Hello world!
Big story time:
In early to mid April I got very sick very fast. One of my symptoms was some pain in my side and I went to the doctor thinking I needed my gallbladder out (Technically I do). They luckily ran some blood testing. And then a second round of blood testing. And after the second round I got a call from my doctor himself at ten at night to let me know there was something wrong with my kidneys.
Saw a kidney doctor the next morning and found out I was in kidney failure. It looked bad enough to do dialysis but based on my history of spina bifida and bladder issues he first wanted to try fully emptying my bladder and see if it helped. Which it did!
Unfortunately I have a neurogenic bladder which means I often don’t empty all the way when I try to pee normally. So that’s how I ended up with an indwelling catheter to protect my kidneys, and am waiting to get a procedure that will make it easier to pee independently.
Fun fact, catheters are weird and hard to get used to. I was not given an awful lot of information to get me started. And I eventually found some super helpful groups on Facebook, but there’s a surprising lack of info online. So I thought I would start posting the tips and tricks I learn as I go through this. If anyone else has a catheter and wants to ask questions, offer up other advice, etc, that would be super cool 😁
*Obvious disclaimer that I am not in any way a medical professional. I barely know what I’m doing myself half the time lol.*