Is it safe to use an indwelling cath with the plug only (no bag)....draining it a few times a day?
My 83 year old mother-in-law has non-obstructive retention for which we (I and her 87 year old husband) were cathing her 1x daily and until she stopped tolerating her husband's doing the procedure and their being unable to afford a full time person to handle it. We had her switched to the indwelling cath which she attaches both a leg bag in the day and then an overnight bag, both of which her alzhimer's is making it difficult to deal with.
No, the indwelling foley needs to drain to a leg bag or a bed bag for it work properly. Since your mother has alzhemiers you may it have a Supra pubic cathere put in instead & havwe that hooked to bed bag or Leg bag
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Carole
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 at 01:09 PM
Carole's response was very drastic and ignors the seriousness of that type of surgery.
You do not need to use a bag with an indwelling catheter. You can now get excellent valves which just plug into the catheter. I use one all the time and it's meant I can return to swimming, enjoy a bath etc.
You just switch it over every 5 days, simple!!!
Think at 83 to expect surgery is not in the best interests of your mother-in-law.
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Carole
Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 09:57 AM
Thank you so much for your information...I am Carole...the other person was Maintaince Man and he/she never did answer my question about what a Supra was....My mother in law recently had the Interstim device implanted and that is a long story in itself...we are not sure that it is working as "right" as it should and there is a chance she is going to have to be cathed or return to a foley, so your answer is very helpful! Thanks so much again! If I have other questions may I contact you since your an experienced person with this issue?
Thank you for your response....I don't know what a Supra pubic cath is? How is that different then a Foley? A little more information...my mother-in-law lives at home with her frail husband, she is still mobile and goes out for daily walks, it's the memory issues of the alzhemiers that creates the problems with the bags, both emotional and knowing how to handle them. She uses the plug when she is showering and we used to cath her only once a day (she has an enlarged bladder that hold well over a quart of urine), so I really don't understand why she can't just have an indwelling cath that is used as a conduit for the urine...I'm assuming that it must have to do with it potentially becoming blocked and requiring it to be irrigated to remove the blockage...I was shown how do that....by the nurse. I'm just trying to help her have some normalacy in her life again....If it were up to me, we'd go back to the daily cathing, which when I did it she handled it fine, I can't be the only person doing it and it's not financially feasible at this time to hire help.