With the T7 injury your son is unlikely to get dysreflexia, so you could probably rule that out as a source of sickness. It could be that his bladder is not emptying fully. If his urine dribbles out, does he walk or is he confined to a chair? His urine might drain better if he pushes himself up in his chair, straightens his body. I find it helps me to push up as high as I'm able. It allows the urethra to straighten, which lessens the resistance to the bladder and aids the flow of urine. He definitely needs to see a urologist and perhaps have a urodynamics test, which ascertains whether the bladder muscle contracts and drains fully. At the very least he should have an ultrasound test on his bladder to see how much urine retention there is, if any. I hope all this helps.
he is in a chair, he says his bladder does not empty unless he self caths. your comments help very much, thank you.
With the T7 injury your son is unlikely to get dysreflexia, so you could probably rule that out as a source of sickness. It could be that his bladder is not emptying fully. If his urine dribbles out, does he walk or is he confined to a chair? His urine might drain better if he pushes himself up in his chair, straightens his body. I find it helps me to push up as high as I'm able. It allows the urethra to straighten, which lessens the resistance to the bladder and aids the flow of urine. He definitely needs to see a urologist and perhaps have a urodynamics test, which ascertains whether the bladder muscle contracts and drains fully. At the very least he should have an ultrasound test on his bladder to see how much urine retention there is, if any. I hope all this helps.
he is in a chair, he says his bladder does not empty unless he self caths. your comments help very much, thank you.
I did tell him about pushing himself up in his chair, maybe that will help.
Hi Tim. Welcome here. I see from your post on a different Thread that this happened to you only about a year agp. (Also, that you are not the son of mom101),... just to clarify.) I'm going to offer you my personal experience, although it isn't exactly what you are asking. In the first months after my injury, I self-cathed. Later, in a different hospital, the doctor had them put in a Foley catheter. I was told that I could use it long-term, but could go back to self-cathing at any time. This wasn't true. After many months, when I wanted to quit using the Foley catheter, I then leaked all the time, whereas I had not leaked before having the Foley continuously for those months. I realize that your question has nothing to do with using a Foley continuously, but since my experience was 'related' to your question on damage to the urinary tract, I thought I would include it here.
I've read that Foley catheters promote urinary tract infections. UTI's (urinary tract infections) are a common battle for most people with paralysis, whether self-cathing, using a Foley, or having a supra-pubic tube inserted.
Hi Tim. Welcome here. I see from your post on a different Thread that this happened to you only about a year agp. (Also, that you are not the son of mom101),... just to clarify.) I'm going to offer you my personal experience, although it isn't exactly what you are asking. In the first months after my injury, I self-cathed. Later, in a different hospital, the doctor had then put in a Foley catheter. I was told that I could use it long-term, but could go back to self-cathing at any time. This wasn't true. After many months, when I wanted to quit using the Foley catheter, I then leaked all the time, whereas I had not leaked before having the Foley continuously for those months. I realize that your question has nothing to do with using a Foley continuously, but since my experience was 'related' to your question on damage to the urinary tract, I thought I would include it here.
I've read that iFoley catheters promote urinary tract infections. UTI's (urinary tract infections) are a common battle for most people with paralysis, whether self-cathing, using a Foley, or having a supra-pubic tube inserted.
welcome tim, I have only had one uti since becoming sci. that's 2.5 years of cathing at least once per day. I believe, for males anyway, that cleanliness is a big factor in reducing uti's when self cathing.