Guest guest Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 This is something I always thought too, but it's not the case. The nerves to the muscle of the bladder cause it to spasm and then that can " squirt " urine back up into the kidneys causing damage. That's why they want people to cath so often and so soon after discovering this. Lawliss creator of www.vitalcard.net mom to 3 great boys Re: Self Cathing Hi all, After I had my surgery in 1979, I began cathing on my own. We used red rubber catheters and we did it sterile. My Mom would boil the catheters and iron them(I dont' remember why) under a thin towel. Then she would roll them up and place them in zip lock bags for me. The rubber catheters were good in the sense that they were flexible and could be rolled up. Back then, I wore the long tube socks(two pair to be kool, lol) and the catheters slide nicely into my socks. They were hardly noticeable. The bad thing about the rubber catheters was that they flexed and you had to use lubricant. I kept a little packet with me at all times. That also went into my sock. I would use the catheters only once and then my Mom(god bless her) would go through process again to sterilize them. I cathed every so many hours back then. It didn't matter if i was full or not. I have been fortunate that I never had to wake up at night to catheterize. After a year, we decided to switch doctors. Our new urologist said that if we cathed frequently enough, it didn't need to be sterile. That made things a lot easier and ever since then, I have not been using sterile catheters. I no longer catheterize according to the clock. I cath when I feel full(usually every 2-6 hours, depending on what i drink). Now I use Mentor 14 Fr. - 16 " catheters. I buy them in medical supply stores. I use them many times and a box of 50 will last me 3-4 years. When I am finished emptying myself, i take the catheter out, rinse with water, dry it off, roll it and wrap in toilet paper. I then place it in a small coin purse. I dont use lubricant since the catheters don't flex like the rubber ones. The mentors I use are made out of soft pliable medical plastic. Bill wrote: My Uro says I need to start self cathing on a more regular and consistent basis. I was wondering if any of you do it regularly and: - Do they sell any wipes or anything that can quickly sterilize the catheter so u can just go in a stall and use it Would a simple alcohol wipe do? - How do you sterilize it between uses? - Do you just wash it w/ soap and water before each use? - How long can use reuse them? I know they're supposed to be for a one time use but realistically to make them more cost effective w/o putting yourself at risk Any other input is welcomed as well, Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Hei I cath may self 6 times a day.. and my catheters are not reusable.. why do you have to use reusable... Beate > My Uro says I need to start self cathing on a more regular and consistent > basis. I was wondering if any of you do it regularly and: > > - Do they sell any wipes or anything that can quickly sterilize the > catheter > so u can just go in a stall and use it Would a simple alcohol wipe do? > - How do you sterilize it between uses? > - Do you just wash it w/ soap and water before each use? > - How long can use reuse them? I know they're supposed to be for a one > time > use but realistically to make them more cost effective w/o putting yourself > at risk > > Any other input is welcomed as well, > > Thank you. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Hi,my son caths every 4 hours and he uses istacaths in their own jelly all sealed for individual use.Use it and bin it no need for all this pre cleaning nonesense. Beate Garmannslund wrote: Hei I cath may self 6 times a day.. and my catheters are not reusable.. why do you have to use reusable... Beate > My Uro says I need to start self cathing on a more regular and consistent > basis. I was wondering if any of you do it regularly and: > > - Do they sell any wipes or anything that can quickly sterilize the > catheter > so u can just go in a stall and use it Would a simple alcohol wipe do? > - How do you sterilize it between uses? > - Do you just wash it w/ soap and water before each use? > - How long can use reuse them? I know they're supposed to be for a one > time > use but realistically to make them more cost effective w/o putting yourself > at risk > > Any other input is welcomed as well, > > Thank you. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Wow that would be great but our insurance company won't cover caths at all and NY Medicaid only covers 2 boxes a month - hence the need to do all that cleaning and stuff. Lawliss creator of www.vitalcard.net mom to 3 great boys Re: Self Cathing Hi,my son caths every 4 hours and he uses istacaths in their own jelly all sealed for individual use.Use it and bin it no need for all this pre cleaning nonesense. Beate Garmannslund wrote: Hei I cath may self 6 times a day.. and my catheters are not reusable.. why do you have to use reusable... Beate > My Uro says I need to start self cathing on a more regular and consistent > basis. I was wondering if any of you do it regularly and: > > - Do they sell any wipes or anything that can quickly sterilize the > catheter > so u can just go in a stall and use it Would a simple alcohol wipe do? > - How do you sterilize it between uses? > - Do you just wash it w/ soap and water before each use? > - How long can use reuse them? I know they're supposed to be for a one > time > use but realistically to make them more cost effective w/o putting yourself > at risk > > Any other input is welcomed as well, > > Thank you. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Hi What a pain in the backside.Im in the UK thank god for the NHS. Its far from brilliant but I seem to get any medication/appliances I need when I need and as much as i want.I would hate to have to use reusables but then I am soooo lazy,ha ha. Vital Card wrote: Wow that would be great but our insurance company won't cover caths at all and NY Medicaid only covers 2 boxes a month - hence the need to do all that cleaning and stuff. Lawliss creator of www.vitalcard.net mom to 3 great boys Re: Self Cathing Hi,my son caths every 4 hours and he uses istacaths in their own jelly all sealed for individual use.Use it and bin it no need for all this pre cleaning nonesense. Beate Garmannslund wrote: Hei I cath may self 6 times a day.. and my catheters are not reusable.. why do you have to use reusable... Beate > My Uro says I need to start self cathing on a more regular and consistent > basis. I was wondering if any of you do it regularly and: > > - Do they sell any wipes or anything that can quickly sterilize the > catheter > so u can just go in a stall and use it Would a simple alcohol wipe do? > - How do you sterilize it between uses? > - Do you just wash it w/ soap and water before each use? > - How long can use reuse them? I know they're supposed to be for a one > time > use but realistically to make them more cost effective w/o putting yourself > at risk > > Any other input is welcomed as well, > > Thank you. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Less expensive and from I'm hearing it's pretty safe as long as you develop a technique for keeping them clean. _____ From: tetheredspinalcord [mailto:tetheredspinalcord ] On Behalf Of Beate Garmannslund Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 7:33 AM To: tetheredspinalcord Subject: Re: Self Cathing Hei I cath may self 6 times a day.. and my catheters are not reusable.. why do you have to use reusable... Beate > My Uro says I need to start self cathing on a more regular and consistent > basis. I was wondering if any of you do it regularly and: > > - Do they sell any wipes or anything that can quickly sterilize the > catheter > so u can just go in a stall and use it Would a simple alcohol wipe do? > - How do you sterilize it between uses? > - Do you just wash it w/ soap and water before each use? > - How long can use reuse them? I know they're supposed to be for a one > time > use but realistically to make them more cost effective w/o putting yourself > at risk > > Any other input is welcomed as well, > > Thank you. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 My insurance doesn't cover any catheters at all, so I reuse. The cost I would incur if I didn't would be pretty steep. Not that I don't think it would be well worth it, but since I can reuse them for a long time with a little cleaning, I prefer that to spending, (geez, $25 for a box of 30, 6 boxes a month to cath 6 times a day) $150 a month. --- Bill wrote: > Less expensive and from I'm hearing it's pretty safe > as long as you develop > a technique for keeping them clean. > > _____ > > From: tetheredspinalcord > [mailto:tetheredspinalcord ] On > Behalf Of Beate Garmannslund > Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 7:33 AM > To: tetheredspinalcord > Subject: Re: Self Cathing > > > Hei > > I cath may self 6 times a day.. and my catheters are > not reusable.. > why do you have to use reusable... > > Beate > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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