I'm just a little annoyed with my urologist team from this week. Catheters come in many sizes, and a typical place to start is with a 16 gauge catheter that is a specific thickness. Emergency Rooms are most often stocked with either 16 or the slightly larger 18 gauge.
If you recall from my adventures in September, I had progressive problems with urine and blood bypassing the catheter tube and making a rather big mess. Eventually they had me on a 24 gauge. That's a little unusual, but it was mostly brought on by the excessive clotting prior to Dr. Basrawala's surgery. After surgery, Dr. Basrawala left me with a 20 gauge which seemed to fit well.
Prior to discharge Friday, I had insisted that they upgrade me to a 20 gauge because I had two episodes of leaking overnight while in the hospital. Someone in urology declined to change it on the theory that my bladder was already aggregated by the stent in the right ureter, and that to upgrade me would only stretch things out further.
Well now that I am home, I am still pissing my pants because this darn 16 gauge leaks! I bought a new bed last year and it was pretty expensive, I don't want to damage this overnight either. So very soon I will insist they either remove this 16 entirely, or upgrade to 20. It just would have saved some bother if they had listened Friday.
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