Tips for cath until HoLEP?
I (53M) am scheduled for HoLEP next month (about 7 weeks away) for my 180 gram prostate. I have a history of urinary retention with relatively frequent UTIs. I was hoping to make it to surgery before having a retention emergency requiring a cath. BUT a couple of weeks ago my luck ran out.
At the ER a bladder scan showed I had 880ml of urine, though I didn't have any sensation of fullness. A recent previous CT scan showed that my bladder is quite distended so this has been going on for a while. A previous MRI shows thickening of the bladder wall too, so again, apparently this has been a thing for a while.
They placed a foley cath, which I still have. My surgeon says I need to keep the cath until surgery. I've never had a cath before. And this is AWFUL. I really hate it. I've already had it for two weeks and can't imagine 7 weeks more. We've explored alternatives such as SPC, intermittent self-cath, various attachments, etc, all ruled out for different reasons.
So here's my question. Those of you who have had a cath before, what tips do you have to make it less unbearable? Less uncomfortable? Or just words of encouragement? This surgery can't come fast enough. I wish it was scheduled for yesterday.
TL;DR: Anticipating 7 more weeks of foley cath. Any tips for surviving this?