Dear C’s Mom;

I don’t know if this will help or even if considered a clear liquid but Wolfgang Puck’s Vegetable Broth is actually really good & I got it from the regular super market down here . I just got out of the hospital for either a stomach virus or pancreatitis.

Genital surgery (Urethroplasty, vaginoplasty, labiaplasty, clitorectomy) was done to me @ five and surgery because of stenosis done @ 21.   I had to wear a foley cath that went thru my pelvic area for over a month as a a five year old because of the other surgeries blockage. After the stenosis surgery went home with a cath that was strapped to my leg.

What you are asking really has to do with how your particualar child can tolerate situations and that is unique to her and plus the hurt from the cath is dependant on 1) anatomy 2) the person taking it out.

This I imagine must be hard for you because maybe you have nothing to compare it to? but I can tell your child will survive and I can tell you that I’ve has so many cath pulled out over the years and the only one that was really painful that I remember was the time after the stenosis surgery and a procedure was done where the tech filled up my bladder thru the tube and then I was made to void and then she yanked the cath out which was ouch and made me scared of having it taken out maybe she never had cath stuck in her so she didn’t get it. Then I had it stuck back in and went home with it and  managed with it ...as your child will.  Child been thru surgery and it may or may not hurt and like one of the posted wrote and I can also say it doesn’t hurt for long- I had a time period where the cath and bandages were stuck inside growing to my skin ....nothing to do with CAH Ok maybe a little bit and this other time where the darn cath tubing came apart and also got twisted But the thing is No Matter what stay calm and fix it yourself or get help. I’ve told someworse case situations with cath and I made it ....so the worse isn’t so bad and I bet everything will be fine. I’ve never had any trouble sleeping with cath either and as a child with CAH it’s all part of the game.

I do get ornery because of what I was put thru and something to consider for the future that having a cath put in for something else may    be harder for the nurse or tech because of the prior work done. Maybe your child isn’t having a urethraplasty done and then cath would always be easier But good to have a sense of humor with med people if your child does go thru urethraplasty - one time (2 years ago) I was telling this one lady in the ER who’s job it was to cath and the Doc ordered it done ....and I said you can try but she stated this isn’t going to work and another time last jan ...er needed a urine sample  and the nurse was going at me  no sample  ...I WILL have to cath YOU and I laughed going to the restroom thinking easier said than done. I’ll tell ya though that having these surgeries are a great motivation to give a urine sample on command  because a cath while I’m awake isn’t going to happen.       

 

Ok,  this might help for the realization of what? someone is going to take this tube out of ....me ? You go like this with all the positiveness in the world ....One ...TWO ........THREEEEEE HOLD YOUR BREATH : ) and as you are holding your breath the cath is taken out. This little bit seems to help me will the whole situation.

Like for the IV’S? I know they put a wrap to keep them in place.  Once the IV is in? it doesn’t hurt unless there is a problem  

Maybe it would ease your mind if a nurse would show you how the cath works in the first place? I think it goes in like a balloon or something.    

 Good luck    Nobody really likes cath and some of us just learn that earlier than others but trying to make it postive somehow helps - Balloons, Stuffed Animals go along way. I’ll tell ya even last Jan - I could really deal with the cath and other tubes because the nurse found and extra blankie for me : )