Foley catheter?

[mdax]

I can't believe you'd consider self catheterization instead of a she-p...that's seriously dedicated. Diapers seem like an obvious solution, or just experiment with different glues. Cora's found the halcyon pee valve, dual thongs, and glue experiment work pretty well...I told her about your thoughts of self catheterization and she winced and said no way.

 

[TSandM]

In fact, for females, placing a catheter is not that big a deal, nor is it that uncomfortable. But it IS an infection risk, and catheters aren't cheap and aren't reusable, and then there's the whole dripping thing . . .

 

[tracydr]

Yes, the infection is the big issue. But, many women do self-cath all the time.
im going to go with the She-P. just wanted to weigh all options. You've all helped me and this has turned into a fairly interesting discussion.

 

[Scuba Christine]

Dr Tracy,
Did you find an adhesive that works for you? Or did you find a way to secure it without?

Im generally allergic to adhesives and curious about another way to deal with drysuit pee needs -- I'm not quite ready to find out if I'm allergic to Adult Diapers.

 

[TSandM]

The She-P requires adhesive. I can't imagine any way to strap it to one's body tightly enough to avoid leaking. Whether it's glue or tape, or a combination of the above, sticky stuff is involved

Christine, if you are doing standard recreational range dives, you can live without a p-valve. I didn't have one in my suit for the first three hundred or so dives I did. If you're careful to empty your bladder just before donning the suit, and your dives are an hour or less, you may get out of the water pretty desperate to find the restroom, but you can do it. I went to a p-valve when my cave dives got long enough that holding it wasn't an option any more. I will admit that a p-valve is HANDY in a lot of recreational settings (for example, diving off a small boat with a bunch of guys) but you don't HAVE to have one. I'm quite sure the vast majority of women diving dry do not have them.

 

[Talulla]

Please Please Please DO NOT self catheterize.... I am new to diving, but not new to foley cath's. Foley's can cause so many different infections and problems. It can cause trauma to the urethra, bladder wall and if not done properly can cause extensive and permanent damage. Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) are extremely dangerous, especially as we get older. Day one of a dive you may be fine, but if you get UTI and dive a few days later, before any urinary symptoms occur, you can get very confused and disoriented. When you place a catheteter you are opening a two way valve that is not normally open, allowing for bacteria to get in. If the foley is not secured properly you can induced even more bacteria. Yes the likelihood may be rare, but is it worth the risk when there is an alternative? Even the Insurance companies are not paying for UTI's acquired in hospitals because they are preventable!

Just a little advice.....

 

[tracydr]

Thanks. I'd pretty much just given it a quick thought but after reading, seeing and discussing the she-p with some very experienced GUE Cave/Tech divers, I've decided to go that route.

---------- Post Merged at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:13 PM ----------

Dr Tracy,
Did you find an adhesive that works for you? Or did you find a way to secure it without?

Im generally allergic to adhesives and curious about another way to deal with drysuit pee needs -- I'm not quite ready to find out if I'm allergic to Adult Diapers.

I haven't actually tried, yet. That could be the one stopping point.
I am quite allergic to several adhesives, tapes, bandaids. I will need to do a test patch on a sensitive spot (mucous membrane) with some urobond, before shelling out bucks on the she-p.
Darn-it, I should have asked Karen or Jax for a test sample when I saw them!
When I was in the hospital with a neck surgery and had an in-dwelling catheter, the darn 4x12 patch of that elasticon or whatever thick stuff they taped the foley to my leg with gave me a giant rash! Not to mention, the intern kept forgetting to write the order to remove the darn thing, so I had it itching and driving me crazy for 3days! The foley was fine, the tape, terrible!
Note-do not get major surgery at a teaching hospital in July or August if you can help it. The interns and residents are new and afraid to ask the attending if it's okay to sneeze!

---------- Post Merged at 08:32 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:13 PM ----------

The She-P requires adhesive. I can't imagine any way to strap it to one's body tightly enough to avoid leaking. Whether it's glue or tape, or a combination of the above, sticky stuff is involved

Christine, if you are doing standard recreational range dives, you can live without a p-valve. I didn't have one in my suit for the first three hundred or so dives I did. If you're careful to empty your bladder just before donning the suit, and your dives are an hour or less, you may get out of the water pretty desperate to find the restroom, but you can do it. I went to a p-valve when my cave dives got long enough that holding it wasn't an option any more. I will admit that a p-valve is HANDY in a lot of recreational settings (for example, diving off a small boat with a bunch of guys) but you don't HAVE to have one. I'm quite sure the vast majority of women diving dry do not have them.

As we get older, those bladders sure do get smaller, don't they? I've always had the world's smallest bladder, anyway.
When I was doing my drysuit cert, I'd start gearing up and make 3 trips to the potty. Thank god for that handy restroom at Catalina Dive Park! And, after the dive, straight to the potty again.
now that we're talking about doubles, OMG! And, I look at some of those cave sites on the videos. I'll be squatting out in the open down in Mexico if the she-P doesn't work. Hey, at least I look Scandanavian. The Europeans do that sort of thing, last time I was there, anyway.
i don't know how Jax ever held it for 3-4 hours the other day at Lake Pleasant! I wore my 3ml because I didn't know where the potty would be.
The worst thing I ever saw, not drysuit related but female potty related- we were on a panga with no potty, of course. One of the women had to diarrhea. She ended up having to go in the water on the back of the panga while everyone waited for her to pull her swimsuit down and take a dump. Poor woman. Don't eat the fruit in Africa!

 

[Fatterboy]

the adhesive on the leg is to keep the indwelling catheter from migrating in and out of the urethra and straining on the neck of the bladder.

If there is a problem with pressure differentials, one could try the crede maneuver. The Crede maneuver is a method when the person applies nonforceful, smooth, even pressure from the umbilicus toward the lowest part of the abdomen. The pressure is applied onlydownward toward the bladder. The person can repeat this process several times to empty thebladder. I learned this with spinal cord injury patients.

 

[tracydr]

the adhesive on the leg is to keep the indwelling catheter from migrating in and out of the urethra and straining on the neck of the bladder.

If there is a problem with pressure differentials, one could try the crede maneuver. The Crede maneuver is a method when the person applies nonforceful, smooth, even pressure from the umbilicus toward the lowest part of the abdomen. The pressure is applied onlydownward toward the bladder. The person can repeat this process several times to empty thebladder. I learned this with spinal cord injury patients.

I'm aware of why they had the adhesive on my leg. I was walking all over the hospital lugging the darn thing.
As a doctor myself, I have some experience with foleys, although not as much as nurses do. I'm also pretty aware of the hazards associated with them. In fact, I've been the pcp for quite a few quadriplegic and paraplegic patients with in-dwelling catheters and who self-catheterization. Although, most of my quads have been males. Not sure why. They've all been injured in trauma-cliff diving, 4-wheelers,etc.

 

[Fatterboy]

I used to work rehabilitation, but have been an ED nurse since 1996. I currently work in the only level 1 trauma center in Arkansas as a RN.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off-topic. And I have NO CLUE of the women's perspective, sorry to butt in.