Welcome to the list I have pretty much stayed with intermittent cathing as it has worked for me. I was told earlier on by my urologist-unfortunately now deceased-to try and continue with intermittent as it would enable my bladder to remain pliable and able to hold more urine. This has worked for me, and I have very few UTIs and I am able to have 500 to 600 cc's easily, but after that I need to be cathed. I leave the catheter in all night as I usually drain more in bed. My last scan showed that my bladder was still normal in appearance, and I was able to tolerate 900 cc's before calling Uncle J.
I would try to find a urologist that you can work with, preferably one familiar with SCI-none here in Reno-and explore all your options. At Santa Clara rehab they stressed trying to do the minimum rather than going for the maximum for a long-term outlook. As your son is only 22, he has a long life ahead of him, so I would be aggressive in finding the best medical treatment for him. One can only hope than a cure will be found for him within a decade or two. When they do find a cure it will be used on the younger people, rather than old fogies like me. So he needs to keep his body in tiptop shape so then when a cure is found he will be the one holding his hand high and saying I am ready. Joan in Reno C4 since 1990. From: Dollbug [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 9:17 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [QUAD-L] Super pubic vs foley or cathing My 22 year old son, who became a quad about 6 months ago, has had numerous issues since initial hospitalization. The most recurring is UTI and some bladder infections. He was in a hospital and rehab for 3-1/2 months total. He had a foley for 2 months initially. After the 2 months, cathing began every 4 hours. About a month after cathing began he started to urinate between caths. He complained of the mess and they put a Texas catheter on him and still cathed every 4 hours. After about 3 weeks of being at home (I was cathing and dealing with the Texas catheter) his penis became quite raw. About 3 times more urine coming out of him was going into the catheter bag as opposed to cathing. I asked that a foley be put in due to all this. A few people have told us a super pubic will cause a lot less UTI's and much less invasive on the body. Please share your views on a super pubic versus a foley or cathing. Many thanks for any replies! No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.13/2001 - Release Date: 03/14/09 06:54:00
