Angela, I read through all of the responses and I think everyone has a good ideas. Like Lori I had similar problems, but mine was complicated by the most foul smelling urine I have ever had the unfortunate privilege to smell. It would hang around the room 20 minutes after it was emptied.
Drinking plenty of water is vital. Blood in urine is bad if it continues or if it's concentrated. I really think he does need to probably see his urologist ASAP. Given what you have written there is a strong possibility that he does have real big bladder stones or kidney stones. Once I had my bladder stones removed in January I have been able to go for weeks without a catheter change (suprapubic) and haven't had to your gate nearly as much as before. I have also started taking apple cider vinegar every three or four days as I am sure some people on here have suggested. (My doctor thought if I tried it every day that my body would grow accustomed to it and it would not help it significantly). I also take 1500 mg of vitamin C (500 mg three times a day) in combination with some cranberry supplements. All of this has minimized my problems, but I do occasionally get a small tint of blood if I have had a drama, but thankfully I am able to feel my bladder so I am aware if I had trauma to the bladder. As for cleaning around the suprapubic, I have my PCA clean the area with saline and then I use Neosporin or some other antibacterial topical agent. Once again, I think all of the ideas on here are good. I have tried citric acid in the past and I also agree it is much better to make it yourself. Good luck and let us know how things turn out, Quadius On 9/18/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > *My fiance has a lot of UTI's and it's really getting out of hand! He's > had a horrible UTI for almost a month and a half now. His urine looks like > dark red wine from all the blood in it and it's so thick sometimes that you > have to squeeze or shake his drainage bag for it to drain. I feel just awful > for him. He has a wonderful nurse who comes out at every call and takes > urine specimens and then sometimes the cultures come back saying there's > nothing there. Then you look at his urine and it's so obvious that there is > an infection! Normal urine isn't cloudy and chunky and gritty and bloody!!! > Unfortunately I no longer live with my fiance and I only see him on the > weekends. Where as, before when I was living there, I was his primary > caregiver and I would irrigate his cath a few times daily. I would do > that to just clean all the debris stuck to the inside of the tubing and that > sometimes help it look a bit better but sometimes not. We have > tried everything that we've been told to do without luck. Silver squares > around his super pubic cath after washing with a Dankins solution... doesn't > work. Cleaning around it with just soap and water... doesn't work. Drinking > orange juice and citrus juices or sodas... doesn't work. * > > *My question is what things can he and his caregiver and family do to > either help prevent it or help nab them in the butt when they first rear > their ugly head? What haven't we tried? What should we be doing? * > > *Please help!* > > *Thanks a million!!!* > > ** > > *Angela Flannigan 24/F/California* > > *Wife-To- Be of:* > > *Danny Espinoza 24/m/California* > > *Broke c2,c6,c7 and doner bone at c2* > > *TBI from blood going to central cortex from spinal cord* > > *off a vent "woohoo" however only one diaphragm works right now "due to* > > *asymmetric SCI"* > > > > ------------------------------ > See what's new at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com/?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170>and > Make > AOL Your Homepage<http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169> > . >
