Hi, I’m not even sure if I count as a carer to be honest. I’m disabled myself and my mom is actually my carer. But her mobility has got worse the last couple of years and she has her own health issues. She was recently diagnosed with bladder retention and had a permanent catheter for nearly 2 weeks and was then moved onto intermittent catheterization. She is unable to insert the catheter herself, and so I’ve been drafted in to do it. I have to insert a catheter twice a day, so it kind of counts as a personal care task I guess. I’ve been doing it for 2 weeks now, but I was never shown how to do it by a health professional. My mom was shown how to do it and given the literature and I was just given that. I’ve been concerned about doing it the entire time because I don’t want to do it wrong or end up making her worse but the permanent one was causing her pain and it was either these intermittent ones or a permanent one. She does so much for me as my carer i felt I had no choice really.
I haven’t really had any problems doing it, it has gone in and out pretty easily but tonight I did it and as I inserted it she moved slightly and there felt a tiny bit of resistance. She said it hurt a little. The urine itself was clear but as I removed it there was some blood on the catheter tube. I feel so bad I really don’t know what to do. I’m a pretty anxious person anyway and this is my worst nightmare, that I would do something wrong and hurt her. Do any of you have experience with intermittant catheters? I can’t really find much online about it apart from to get medical attention if the bleeding is heavy. I think the bleeding had stopped as I cleaned her up. I just don’t know where to turn really. It’s not that I have a problem doing it as an act of care, i just really don’t want to hurt her or cause her damage or any pain. I haven’t really had any instruction or support apart from a pamphlet and I don’t have any medical experience. I could just really use some advice or some reassurance. Is this something that can happen? Or have I royally messed up and i need to get her to a hospital? I’m sorry if this is the wrong place, I really have no idea what I’m doing. Thanks for your time xx
Definitely a carer! Are you in the UK?
The bladder is a relatively delicate organ and will bleed quite easily, it’s not that uncommon. I can’t help much with an intermittent catheter as my wife has never had one, she went from a permanent indwelling catheter to a supra-pubic.
If you’re not averse to Facebook there is a good support group on there.
Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes I’m in the UK. A lot of people think I’m not because I use mom instead of mum lol, but I’m from the Black Country where for some reason we say mom.
Thank you so much for your reply! I’ll definitely check the facebook group out. I feel so alone in this. Obviously it affects my mom more than it does me, needing a catheter is a huge change after all, but I do feel a lot of responsibility and any support helps so the Facebook group will be a big help. Thanks. I hope your wife is ok and her catheter is working well.
I do not feel that something like this should be left to a family member.
If required, it should be done by the district nurse or the continence nurse from the practice.