I compiled this shopping list of paraphernalia that would be good to have
on hand when you get back from surgery. I started the list in September
2001 before my own operation based on responses I got to a request here for
suggestions.
Thanks to all those who helped put this list together way back then.
Since then I have re-posted periodically it to make it available to the
newly diagnosed. Occasionally, additional items are suggested and I try to
remember to add them next time I post this message.
One thing I would like to make clear up front - the list is exhaustive
because I have included almost everything everyone has ever suggested. This
does NOT mean you should run out and buy everything on this list. Some of
these items are in the "luxury - nice to have" category and others are
specific remedies some individuals found they needed for complaints that may
have been specific to them.
Read through the list and at least think about what is here and what its
purpose is. Get creative in thinking how you might adapt something you
already have around the house to function in the place of some of these
items.
Certain activities, not strictly hardware items, were recommended
frequently. I've included those activities as well.
I am not a doctor and this is NOT medical advice!
Hardware:
- A pair of oversized basketball type warm-up pants with snaps or zipper up
the leg (to allow discreet access to the catheter and bag). Get a pair that
is large enough to accommodate the large (night) bags and smaller (walking)
bags - that will be provided by the hospital. A dark colour will be less
likely to show wetness from any accidental leakage compared with a light
colour. Fast drying material ("parachute material") is recommended if
possible. This is not essential.
- I have found convertible hiking pants (pants whose lower leg can be
zippered off to create a pair of shorts) to work wonderfully well while
wearing a catheter. This type of pant also has a side zipper on the lower
leg, which makes leg bag access a breeze. You can open the upper zipper (the
one that runs around the leg) part-way to switch bags and let out the hose
to the large drain bag.
- A five-gallon plastic bucket is very useful at night as a receptacle for
the large night bag. The bucket may become your constant companion around
the house. Get a square one if you don't already have something else.
- "Invalid" cushion (looks like an inner tube)
- Antibiotic ointment/lubricant (Polysporin, for example) for where catheter
exits (some had this supplied by their hospital). Some recommend a
water-based lubricant such as KY Jelly but that tends to dry out quickly.
Get gauze 4X4 pads to apply ointment.
There has been some debate about the best fluid to use. You want something
slick, long lasting and certain not to damage the tube. It would be nice if
it were also antibacterial. I used Polysporin and
Erythromycin with no
problem. Polyfax ointment is a name to look for if you live outside North
America.
- Alcohol swabs to clean the catheter at the tip of the penis (single use
wipes designed for cleaning the skin before an injection).
- A pair of slippers or sandals or loafers.
- Over-the-counter stool softener
- Get a haircut and trim your toenails before surgery
- Several people recommended buying, borrowing or otherwise acquiring the
use of a reclining chair.
- Place a chair by the bed with the back facing the bed. Use the chair as a
bedrail to help you get up. Use the seat as a bedside table to hold some of
the things you want to keep handy. I would STRONGLY suggest you test this
out BEFORE you go to hospital to be certain it can take your weight as a
handrail before you rely on it post-surgery!
- A pillow to hug early on to ease pain in laughing etc.
- A pillow to put between your knees while sleeping on your side.
- Grab bars in the area of the commode (don't use towel racks for grab
bars!)
- Use a plastic coat hanger stuck between the mattress and box spring to
hang the bag from or just place it in the bucket on the floor.
- Nice baggy, soft sweat pants or warm-ups - oversize with drawstring if the
weather is warm inside the house or out of doors
- A soft bathrobe belt to make a shoulder strap to suspended the big bag if
you prefer it to the "walking" bag.
-. Silk/nylon/rayon boxer shorts for the period you have the catheter
- Some readers have recommended "boxer briefs" for the combination of
support and their ability to hold the catheter and prevent tugging
- A plastic sheet to go under the bed sheets and protect the mattress once
the catheter comes out. A large plastic garbage bag might work in a pinch.
- Have enough easy to prepare food on hand for 2-3 weeks
- Book(s) you've been intending to read
- Fresh batteries for your TV remote
- A cordless phone and up-to-date phone list
- Some big baggy mesh shorts (in summer)
- Suspenders may be helpful, in place of a belt
- Two dozen inexpensive white washcloths (in a big bundle)
- Some of the little plastic, stick-on hooks to put in the shower etc., for
a place to hang the bag or simply the pail, placed outside the tub.
- To help stave off possible urinary tract infection, either Ural (seems to
be an Australia/New Zealand over-the-counter drug) or a supply of cranberry
juice. They work in different ways to achieve the same thing.
- A watch or interval timer to remind you not to stay sitting too long. The
small kitchen timers would work for this and to prompt you to get up
periodically at night if you need to do so.
.. An electronic thermometer (about $10) for keeping track of your
temperature for a couple weeks postoperatively.
- A walking stick may prove to be helpful.
- A safety bench (maybe a plastic lawn chair?) for the shower (sometimes
you're a little light-headed when you first come home and it's nice to have
something to sit on)
- A raised seat to put over the toilet (as an alternative, or in addition
to, grab bars)
- A grabber for picking things up if you drop them so you wouldn't have to
bend down.
- If you have the hardware, fill up a MP3 player with your favourite tunes &
use headphones to help "drown-out" the hospital noise.
- A "toilet seat lifter". I would be inclined to bend a coat hanger into a
hook that I could work under the lip and lift, but there are probably
commercial step-on type mechanical devices akin to garbage can lid lifters
out there. Just use a stick or bend at the knees, keeping the back straight.
Heck, just leave the lid up for a few days.
- One person indicated his hospital made him wear a pair of anti-embolism
stockings the whole time he was there. He bought another pair when he went
home and suggests considering doing the same.
- Drinking straws - you will want some for the first week.
- Plastic cups - they're lighter than glass
- Extra pillows - for sitting up in bed and as arm rests at night and for
the couch.
- Velcro Foley straps - the walking bag can slip down your leg and pull on
the tube.
- A current phone list - one of contact people who must know, one of friends
to come visit you, walk, and meals, shop for you. Spread the burden.
- A few woman's (not a few women's- get them from one woman) menstrual
pads - don't be shy, the big ones, they're smaller, cheaper than
incontinence pads and can be added to the diaper and
changed more often.
-Travel bag - like a baby changing bag for when you go out or the keep
women's pads in your pocket.
- Viva paper towels - to help when wet - they're soft.
- Toilet wipes - the first few times they're nice, along with baby wipes for
everything.
- To deal with the rash and itch consider getting tubes of Desitin and/or
Butt Paste, both containing zinc oxide.
- Diet plan - coffee is bad for bladder, eat more fruit, less meat, no
cheese & bananas while on stool softeners. Diet and supplements are part of
permanent recovery plan.
- Look into a cancer society group such as "Man to Man" that meets monthly
and go to a meeting before surgery.
Repeated Advice:
- Learn to roll sideways out of bed (rather than sit on the edge trying to
stand upright). Practice before going to the hospital.
- Walking is the best way to get your body ready and to recover.
- Wait to see how bad your incontinence is BEFORE purchasing a lot of pads
etc. but do buy a package of men's guards to bring to the appointment when
the catheter is removed. Have a look around at what is available and
compare costs before hand.
- Tena Serenity Pads for Men: the triangular pads are wide
enough to prevent side leaks.
- *Flip-top* plastic pail. A $3 Sterilite 20-quart oval bucket from
Walmart, lined with scented plastic kitchen garbage bag, prevents
diaper/pad odour escape for weeks if you chose to wait that long before
emptying it.
- Kegel, pre-operation and post-catheter removal (not with catheter in)
- Remember, what you are going through is TEMPORARY, in a few weeks you
won't even remember the discomfort of some of this stuff!
JP
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