I had a catheter put in during surgery. And now that it's out I forgot how to pee. So I need to get a straight catheter put in every 6 hours. They said it will take a couple of tries and it will be fixed.

This better not be permanent. Anyone else had this problem?

The inability to urinate after surgery is usually caused by a condition called neurogenic bladder, a type of bladder dysfunction that interferes with the nerve impulses from the brain to the bladder. abdominal surgery, general anesthesia and pain meds can attribute to it. Don't worry it's not permanent you will be peeing in the potty before you know it! Hang in there! Now, that's probably more info than you wanted but what the heck! : )

I am confused why catheters are used by some surgeons and others never even mention it! I am so glad my surgeon required no catheters and no drains. Are these more common or more of a scarcity among most surgeons?

It's more common to have a catheter at least during surgery. Most will place one once your knocked out and Remove it before you wake up. You may never even know you had one.

I'm actually not sure if I had a catheter during surgery.. I didn't wake up with one, but that doesn't necessarily mean I never had one. I did have difficulty emptying my bladder for the first two days or so immediately after my operation. It was just so SLOW, if at all. My surgeon said it was normal following surgery and should go away.. and it did. It was really annoying though.

@@jjinWA, As far as catheter use goes.. Most hospitals now have CAUTI prevention plans, to decrease the amount of catheter associated UTIs that occur. Hospitals are not reimbursed for any fees associated with CAUTIs, so catheter use has significantly decreased. A catheter is supposed to be pulled as early as possible because extended use is a huge infection risk. That's why you may never know (unless you ask!) that you had one during surgery. If an MD wants catheter use to be continued, they have to write a specific order for it. Some unit protocols make it necessary for those orders to be written daily. Because it's such a huge issue, a lot of MDs no longer place them if they don't expect a procedure to last very long.

I have no idea whether or not I had a catheter, but I know I woke up having to pee. In fact I peed so much that first day in the hospital, the nurse brought one of those portable toilets bedside. She said I was getting up too much!

Edited December 22, 201411 yr by BLERDgirl

I had a CAT during surgery. It was put in after I was under and removed before i was aware of it. I was in surgery for 5 1/2hrs. Interestingly enough, I was able to pee ALOT on my own bbefore leaving the hospital.

I wouldn't have known I had a catheter had I not asked the nurse before surgery when I could put undies back on. The nurse told me when I'm walking around as long as they removed the catheter already. Uhhh.. catheter? She said they put it in while you're asleep and usually remove it before you're awake. That's how I found out! Didn't have a drain though.

I did have problems urinating after surgery. It took me about 3 or 4 attempts and about an hour or two in all on the toilet for the first time, had surgery at about 10am wasn't able to go until the evening. They measured my urine each time. I didn't need to be catheterized after waking up, but difficulty is not uncommon. You should shape up just fine!

Good luck, hope you get a steady stream soon!

Edited December 12, 201411 yr by Aranks

I had my last appointment before surgery (12/18) today and was told no catheter but I'll have drains in for 12 days. The nurse said that "it'll hurt like a bi$&h when it comes out" and to save some of the liquid lortab for the day they come out.

Well that wasn't very helpful. I had one drain. They pulled it before discharging me. It didn't hurt. Just felt odd because you feel the tube coming out.

I had my last appointment before surgery (12/18) today and was told no catheter but I'll have drains in for 12 days. The nurse said that "it'll hurt like a bi$&h when it comes out" and to save some of the liquid lortab for the day they come out.

Well who is this nurse that said such a stupid thing to you? I had a drain that was removed on the 11th day. I was getting all geared up for her to tell me to take a deep breath, yada, yada. I was getting ready for some kind of discomfort. Never knew when it came out. She just laughed at my shocked expression. I also had an open hernia repair 13 yrs ago. Had the drain in for 14 days. Remember feeling slight tug when he removed it. No pain. So, try not to worry.

@@ready2livenow, drains for 12 days??? Why?!?!

I had a catheter put in during surgery. And now that it's out I forgot how to pee. So I need to get a straight catheter put in every 6 hours. They said it will take a couple of tries and it will be fixed.

This better not be permanent. Anyone else had this problem?

I had the same problem. They only had to straight cath me 2 times, but it really took until the third day to be able to "go" properly. Same thing happened after my daughter was born. Hang in there!

I have no idea what the purpose of the "it's going to hurt" speech from the nurse, but it is what it is. If it hurts, it'll only be for a second and nothing worth having comes easy, right? Thursday is coming quickly!

I was straight cathed once...good afterwards. As for drain removal...sometimes it can hurt...but it's usually just a funny pulling sensation...maybe a little discomfort. If they forget to deactivate the drain before they pull it tht would hurt!

I was straight cathed once...good afterwards. As for drain removal...sometimes it can hurt...but it's usually just a funny pulling sensation...maybe a little discomfort. If they forget to deactivate the drain before they pull it tht would hurt!

also can depend on the size of the drain. For my hernia repair the drain was bigger than the tiny one used with my sleeve surgery. I felt the slight, quick tug when the larger one was removed. Not pain, brief tug. With the sleeve. ..... nothing.