cold. I had pulled the blanket right up to my chin but I was still trembling. A nurse spotted this and brought me a couple more blankets, asking if I was okay. Turns out I was in a kind of shock and was reacting. Happily this faded away after a few more minutes and I started to guzzle jug after jug of water.
And so started my stay in hospital!
Hello Doug, so you had urinary retention. Did it come on suddenly? Was it caused by enlarged prostate? You said on your “Exercising with a Catheter” page that in November 2018 after the Foley was removed, you have to use an intermittent catheter for the rest of your life. Why is that?
I live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. On June 3, 2020, I had sudden urinary retention. I tried for 3 hours to pee and not a drop would come out. I went to the Emergency Department and they inserted a Foley and drained over 2 liters of urine. I was in ICU that night and a regular room the following night, then discharged on June 5. Today is June 25 and I have seen my urologist 3 times since I was discharged from the hospital and each time I did a void trial and failed. He prescribed Flomax twice a day (relaxes the prostate) and Bethanechol (causes the bladder to contract) three times a day. I asked my urologist approximately what percentage of his patients with this problem succeed with their void trial and he said around 95%. That was discouraging. He has diagnosed BPH. He says I need a TURP or HOLEP. So I’ve had this Foley for 3 weeks. I’m going to see another urologist at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans on July 17 for a second opinion. Ochsner is one of the premier medical facilities in the U.S.
I am 69 years old but like you have always been very physically active. I do elliptical 35 mins. at my gym (this is why I Googled and found your article on exercise with a catheter), 45 minutes of stretching, and weights – about 4-5 days a week. BTW, I have had no problems with chafing or anything else when doing to elliptical. As you know, this happening if life-altering. I just want to be able to pee again.
Your comment that you have to use an intermittent catheter the rest of your life scares me. I’m sorry this has happened to you. Look forward to your response.
John
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hi John
I am trying to remember if I replied to you separately, by email. I hope I did as it would be rude if I didn’t. Quite a lot of people contact me directly and sometimes it will be via a comment like yours.
Yes I had a catheter fitted through urinary retention, because of an enlarged prostate. It is rather a long story how this came about, perhaps for another time. The end result, as you have already clocked, is the on-going need for intermittent catheters which I manage easily and I’m almost ‘back to normal’.
Keep in touch and once again please accept my apologies if I missed replying to you sooner.
No worries at all, Doug. Thanks for your reply. Happy Christmas and blessings in the New Year!
I put my hands up to you I have an enlarged prostrate that sent me a bit daft in the and they only discovered mine almost by accident after I started peeing blood out I try not worry about it but its only for some of us to worry having not long retired to be facing a a barrage of health problems. They put me on some alpha blocker medication but I had forgotten I was allergic to these mess and would break out in blisters plus other side effects I’m glad your feeling better, I go to bed with itchy pains in all parts of my body and get palpitations. I was once checking my day before I set off home when I heard this voice say snap I looked there was this man in a motorised battery buggy I asked him what he was on his reply was the same as mine I said do you get any side effects the reply was no but he did seem very positive considering he’d been catheterised for two and half years I thought six months was bad enough but not everybody is the same all the best too you
I found this by accident, but so grateful. I’m on Day 8 of an indwelling catheter put in at ER. Tomorrow I terrifyingly go to the utility’s they referred me to. They will take it out, then give me a chance to urinate on my own so I’m hydrating well today, tonight, and first thing on way to early appointment.
Does anybody know what causes this? I had difficulty for two days, then on day 3 couldn’t pee to – literally – save my life.
Hi Jennifer,
I posted the comment directly above yours. In my situation, it turned out that I had an enlarged prostate which completely blocked off urine flow by pressing on my urethra. That started suddenly on June 3rd of 2020. I failed 5 void trials (what you are going to do tomorrow) – I couldn’t even pee one drop. I found a great Urologist and he performed a TURP on October 5, 2020 using green light laser to remove the excess prostate tissue that was blocking my urethra. I went home from the hospital with a catheter but it was removed 5 days later and I was able to pee again – after 4 long months. In fact, I’ve been able to pee even better than I did before the urinary retention started in June and haven’t had the indwelling catheter since Oct. 10th.
Of course since you’re female, you don’t have a prostate. I’m not a doctor but what it sounds like to me is that you could have a Urinary Tract Infection. UTIs can swell the urethra and make it difficult or impossible to pee, and that can come on suddenly. I read that UTIs are more common in females. Fortunately they are easily treated with antibiotics, usually orally. If you haven’t discussed this with your doctor, be sure to mention it tomorrow, especially if you still can’t pee after they remove the catheter.
Re my 5 void trials that I failed – each time they removed the catheter, I was very anxious that I wouldn’t be able to pee. I had very high anxiety that I would fail but that wasn’t why I couldn’t, as mentioned above. Try not to fret too much if you fail the void test tomorrow. I had to have the indwelling catheter for 4 months (from June 3rd to October 10th – it was removed 5 days after the TURP) and now it’s like a distant bad memory.
Another thing, ask your doctor about a drug called Bethanechol. It is an oral pill that stimulates the muscles of the bladder and makes it easier to urinate. It might work for you. In my case it didn’t because of the enlarged prostate. But about 20 years ago I couldn’t pee and my doc had to catheterize me and he determined I had a UTI and gave me a shot of antibiotics in the butt. He also prescribed Bethanechol. I was able to pee without any problem later that day.
Keep me posted about how it goes tomorrow. Good luck!
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-8620/bethanechol-chloride-oral/details
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-tract-infection/symptoms-causes/syc-20353447#:~:text=Risk%20factors,travel%20to%20reach%20the%20bladder.
Hi Jennifer
First of all, many thanks for finding my blog and leaving a comment. Here’s hoping everything works out for you, it sounds quite an ordeal but at least something positive is happening to resolve the difficulty. Hope you can leave a further comment with the outcome.