Foley Catheter Notes and Questions

Under the SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie Grow
Email me at ajs@frii.com
Last update: December 18, 2022

This webpage shares my personal collection of reminders (for males) about how to live with a Foley (indwelling) urinary catheter.

First here is some background information about this webpage, and some "free advice" on living with BPH.

Standard disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice. I offer this just in case it helps you with useful ideas. Personal discretion is advised.

Reminders (specific to the author!) for if/when back on a Foley again (sigh), say after surgery.

To switch bags morning and evening:

• wash hands
• lay towel on floor, stand over it
• close valve(s) on new bag!
• (morning) pull bag up leg first (straps remain connected)
• untape junction
• open package and alcohol-swab new male coupler
• disconnect old bag carefully; hold up old coupler to avoid leaks
• insert new coupler into catheter funnel
• swab alcohol around junction
• (evening) slide day bag off leg (careful to avoid leaks)
• later after it's dry, wrap white tape over junction to keep clean and solid
• clean with soap and water (messy) on days not showering

To clean bag after uncoupling:

• wash out with warm water (day bag: fill from outlet end too)
• at least every other day, soak 20 min with 2:3 diluted vinegar
• hang to dry open

Other reminders:

• to shower, or to lie down for a long time: use night bag; hangs on shower knob or rests on floor

• if get thigh paresthesia due to long time standing around, raise one leg up on toilet/etc

• consider trimming pubic hair to minimize (although does not fully prevent) loose hairs wrapping around the catheter near the exit, stuck in gunk, hard to remove even with tweezers

Bard StatLock:

• note that the arrow points opposite of flow (weird)
• website says change after 7 days, Banner says okay for a month if not peeling off or causing irritation (I've made 11)
• takes a long time with alcohol sponge and peeling to remove gently
• use Goo Gone for residual on skin after several days of healing
• they usually switch legs; but it would be unnatural for me on the right
• one website suggests putting it up on abdomen to allow for reflex erections, but don't see how the hose would route well from there

Survival questions for doctor:

• painkillers? bladder spasm prevention? (anti-muscarinics?)
• bladder irritation, blisters, bleeding: anything I can do? look at all those clots, what stops them from coming back?
• hair, gunk, and pus at exit; what do I do?
• how do I get more day bags without driving a long way to urologist?

Surprises not documented anywhere I've seen:

• glans gland emissions (yes, see above about that) drying hard, dark, crusty, difficult to remove, and catching loose pubic hairs! used tweezers to remove (very carefully)
• tubing not draining well into bag, apparently back suction?
• white-taping over line coupler for security + cleanliness (ER nurse surprised, but sees no problems)
• no mention of using hand sanitizer nor lubricant (although alcohol can burn, but it hurts so much sometimes anyway, hard to know)
• mysterious tee at top of night bag line pokes legs, cannot control direction (RN Jason at ER said it's for urine sampling)
• reflex erections are painful

And conflicting information gotten from various reputable sources:

• sponge bath only, vs showers OK (latter works with care)
• use of KY jelly (or generic) later from Banner MA) vs neosporin vs polysporin
• StatLock below or above penis (never tried above)