Do you always have to have a catheter with you? If you empty and then go out for a few hours can you leave your catheter at home? How do you clean it out in a public place?

thanks for all your info

Hi Dawn,
NO, I Never leave home without my cath...I barely go across the street to a neighbour's without it...just me I guess.
I carry a tiny little purse against my body at all times...like a fanny pack or a courrier's bag...I keep a small empty water bottle with a sport's tip (so I can shoot the water directly into the tube without having to open it and try to pour the water)..a 60cc syringe and mini packets of lube...it all fits into a pencil case sized make-up bag (soft sided pencil cases from the dollar store when I can find them)...The extra zipper pocket on the outside is where I keep the extra lube packets, kleenex and stoma covers or cut up mini pads and an emergency clap + tape just in case I have a real emergency in a public place and need to clamp and leave my tube in place.
Since I started having valve/intubation problems I also keep an extra but different tube just in case I have problems getting the tube in. I use a marlan 30 strait now but used to use a curved one. So I keep an old curved tube in the spare pocket for when my valve is slightly twisted and requires a different angle of attack.
Sounds complicated but I have about 5 kits pre organised and keep one in each purse and a few spares in luggage, drawers etc so I am never without one. I should also have one in my hubby's car as well.
When I travel out of town or out of the country I always carry 3 on me. 1 in my fanny pack, one in my purse and 1 in my luggage or in a backpack.
I am highly paranoid.
Sharon

You should always have a catheter with you...just in case, say their is a house or apartment fire when you are gone. This way you would still have your catheter.

I always carry one even when I know I won't need it. And thank goodness for that, because a few times I was out longer than planned due to car trouble or other unforeseen events. And once I wanted to empty earlier than scheduled due to uncomfortable gas pains. It doesn't hurt to be prepared.

As far as cleaning it....if there is no one in a public bathroom I will rinse it quickly in the sink. If there are other patrons in the restroom, I will just put it in a large zip loc baggie that I carry with me and I will clean it out at home and restock my purse with a new baggie.

what about a man that doesn't carry a purse?

You can cut it down and let it hang out in your pocket. I have one catheter if you read my blog and watch my video on them that is very bendy and I can coil that up and stick it in a ziploc bag or small tiny Coach kit I have.

I have an "emergency kit" I keep in my car and my husbands car that just has a cath, lube and a patch. That way I can run into the store for groceries w/out actually having one on my person. Though of course, if my car were stolen I'd be in a bind......

Hi Dawn,
I always carry 2 catheters in my purse whenever I go anywhere, even for short trips, each catheter folded to fit into a small ziplock bag. I also have an emergency kit in both of my cars containing a catheter & lube. There was one time in the past when I forgot to put my catheter into my purse when I left my acreage to go into Calgary, 65km away. I felt like I had to drain my pouch, went to the washroom & discovered to my horror that I didn`t have my catheter with me. I drove full-speed all the way home. I figure if I always carry two in my purse as well as another one in the glove compartment of my car that I will never be in that position again. As for cleaning my catheter in a public place, I take a large piece of paper towel (if there is any) into the cubicle with me. When I am done I wrap up my dirty catheter in the paper towel & carry it to the sink. I sit my purse on one side of the sink & this usually hides a little bit the fact that I am cleaning the catheter under running water in the sink. I also carry an extra larger size ziplock bag with me in case there are too many people in the washroom for me to comfortably clean out my catheter. I just make sure to wrap it up in paper towel or toilet paper really good, seal it in the ziplock bag and then wash it out later when I have more privacy.

Hi Dixie,
Nice to see your new picture...you look good...how are you doing?
As for cleaning the cath, I carry a small water bottle with a squirt tip...and fill it before going into the stall...if I use the water to irrigate then I try to save just enough to give it a little squirt to at least clear out the minimum...if I don't irrigate then I use it all to rince the cath and even spray some on the outside to clear it all.
I no longer worry about sinks, people or opinions that way...I just carry in my bottle and let them think what they will.
Sharon
ps...whenever I travel I keep the bottle pre-filled...I never know what conditions I will find in the gas station toilets on the road. (and I can use it behind a bush or a car

I can answer the male question.

I carry a cut down tube (all my tubes are cut down...it decreases the resistance to flow) in a ziplock bag.
The tube goes into the small front pocket of a fanny pack that I almost always wear when I go out.
If I need to go somewhere dressed formally, I will put the tube in a brand new ziplock and carry it in my pants pocket (again...it is cut down and not noticeable at all through the pocket).

I will never leave home without at least one tube!!

Hi Sharon,
Thanks for your compliment re my picture. Figured it was time I put a more recent one on the site. I'm doing pretty good, being very careful not to lift anything heavy. Still just relaxing and taking it easy. No fecal matter or gas leaking out, so that is a very good thing. Have a lot of mucous leaking out, but I can live with that. Won't feel like I am "out of the woods" though for another few months. Hope you are doing okay now. - Dixie

So good to hear it Dixie...stay down..nothing more strenuous than a walk around your garden or a romantic picknic and You do Not get to carry the basket! No skis, no snow shoes and no climbing stairs either!
On my end things are very strange, not stable at all and scary as can be...the valve seems to be sticking its tounge out at me...it has started to protrude slightly (not good) and I leak around the tube when I intubate, leak air or stuff occasionnally, have problems getting the tube in on occasion (changes in trajectory constantly), think that the hernia is expanding and do not know what to do.
In other words scared...But I can live this way if it does not get worse...if it chooses to be stable then I will be ok...I will have a pouchogram again to see if the bend in the valve is worse or not...if it is worsening then I will need to see the doc...I am hoping that the only real problem is the hernia and that can always be fixed here through laporoscopy...a miracle if it can be done.
So, for now...I pray, keep all of my fingers crossed and hope that I am stable.
Hugs from here
Sharon
ps...Be good!