Have any of you had this problem?
I had the catheter in, was emptying, but it was rather thick, and it was taking forever, but i got a good deal out, so i figured i could just finish off later.
tried to take the catheter out, which you know, usually just kinda slides out. and it wouldn't.
it slid a little bit, and then just stopped. now obviously, i'm too timid to yank it out (heh, god i cringe at just saying the word yank)
i just kinda stood there, bending over a bit, thinking gravity would help.
but it wouldn't move. it kinda felt like it was pulling it IN a little
(like you guys ever experience when trying to insert the catheter but you're waaaay too full that it sorta pushes the cath out? i guess peristalsis?)
it felt like it was holding on to the cath, not letting it go.
i stood there for a good 20 min.
i sat down, leaned back, tried to just sorta relax and let my muscles go as much as possible. and FINALLY after another 5 or 10 min i stood up, still not moving, and eventually it slid out just fine.
maybe the intestine was having some mini-muscle contraction/spasm that i couldn't necessarrily FEEL?
was it because i didn't empty ALL the way? (though i've done that in the past and it didn't seem to make a difference)
was it b/c there was still stuff in the catheter (like maybe there was some wierd suction stuff going on?)

i'll be emailing Fazio as well, but I was just curious if you guys had any input.

b/c when i thought about it, you get all types of pointers and hints and tricks about helping the catheter go IN (lay down, deep breaths, put it in the freezer, untense, hold your breath, etc) but you never hear anything about taking it out. i don't think they even touch on it when they give you all your instructions after surgery.

I know I don't have a k-pouch but the thought occured to me that it's a bit like when you do the straw trick as a kid. You can suck up things with it and as long as you have your finger on the other end the suction will hold. Maybe you were right about the cath being clogged with thick stool and that is what caused the suction?

I have a friend from this site who had to self-catheterise her j-pouch because, like me she couldn't empty it fully and it frequently got stuck up there because it would get caught on the soft tissue while she was trying to remove it! BTW, this is one of the reasons I wouldn't go down this route (j-pouch catheterisation) as a last resort. My stoma/j-pouch nurse in the UK warned me that this can happen.

My advice would be to inject a few cc's of warm water into the cath to thin out the stool and counter the suction if this happens again.

Good luck and let us know what Dr Fazio says about it.

Shell

Two things:
As Shell said it could be a little suction..if the stool is that thick...were you irrigating? That really helps.

Also , sometimes the intestine contracts so that the stoma tightens around the catheter.. For this you have to be patient.

But I also want to know what Fazio says.

Count me in on wanting to know what Fazio says. This has happened to me two or three times as well. The first time I freaked and thought that I might end up pulling my intestines out. Fortunately after some time and pushing it in a bit, I guess things relaxed and it loosened. The next two times it happened, I just relaxed and waited for it to work itself out (I did help by wiggling it a little).

My thoughts when this happened were that the catheter had folded inside of me (I think this is why sometimes I can get the catheter to go in so far) and had probably wedged against the walls of the intestine due to the increased girth.

It could be that there is a chunk of something half-in and half-out of one of the holes in the end of the catheter and it prevent the end of the catheter from passing through the pouch end of the valve.

I have had something like this happen occasionally but as I was pulling the cath. out of the stoma. An undigested chunk of something like melon would lock the catheter from passing through the tightest part of the valve (at the exit). Maybe your valve is tight on the pouch end? As lesrich1 says try irrigating to loosen things up and perhaps blow out that chunk.

peter, i also thought of that possibility, b/c i've noticed things stuck in the holes before when i pulled the cath out (though nothing huge) but obviously that could be.
and Mike i also used to wonder if i was doubling the cath back on itself sometimes, b/c yes, sometimes it'd go waaaaaaaay in. i have since come to think no, that is not the case, at least with me. as i've found out after my most recent scope (in january) i just have an (abnormally?) Loooonnggg valve.

AAANNNNYwho, here it is, the long awaited moment has arrived. the official verdict from Fazio is (i have to translate this as Fazio has notoriously horrid typing skills)
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"Rebecca,
Rare that this happens but it can occur:
It is due to the side vent in the catheter tip catching on a staple which has been used to secure the valve in position; should it happen again twist the tube in a rocking motion side to side or up and down. Do this for as long as necessary. If after 10 mins no progress you can either leave it to constant drainage for several hours, up to a day and try again.

OR

Just pull/tug on it. If this causes some bleeding, dont worry as this will stop. If there are concerns you can irrigate the pouch with ice water injected through the catheter several times."
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(you guys have no idea how jumbled that original email was...heheh, i'm spellcheckin the masta'!)

Anywho, i think it's a very interesting theory. if i find myself stuck (ha, pun intended) in this position again, i will remember this advice.

Ineteresting...and for those of us who take Fazio's typed reports home (like me) we do know his typing skills. Thank goodness his surgical skills are far superior

How long are those staples in for? (yet another question!)

The staples are permanent. I believe they are stainless stell (though they could be titanium). They have actually caused me some problems. On two seperate occassions now I have had bleeding episodes in which I apparently irritated the staple (either through intubating or through excercise). The first time I went to see Fazio and he said it wasnt uncommon and to leave in the permanent drainage for a day or two if it happened again.

Sort of sucks, cause the last time it happened was about a week and a half ago. I had started to get tired of this extra weight I am carrying around and figured it had been long enough since surgery that I could start working out again. One night of situps and the next morning, pure blood coming out of the catheter. Fortunately it happened on the weekend and after a day of being very careful, the blood stopped.

Mike S

Mike...you know, the email that i sent to fazio, i asked bout not getting the catheter out, but i also asked his opinion on abdominal excersize.
now mind you, i'm not exactly chomping at the bit to do sit ups and crunches but i was doing push ups couple weeks ago, and completely forgot how much those work your abs.
i reaaaaallly felt it when doing them. so i was asking him about that, but he didn't answer that question...

maybe i'll start a thread about that topic now.

(and the funniest part about fazio's typing skills is how he insists on typing up the notes from the office visit right there, regardless of how long it takes him, and Gina just stands behind him just itching to get in there and type it for him. You can just see her frustration at wanting to type it for him but him being too stubborn to let anyone else do it)

Never pull the catheter out if it seems to be stuck, on staples or because your abdominal muscles are tighted up. I always try to relax and wait until I can turn my catheter and then remove it.