Hi i was wondering if anyone has had the same after experience as me. I had radical hysterectomy 10 days ago, had came to the hospital for the removal of my catherta. My bladder was passing urine but still holding a large amount. They are suggesting self catherisation if am able to do it today, did anyone else have bladder issues and did it resolve.
Hi Janey13
I was couldn’t wee a drop for a month following my RH in 2017, and was taught to self catheterise. At around 5-6 weeks post op I could wee tiny amounts and began to get hopeful. However, further treatment with chemo-radio put me back into total retention!
After completion of treatment my bladder function gradually improved over several months, but I was still retaining and the Urologist told me that if my residual volumes were more than 50ml I shouid carry on self catheterising.
Up until about 2 years ago, with residuals of 100-200ml, I was still self cathing every day. Enter a new Urologist who advised that aiming for less than 50ml residual was unrealistic, especially as I’m older (I’m in my 60s), and I should try self cathing less with a view to not doing it at all. Today I only self cath occasionally (my decision as I want to know if my retention gets worse) and so far so good plus no UTIs since 2020.
One thing to be aware of is that you should try not allow your bladder contain more than 500ml otherwise the bladder can get overstretched, which makes it more difficult to regain normal function. My team were a bit tardy with this advice and on a few occasions my bladder contained around 800ml but even so I eventually got a reasonable outcome.
I’m no expert but I think it’s very hopeful that you can at least pass some urine and you’re only 10 dyas post op. It’s a better start than mine and I eventually got an OK resolution - conflicting Urologists opinions apart! I’ve done lot of on-line searching to try and find other women who’ve had post RH urinary retention and I’ve only come across a couple who had worse outcomes than me.
x
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Thank you so much for your reply and sharingbyour story, its all a mind bogile. I am so sorry your journey hasnt been too plain sailing and you needed chemo etc.
I have been told to self catherta every time i wee and i probably am thinking will this increase chance of infection. At hospital before discharge i only had 50ml left from the catherta. 3 times at home i cant seem to get it in a pan to measure as i havent got large shells at home. They seem just a small amount is coming out from catherta. At glasgow we were told your bladder had to be less than 100ml of retention. Since being at hime at thinking theres inly between 30 n 50ml.
I was told to catherise until nothing came out at all, feel as if why the need when intially you would pass the test aslong as the bladder held less the 100ml.
I got the all clear from the pathology report on Thursday aswell and its hard to celebrate that with this hurdle still in the way but it does sound postive outcome eventually with reading your story. I also have no feeling at the top of my left leg and quite alot of pain an inflammation from the spinal i got aswell. Think i need to stop being hard on muself and just allow my body to recover at its own pace rather being upset with it
Your reply was very helpful thank u. X
Hi Janey13
One of the reasons my new urologist said why he considered I should be self cathing less (if at all) was to reduce the chance of infection. I was very surprised he wasn’t concerned about me retaining 100-200ml but he said it wasn’t that uncommon for someone of my age.
Over the past few years I’ve seen about 10 different urologists/continence nurses about my urinary retention and they all vary in their advice/opinions. Along with my various on-line activities, including shared patient experiences in Facebook medical groups, I’ve heard several times (in line with your advice from Glasgow) that it’s OK to retain up to 100ml urine. In my experience bladders can be temperamental and my retention is worse some days than others (my residuals actually range from 30ml to just over 300ml) but my urologist was more interested in what I usually retain.
You’re less than a fortnight post op, which is super early days, so defo be kind to yourself and allow your body the time it needs to heal.
x
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Thank u very much for your replies and advice very much appreciated and very helpful. X
