Hi everyone. Some of you have asked me to write about hospital stays after a tkr. Here is a true story about my Dreaded Twisted Catheter.  It is a memorable occasion from my hospitalization that will, hopefully, lighten your day.  Enjoy…

 Here is the scoop:

After surgery, I was connected to a Catheter so I would not have to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. One day I suddenly started feeling like my urinary tract was getting ‘backed up’. I pushed the call button for assistance since I thought something was wrong with my catheter. After all, it should just flow like the wind into the trees. It wasn’t.

An orderly (I think that’s what she was) answered my call. When I told her that I thought something was wrong with my catheter, she took a look at it and told me it was “ok”. She left.

My bladder was extending itself and I was in pain. I pushed the call button again (I couldn’t see the catheter tubes leading to the collection bag). More than five minutes went by, my pain was increasing and becoming intolerable. Then, at just the precise moment of my heightened discomfort –  in came my physical therapist.

She asked how I was doing. The timing just could not have been any better. It was a common question that usually elicits a response of “ok”, I am sure. However, I was hanging onto the Jane bar and crying out for help. When she asked that question, I must have given her more expletives than a drunken sailor at sea could use.

I don’t remember. She certainly looked horrified. I just know that she ran to get the nurse. The nurses came within minutes and….what do you know….there was a twist in my catheter tube.

The nurses unraveled my tube and the liquid was flowing. In fact, it was flowing so fast….a crowd gathered to admire my ‘collection’. One liter jar, then another. They couldn’t replace the jars fast enough…

“Man, you really did have to go,” the nurse said. REALLY??!! What an understatement.

I asked to have the catheter removed after that discomforting episode. I wasn’t going to take the chance of it happening again. So…bring on the bed pan…That’s another chapter.

End of my dreaded Twisted Catheter Story.

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AUTHOR NOTE: Booktoots Healing helps total knee replacement patients find support throughout recuperation and beyond. Its mission is for patients to understand they are not alone in their ordeal with either a tkr or other applicable health concern.

This multiple award-winning site is owned and operated by Marie Buckner, a published author, tkr blogger, and tkr patient who has been living with various health conditions for over 40+ years. She enjoys sharing her experiences to help others going through the same thing.

Marie is also a proud WEGO Patient Leader.

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