Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey Guys,

So I'm having SRS with Dr. Suporn in a little over a year!

I'm excited but also super nervous because of pain and also the fact that due to Spiro and some OCD stuff I always have to pee, like every 1-3 hours. So i'm super nervous about having a catheter in me and re-learning how to pee.

For anyone who has gone through SRS, what was it like in terms of pain and also the experience of having a catheter? Did u feel like you had to pee but couldn't? Or was peeing an unconscious thing during that time.

Thanks so much!

While some people have discomfort with a catheter, I actually  enjoyed the thing because for 6 days I didn't have to worry about peeing. Everything just drained in the bag and that was it. I was a member of a group who had difficulty peeing after surgery and it was due to having a good deal of swelling that blocked the flow. It took about a week for the swelling to be reduced enough that I could pee again.

Because they install the catheter and packing a bit different that it was done for me, you might feel a bit of discomfort from the placement of the tube. I suspect the other pain from the surgery will exceed the pain you would feel from the catheter so it's not something you need to worry about.

I also had to pee every hour or so due to the spiro, but being off of it for 4 weeks prior to surgery helped with that. BTW I don't miss spiro al all!
I agree with Dena it was kind of nice to just let it flow and not worry about it for 6 days, it was an unconscious thing. I had no pain or discomfort from the catheter and I barely felt it when they removed it.

I don't feel as though I had to re-learn how to pee, but holding it back is a bit different feeling and took some getting used to.
You will most likely make a mess of you bottom side for a few weeks after the catheter comes out. Due to all of the swelling it will tend to spray all over. After about 4 weeks post op that became a rare occurrence for me.

The catheter will be the least of you worries. And don't be alarmed, the other worries aren't all that bad either!

The spiro-driven frequent trips to the bathroom stops when you stop spiro before surgery, so you will not have that urge to pee so frequently and urgently with the catheter in.

I had a catheter with a bag for only a day.  (I went to Brassard/Belanger)  Once I got up to walk after GRS they left the catheter in with just a short tube (disconnected the bag) and a valve at the end.  So, there was no constant drain and I would just go the bathroom when I felt the normal urge to void my bladder.  Then I could stand or sit and put the end of the tube over the toilet and turn the valve.  2ez.

No real pain from the catheter for me, btw.  Was nice to have it out, though. :)  I have never had issues peeing with girl parts after, either. 

For me, having a catheter wasn't a problem. Just lay in the bed and every so often the nurse comes in and drains the bag. I never got an urge to "go", it just quietly drained out.

Until they told me about "bladder training." This required me to disconnect the tube (there is a connector for this about 12" (30cm) from the body which occasionally created an uncomfortable feeling because the pressure in the tube changed during process, but the pressure in the bladder did not. I taught myself by trial and error how to minimize the change, but was still surprised sometimes.

After disconnecting sitting up and getting out of bed was pretty painful. I didn't ask for any painkillers, I figured it's best to not use those unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. Once up, walking wasn't that bad, but sitting down was also uncomfortable. And once down, the catheter seemed to stop working...I'd have very bad pain and urine would flow AROUND the catheter. The nurse told me this is a good sign (I forget why) but urinating with a catheter was always difficult while sitting (I didn't try standing up, that might've been better).

Same thing happened when they removed the catheter...very low flow with very little urine. I told the nurses and they said it was likely a blood clot, which they removed using a different style of catheter.

No problems or pain since then.

BTW, have you ever seen those small lawn sprinklers with a little "fan" which disperses the water? That is how the first few weeks is like when peeing.

Despite all my talk about pain etc, I'd do it again if "it" grew back somehow. It's worth it.

:)

Quote from: Beth Andrea on March 10, 2017, 12:29:09 PM
And once down, the catheter seemed to stop working...I'd have very bad pain and urine would flow AROUND the catheter. The nurse told me this is a good sign (I forget why) but urinating with a catheter was always difficult while sitting (I didn't try standing up, that might've been better).

It means the swelling has gone down enough that the urethra will not be pinched by the swell and there should be no need to reinsert a catheter. In my case, I never peed around the catheter because of the swelling so about 4 time a day for a week they inserted a tube in me to drain off the accumulation. OUCH!

I had a catheter for several days after leaving the hospital, mainly because I was discharged on a Friday and post-op appointment Monday. I went out wearing a dress so that was a non-issue other than using the ladies room in a mall, stepped into a stall facing the toilet. When I came out two ladies looked at me funny, I know what to do, lifted my dress enough to expose the catheter and they laughed and I left.

Zero issues with removal.

I never noticed having to pee while the catheter was attached to a bag, as others have said. I also went to Brassard and was also up and walking and with the catheter detached from the bag by 18 hours post-op. (That means, as was explained, that I had to empty my bladder myself after that point, just by unstopping the catheter instead of the usual way. Ironically, it also made me have to pee standing up!) However, I actually did have far more pain from the catheter than the surgery itself; if GRS was about a 4 maximum on that 1-10 pain scale, the bladder spasms from the catheter hit an 8. Fortunately, they were willing to give me painkillers for that too, so I did go back on painkillers for 2-3 more days to handle the catheter pain alone (I was no longer needing painkillers for GRS after the third day). So pain from the catheter is a valid concern, but it IS manageable.

When wearing an indwelling urinary catheter, one that stays installed rather than just slid in and out (intermittent catheterization) some care has to be taken to make sure nothing 'tugs' on the line or pushes it to one side or the other.  You many find that after changing position you will need to slightly adjust the catheter position by loosening the clip on the anchor pad or stabilization device (the evil thing on your leg where the catheter is fastened down, just before the hose to the bag starts) tweaking, and refastening the clamp.

If you are getting bladder spasms, a sharp pain like someone just knee'd  you in the lower abdomen, you might want to ask about anti-spasm medications, anticholinergics, to get you some relief.  The indwelling catheter can 'tickle' the bladder if it shifts slightly, triggering spasms.

I've had to live with the things for extended periods, as well as doing intermittent catheterization 5-6 times a day for several years.  I finally had this repaired (for good, I hope!) last August.

My Michelle having to deal wit ha catheter for years sound bad to me.  You are strong to live through all that; I hope your repair is permanent.  Did you have any problems UTI during this time?  good luck to you.

Quote from: mm on March 16, 2017, 04:14:13 PM
My Michelle having to deal wit ha catheter for years sound bad to me.  You are strong to live through all that; I hope your repair is permanent.  Did you have any problems UTI during this time?  good luck to you.

One UTI.

Insanely obsessive cleanliness is important , especially with intermittent catheterization or when changing your own indwelling (Foley) catheter. Washing hands, betadine wipedown of the area around the meatus (the place where the urethra ends on the skin, not a dirty word [emoji6]),  generous use of antibacterial baby wipes, alcohol hand sanitizer before touching anything on the hardware or around the entry point, etc.

I had a whole complex ritual I'd go through to make sure nothing potentially contaminated touched anything "clean".  Being meticulous and slightly obsessive-compulsive helps.


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I had a catheter for 6 days after surgery and it was hell, not because of pain but because the entire time I had it in I felt a strong need to urinate despite the catheter working properly. Having it removed was the 2nd biggest relief I had through the first week of recovery (beaten by the first bowel movement also on day 6 which almost made cry it was such a relief). After the catheter was removed all the minor urinary problems I had didn't seem bad at all.

I had a catheter for 7 days after my SRS. It REALLY HURT when they removed it. I didn't have any problem to pee after it was removed, but the walls of my urinary tract almost shut itself after a couple of months after the SRS and it was problematic to pee and I had to do a couple urinary tract dilations in general anesthesia.

Quote from: moon on March 09, 2017, 05:03:11 PM
Hey Guys,

So I'm having SRS with Dr. Suporn in a little over a year!

I'm excited but also super nervous because of pain and also the fact that due to Spiro and some OCD stuff I always have to pee, like every 1-3 hours. So i'm super nervous about having a catheter in me and re-learning how to pee.

For anyone who has gone through SRS, what was it like in terms of pain and also the experience of having a catheter? Did u feel like you had to pee but couldn't? Or was peeing an unconscious thing during that time.

Thanks so much!

Just had my GRS last month.  My pain was about a level 4 on a scale of 10, with 10 being the worst.  To describe it accurately it was like a constant dull ache. Wasnt a throbbing or even piercing/sharp pain.  It was also very sore and tender, but not really what I consider pain.  It was very manageable and tolerable, and a percoset takes the edge off. 

But be wary of using narcotics. They will constipate you and cause hard stool. So be sure to get some dolculax and docusate to take following surgery so you dont get backed up and you dont get hard stool. 

This causes internal hemmorhoids and believe me when I say this, they will make your GRS pain seem like a walk in the park in comparison.

Mine flared up last Monday and I was at a 9.5 level pain on a scale of 10.  I sat on the toilet a week and a half ago and bawled for a half hour because the pain of having a bowel movement with agitated hemmorhoids hurt so bad.  It was a very sharp, long lasting pain too.  Lasted for several hours, till I passed out from exhaustion. 

I've never had pain from a catheter inserted or removed.  It's very uncomfortable when it first goes in, but not painful.  While it's in, you wont notice any pain.  There is definitely a feeling of pressure that is constant.  Because of that pressure build up you wont know when you pee, it just kind of streams out on its own as it needs to.

I had GCS on a Tuesday. Friday started the bladder training and Monday I had the catheter removed, It felt fine being removed. I had a new cath installed and returned the following Monday and it was removed. I had a graph and they did not want urine to go into the vaginal canal. I had to sit when I emptied the bladder as pee came around the cath. Make sure you wear a good pad.

It as a new experience to be able to fully empty my balder. Something I still marvel about.

Here's a big write up about having SRS with Suporn

http://totalirc.net/hosted/Suporn2015.pdf