Because of my paralysis, my brain is unable to communicate with the muscles of my butt or bladder. Thus,I am unable to pee or poop without assistance. I had a supra pubic catheter installed a couple of years ago. A supra pubic catheter is a hollow tube that is inserted through the lower abdomen into the bladder to drain out. The tube attaches to a leg bag during the day and larger bag at night.
Although this has simplified my life to a degree, there are potential complications. Infections, catheter blockages, and urine leaks can happen. I’ve been hospitalized several times because of UTIs, though it’s been a year since that last happened. Let me tell you of an episode I just had.
I had an adventurous trip to the urologist on Monday, March 27. I was there for my monthly catheter change when my bladder started to have spasms.
This isn’t good, I thought.
Sure enough, when I got into the exam room with the nurse, I had urinated all over myself. This would not have been a big deal had I been wearing briefs. Instead, I was wearing underwear. Fortunately, I wore tear away sweatpants, which made it easier to change my catheter and clean me up.
So goes the life of a quadriplegic. Stuff like this used to derail me emotionally. I would feel humiliated. Now it does not phase me all that much. It helps looking at the bright side to even the darkest moments. In this instance, what better place to have issues with urinating than a urology office? Plus it’s only a five minute drive back to get cleaned up.
I’ve had no issues since then. We are increasing the frequency of changing the catheter to every three weeks rather than four. And I’m still wearing underwear!
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