Jo Re: To Christine - about catheters

From: Christine Lake (clake@americanchartered.com)
Sun Oct 6 18:14:39 2002


Jo,

I totally appreciated your information, so I hope I didn't offend you. I'm just at the stage that I'm so SICK of being poked and prodded by doctors and just want to be left alone. So am hoping that for just once, a medical problem will go away on it's own. Of course, lately, it doesn't appear to be working out that way, but I can always hope. I know that I will have to do the mini-cathater thing if I have to, but I'm just tired. You know what I mean?

Christine

At Sun, 6 Oct 2002, Jo Eslick wrote: >
>Hi Christine,
>
>The small catheter your doctor is referring to is an "in-out" catheter
>and doesn't hurt at all. I have to use catheters a minimum of 4 times a
>day to ensure that my bladder is emptying properly. The alternatives
>are medication or surgery. Ignoring the problem and just "letting the
>urine come out" as you put it can also cause damage. This was explained
>to me after my last surgery.
>
>My message to you wasn't meant to turn you off treatment all together;
>it was simply a warning to find out all the relevant information about
>the treatments being suggested to you. If your bladder isn't emptying
>properly, it will lead to repeated urinary tract and kidney infections.
>If you ignore this you will end up damaging your kidneys. I strongly
>recommend you go to that appointment with your doctor and discuss
>catheterisation and the alternatives.
>
>Once you have self catheterised a few times, I promise you will wonder
>why you were concerned. I haven't had any infections since I started
>regular catheterisation. Some women opt to have a catheter inserted and
>wear a small bag, letting the urine collect over a few hours and then
>emptying it at regular intervals. I was told that this method is more
>prone to infection. The most important thing for you to remember about
>the advice you are given here is from fellow adhesions sufferers, based
>on their personal experiences. We cannot and you must not use our
>advice in place of medical professionals.
>
>The purpose of support groups and message boards is to encourage
>self-education so that when you visit your doctor you are equipped to
>make sound judgments WITH your doctor based on his information and your
>personal research. If you have any other questions about
>catheterisation, please email me at joanne@bombobeach.com
>
>I hope you keep us up to date on your progress.
>
>Love & warm gentle hugs,
>JO
>
>--
>Joanne Eslick
>Founder Australian Adhesions Support Group
>http://www.bombobeach.com
>NSW Australian Co-ordinator of
>International Adhesions Society
>http://www.adhesions.org
>
>--
>I am not a medical person, and all my messages are based
>on personal experience. I am a fellow adhesions sufferer
>reaching out to help others.
>


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