Mostly for the guys

[ponygirlmom]

I guess for the first couple of days I'll be real happy it's there....

I can't imagine it would be there for days. I've always heard that they want to get you up and walking within a day. Trips to the potty, or even shifting around to use a bedpan or bottle, would give you the moving around they want.

I wonder how long some people in the group used catheters.

 

[tomflies1]

different views

different views

Well, I guess this will be one of those 'surprises' when they go to take it out. Most of you said it's not a big deal, I'm going to stick with those thoughts. I've never really thought of the urethra as being very expandable. I didn't realize it was like a balloon on the end to hold it in place. Makes sense. Thanks everyone for the responses.

 

[gf1962]

You are not alone. It is a matter of gravity. When I had a cardiac ablasion in January had same problem. After several hours made them walk me to the washroom to go p. For me it is standing or the cath. If anyone tries to cath me while I am awake they will have to find and catch me first!

 

[sue943]

I think virtually everyone has a problem peeing when they have had an angiogram, as has been said, for us ladies it is a bedpan which means we are trying to pee uphill. Also trying to pee lying flat was akin to having an 'accident' and psychologically we hold back rather than pee the bed. I quickly discovered that the knack was to totally relax and just 'wet the bed', of course it didn't wet, it went in the bedpan as it was supposed to.

 

[aussie girl]

I just cheated, after the nurse left the room I half sat up so I could pee into the bedpan. It was several hours after the start of the " lie there and don't move " phase so I didn't think it would matter that much.
I had my surgery on a wednesday afternoon and stayed in ICU until friday late morming, they removed the cath friday morning, took me for a walk and then sent me to the step down unit.

Mary

 

[Jkm7]

Considering most of us gain much water weight during the surgery and are put on lasix to get rid of it, the cath is just fine!!! Saves many trips to the restroom. I had four drainage tubes and when they first took out my cath a nurse had to help me to the lavatory a number of times throughout the day and night until they removed the drain tubes. I couldn't possibly carry four drainage containers for myself.

 

[pamela]

My son's surgical ordeals when he was trying to save his arm, kept him in bed for long periods of time. He had extreme difficulty using the urinal while prone or even semi-prone. The nurses helped by tilting the bed to a more foot down position, just long enough for him to relieve himself and then he was made comfortable again.

I had to use a bedpan after my first cath simply because of the bleed that started once I stood up. After the first hour of clamping the second time, I had to ask since it looked like I was going to be there at least 3 more hours and I couldn't see holding it that long.

I lost all reservations about body function when I had a pelvic DVT 25 years ago. At that time I was flat on my back for 2 weeks with IV heparin and antibiotics. I'd just had my gall bladder taken 3 weeks prior to the discovery of the clot (it was about as big as a golf ball and presented as a baseball sized lump in my groin) and they'd done an emergency appendectomy the day I went to ER but learned to their chagrin, I was actually harbouring the DVT. Needless to say, I was on a whole lot of stool softeners and in a ward room to boot. Shy bladder and bowels be derned... When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

 

[ponygirlmom]

I lost all reservations about body function when I had a pelvic DVT 25 years ago....

Speaking of bodily functions, did anyone go on a liquid diet for 24 hours before surgery and/or have enemas to eliminate pooing ( <--- not the real medical term! ) 24 - 48 hours after surgery?

When I had my C-section eighteen years ago (planned, obviously) this is what the hospital did. But I asked my Dad (an anesthesiologist) and he said that at his hospital they don't do that now for heart cases, or most any cases. I can imagine that it's not helpful in a lot of cases because the patients might be in bed for a few days and will start eating and need to use bedpans, anyway.

 

[gf1962]

I should have read closer. As far as surgery is concerned u will have a urinary cath. It will be put in while you are asleep. After you are able to move around freely they will remove it. Not a problem. Before they discharge you from the hospital you willhave to p. If you can't the cath goes back in. They do have meds to help if u have issues.

 

[PairoDocs]

Just my 2 cents...

Just my 2 cents...

I am also a woman, and my husband was the patient. Because of his critical condition, he had to have the catheter inserted while he was aware and awake. He was being aggressively diuresed, and the ICU personnel needed to know exactly, to the milliliter, how much fluid he was putting out. We did try the urinal, but it filled up and spilled onto the sheets. He was also too exhausted to even use the urinal after awhile. So, he got a catheter...

Catheter stayed in postop until he was extubated. He got out of bed less than 4 hours after extubation, and the catheter was pulled shortly thereafter. Believe me, that tube stays in only as long as it has to, due to risk of infection.

Hot Day in Idaho,
-Laura

 

[Fred4]

Tom, thanks for posting this information. It's one of those issues that I suspect the docs never warn you about or discuss with you prior to a procedure. Personally, over thirty years of my life I have experienced almost every kidney stone procedure devised by the surgeons, and as a result, being able to urinate is a major, major issue with me during any procedure. I have had to make innumerable trips to bathroom when already tubed up, being prepped for an ultrasound or a percu or other kidney stone procedure, and the idea of now being able to sit up, or even roll on my side is to say the least, alarming. I am not sure what the heart doctors can do it about it, but knowing that it is an issue to be negotiated with them beforehand is very helpful.

Best wishes.

Fred

 

[perrypiratesdad]

The catheter is put in while you're asleep. but as for taking it out, believe what you want, but it was the worst pain I've ever had in my life. I suggest being very nice to whoever is going to take it out and begging them to be very, very gentle.

Heck no.... beg them to yank it out extremely fast so as not to agonize over it. Kinda like pulling a bandage off where it is over hair. Just do it fast and get it over with.

 

[Duff Man]

what a nightmare. Does everyone get the cath?

 

[Ana]

what a nightmare. Does everyone get the cath?

Yes. However, in my husband's case, it didnt hurt to have it removed. He said the worst part about post-surgery was pulling out the chest tubes, I think his pain meds were wearing off when they did it, but I guess it was the sucking sound that really squicked him out.

From everything I have read on these forums, people have as many differences as they do similarities in the way they feel and respond to pain, recuperation, reaction to meds, etc. My husband's anesthiologist told us right before the surgery that we could expect two things to go wrong with post-op care. He said he didn't want to scare us, but he also didn't want us thinking such major surgery was a walk in the park, either. The doc had minimally invasive valve surgery himself, and rattled off a list of things that happened to him during and post-surgery. And oddly, it was comforting to hear that and see him standing before us - a verfiable "success". I hope you can look at it the same way and that it may be of some comfort, rather than a source of anxiety.

I am wishing for the best of all possible outcomes for you.

 

[Jkm7]

what a nightmare. Does everyone get the cath?

Yes. Everyone has a cath after heart surgery. For almost all, it is not anything approaching a nightmare. Don't stress over that. The chances are huge it will not be a big deal for you.

 

[perrypiratesdad]

I have to agree. I was more apprehensive about it the first time, but after it was done, it was not that big of a deal. The 2nd time I had mine removed, it was no big deal as I knew what to expect. But again, have them do it fast just to get it over with (just like you would remove a bandage).

 

[Cooker]

what a nightmare. Does everyone get the cath?

Yep everyone?.and if you don?t behave they will yank it without deflating the balloon??.Let?s see?.should I worry about a small lubricated easy in easy out tube up my best friend or the fact that my chest has been wired back together, I have chest tubes and jumper wires in case my heart stops?????

 

[ponygirlmom]

My husband's anesthiologist told us right before the surgery that we could expect two things to go wrong with post-op care.

Oh, I would so totally be mailing him a bouquet of dead weeds after that! Or boinking him in the head with an oxygen tank.

All i have to say is, everyone had better be 100% positive before my surgery! i want to see some grandmotherly nurses and maybe Fred Rogers. And maybe I will, depending on what kind of meds I get!

 

[Ana]

Oh, I would so totally be mailing him a bouquet of dead weeds after that! Or boinking him in the head with an oxygen tank.

Oh, you had to be there I guess. The anesthesiologist's demeanor was so calm and friendly and he prefaced the statement in such a way as to come across as reassuring. It was the way we had been feeling quite alone and frantic in those ten days from diagnosis of CHF to OHS - he was the first person that we ran across who had valve surgery and could commiserate.

All i have to say is, everyone had better be 100% positive before my surgery! i want to see some grandmotherly nurses and maybe Fred Rogers. And maybe I will, depending on what kind of meds I get!

Oh my, yes. Carl was on vicodin which gave him what my mother termed "that 3 glasses of wine smile".

 

[Superbob]

Yep everyone?.and if you don?t behave they will yank it without deflating the balloon??.Let?s see?.should I worry about a small lubricated easy in easy out tube up my best friend or the fact that my chest has been wired back together, I have chest tubes and jumper wires in case my heart stops?????

Gosh, and I thought our dogs were "man's best friend."

Actually I didn't even give the pee-cath a thought until after it was out and the nurse gave me that tall container and said to pee into it if I had to go in the middle of the night (still couldn't get out of bed on my own, which meant peeing uphill without any spill-out).

What I feared was not the cath, not the chest wires, not the jumper cables etc, but the breathing tube. However, I wound up being glad for it because I wasn't breathing very well on my own initially)....We all have our fears, but with some help from the angels (in the ICU and elsewhere) we conquer them.