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I am just about 5-1/2 weeks out from my first surgery so have had my colon removed, S-Pouch creation and a temp loop ileostomy. To give a little bit of background: right after surgery I had a foley catheter in my bladder so I didn't have to worry about going to the bathroom for the first two days. Once the catheter was removed, I was having a terrible time urinating. I would feel like I had to go really bad but only drops would come out. Sometimes I could get up to about 50 ml but that was all. They would test my bladder and I would still have 400 - 800 ml in my bladder to they would use a straight catheter to empty my bladder. They did this 2-3 times and then I was able to urinate but it just didn't feel right. They said it was just from the surgery. When I got home - it continued to not feel right and then started burning. I was tested for urinary tract infection and tested positive for an E.Coli urinary tract infection. I took antibiotics that cleared this up and was tested again it was negative.

That brings us to today.....when I go to the bathroom - I feel a strong urgency to go but when I get in there - I really have to concentrate and strain a little bit for it to start. When it does start, it doesn't seem to empty all the way either. I can sit for a few minutes or turn the water on and usually get a little more out but it doesn't feel normal or complete like it did pre-surgery. It also seems like many times, I also have liquid output from the rectum at the same time I am urinating even though I have a loop ileostomy. In addition, I can't really feel the urine or the discharge from the pouch coming out. It is like the entire area down there is numb. I know it is coming out because I can hear everything hitting the toilet but I just can't feel it.

I am getting worried about this since I am 5-1/2 weeks out from surgery. Has anyone experienced this? Is this normal? Is it possible there could be nerve damage or something else I need to worry about?

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Wendy

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I had complete urinary retention after Step 1. I've met others who have also experienced this. I saw a urologist. He set me up with an ET nurse who taught me how to self catheterize. What a relief that was! Every 4 hours or so I'd empty my bladder by self catheterization. I began appreciating not having to wait in line for bathrooms while keeping my legs crossed. The urologist told me to try to urinate naturally a little bit before self catheterizing. He had me measure my output and liquid input. My output seemed to grow. After several months he told me I no longer needed to self catheterize. Everything returned to normal. Not to frighten you but, I've met others who never regained normal urinary function and years and years later still need to self-catheterize. The nerves which control the urinary bladder are very close to the nerves worked on during our surgery. Sometimes, these nerves become injured during the surgical process. Subsequently, most nerves recover after time. Some do not.
C

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