I had a procedure done in 1987. It was more complicated than what you're looking at. They used large and small bowl to form a pouch which has a chimney with a valve that goes to the surface of my belly just to the right of my navel. I use a straight male cath and am able to cath myself. I did end up with pneumonia, but I have had several surgeries since then without general anesthesia (one a 10 hour revision of the original diversion, 2 flaps, a hysterectomy where they had to open me up from my pubic hair to just under my ribcage). The ileovesicostomy sounds like an easier surgery. I always talk with the anesthesiologist (the surgeon always say it's impossible) about a spinal or an epidural. That numbs everything below, so you do not have to deal with AD. It's a good option for avoiding the vent and the general anesthesia.
So, no matter which procedure you choose, staying away from the general anesthesia is the key. And, it IS entirely do-able!! I must add ... Since I had my procedure, 20+ years ago, I very rarely get UTIs and I've only had 2 kidney stones. If you have any questions just ask! Good luck, Nan (44 years post) ________________________________ From: Quadius <[email protected]> To: quad-list <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 6:49 PM Subject: [QUAD-L] ileovesicostomy I have been experiencing a multitude of problems over the last year and finally I had a cystoscopy done in August which showed there were no stones or any other obstructions. I had been experiencing a lot of pain from the catheter rubbing against the back of the bladder wall. I have managed to tape my suprapubic (SP) against a stat lock device that I'm using on my lower abdomen. This is working well with the pain most of the time, but I am still having problems with my catheter not draining properly at times. Repositioning the bag so that the urine has to travel up seems to help about 50% of the time, but there also seems to be those times when we have to flush with some saline in order to get it draining again. When I explain this to be urologist, who works on a multitude of quadriplegics here in Tampa and as been my urologist for the last 10 years) she informed me that I would be an ideal candidate for the ileovesicostomy. She told me that my catheter had atrophied so significantly that it was probably one of the only options left up to me. I have been procrastinating and thought I had everything resolved, but I have been experiencing a lot of problems lately. I think I'm just delaying the inevitable. Has anyone on this list have the procedure and if so would they mind telling me their experiences? I am searching through forums right now and trying to gather as much information as I can. I'm planning on scheduling another meeting with my urologist in order to allay my fears. I haven't had surgery since I have been paralyzed and I'm terribly frightened of general anesthetic. I don't want to be put back on a ventilator after spending four months of what I now think were the worst months of my life fighting to get off the ventilator. Anyway, if you can help out I really appreciated. Quadius PS please excuse any errors. Among the backup to my backup microphone and it has some static bursts into it right now. I really need to get my computer and microphones within working order again.
