So was wondering if anything like this has ever happened to you. I had a TURP procedure done in August and stayed over so they could flush the clots and debris from my bladder. The very next day around noon a young (intern, I think) Came in and said he was going to remove the catheter from me which kind of gave me a bad feeling because I would have thought the surgeon who performed it would remove it. To make a very long story short when he attempted to remove it, he got it stuck on the way out of me and I was in horrible pain as he pulled so hard, but it would not come out. He told me he would be back and left the room which seemed like forever, but was more likely 5 minutes or so. When he came back in he stated that the balloon was not deflating and he literally ripped it out and I swear I was going to have a heart attack. Well, after another surgery for a torn urethra I now have to go over a hundred miles away to have a specialist recusruct my urethra with skin graph from the inside of my mouth. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this or did someone really mess up?
Boy John that was a ordeal. Never heard of it after a Turp but it does happen. When I have a catheter taking out I make sure they take the saline out. Just be careful.
A doctor does not most of the time take the catheter out. He give orders and a nurse does it most of the time.
Hope all goes well this time. Make sure when you have this next catheter taking out so is the saline.
Good luck...........Ken
John,
It sounds like the person removing the Foley catheter either forgot to deflate the balloon or did not know there was a balloon holding the Foley in the bladder. He may not have known how to deflate the balloon. I would say that someone really messed up. If he did not know someone should have instructed him. It might be considered malpractice. Someone has to be responsible, either your doctor or the hospital or surgery center where it was done.
Thomas
John
What Tom is telling you is true. Someone should be held in a count. Look at all the stuff that was done to you and all you have to go through now. I hope you filed a compliant. They need to at least cover you next surgery to fix the problem.
Good luck...........Ken
I will be turning 60 in March and I feel so much younger. Except for some back pain and the TURP everything works great. I'm so worried about this next major surgery after reading what could happen if things go south. This has a potential of ruining my sex life with my wife. It's getting to be very stressful as I have a catheter in for at least a good month before any surgery and god knows what will happen after the surgery. Thanks for the replies I really appreciate it.
John
What type of Urethroplasty are you going to have. You said that they are going to use the skin from your mouth. A graft. That is good. That means they are not doing a end to end like with a stricture. Do not let them do that one.
A man on here had it done and he lost 3 inches off his penis. Had a hard time with sex after.
Good luck and make sure you talk to the doctor and get all your questions answered. Ken
Why did you accept a TURP when there is now a range of much better procedures ?
I took 6 months making my mind up about this after 8 months on Tamslin and this Doctor kind of led me into that direction. To be honest the TURP was done excellent, but the idiot that was sent in to pull the catheter wreck me. I can't begin to tell you how bad it felt when he finally finished ripping it out I literally left that bathroom in blood. It looked like a murder was committed. Also prostate cancer runs rampant in our family. I just don't know anymore.
John
I was kind of wondering the same as Derek. With all the other procedure out there why a Turp. Did your doctor offer you anything else or is that the only thing he did. I am glad that it worked out for you but it cold have gone the other way. Was cancer in your family another reason.
We men are all different and we all have different concerns. I hope he did not bug you into it.
Good luck..Ken
You were unfortunate to have that guy remove it. You certainly have grounds for complaint. When I had the catheters removed by a urology nurse after my two laser procedures it was quite painless. Good luck with the rest of your recovery from it.
No hospital would allow a doctor, nurse or intern to work there unless they were insured for malpractice liability. You have an excellent case and you should consult a medical malpractice attorney. Good luck.
Came here to say just this. Talk to an attorney ASAP
If you are in the US, see a medical malpractice attorney immediately.You are facing a difficult surgery that has significant risks, and many months of recovery. The pain and suffering, and the possible loss of marital consortium are not minor issues. You are likely to have many direct and indirect financial losses through the years ahead because of this fubar event. I recommend your seeing an attorney immediately because in some states, the statue of limitations for medical malpractice can be only a year or so.
Glenn
I love your expression " marital consortium " I'd not heard that before:-)
I've read suggestions here to seek legal counsel. I can tell you from experience, it is very difficult (at least in the Orlando Fl. area) to find a malpractice attorney. These days, most are ambulance chasers and only deal with, slip and fall and car accidents because they're an easy win. Just my 2 cents.....Billy
That was my experience in NC too. I did find one case in Toledo, Ohio where TURP surgery was a disaster, and a few hundred thousand dollars were paid to the injured man and his wife.
Glenn
Hey Billy
Yes it is very hard to prove anything you have to work fast. I live in Orlando Florida to. I had a problem in 2014 when I went to the hospital for sepsis. ( Did not know it at the time )
I was very sick for at least 6 weeks. Thought it was the flu or a cold. Finely I had my son take me to the hospital. After taking blood they told me I had sepsis in my whole body and it was starting to affect my organs.
The doctor came in and asked for a urine sample. I told him I did not need to go and I have a problem peeing on demand. ( When I go to the doctor I have to take it with me ) Well 10 minutes later I had a male nurse and a female nurse come into my room told my son to leave. At this time I have already ask what was going on. Got no answer. I was running a 103 fever and still in the wet stuff I had on.
Still asking what is going on. It was like I was not even there. Then the male nurse told the female nurse to take my pants off. I thought they were changing me. Will I never had catheter so I did not know. Well the one nurse had one leg off and then I felt him stuff the catheter in me. At that point I gave up. He kept pushing it in and out. He told that one out and tried another. No luck this was the fist time he said a word. Do you have a prostate problem. I told him no I went before I came to the hospital. My nurse had to clean me up because I was leaking blood.
Long story short. After I came home I looked everything up. You are suppose to ask permission of the patient for what every you are doing. I found out why they wanted it after They want to see if the sepsis was in my urine. All they would have had to do is explain it to me I would have giving my permission.
I filed a complaint with the hospital. Before I did that I went in September and got my Records in it all it said was that the doctor ordered a straight catheter and they could not do it. It took me some time to hear back from them. Well the letter that I got was not good. So I went back to the hospital in March and got my records again. I wanted to see if there was something I missed.
Well what I found was a little different from what I got the month after I was in the hospital. This time it said that the patient gave permission for the catheter to be inserted and was well tolerated but could not get it in.
I wrote them another letter and sent copy's of what I had. She said that she was sorry that I had a problem and they gave me $600 dollars off my bill. I could have went into it more but what nurse is going to tell there boss they did not fellow the procedure. I left it that way. But I went to a lawyer and had paper work wrote up. No one is aloud to do anything to me unless they tell me what they are doing.
I don't care what you are going to do but tell me first. Sorry this is so long but we have to take control of our body's...............Best of luck to all........Ken
I'm not a sue happy person but in your case I'd get a lawyer.
I have never thought about any lawsuit in my life, but this is so wrong in so many ways. I changed doctors about two and a half years ago to get away from things like this. I put my trust in this facility and especially the Urologist I did not jump into this TURP without some serious reading. To this day I have yet to see the person who removed the catheter not once I also have the feeling that they were hoping like hell that the second surgery he performed would be the end of a major screw up on their part. I think I will give this urithra reconstruction a chance before I go the malpractice route its just the way I am.
I totally agree, no one should be 'sent' to remove a catheter without checking that they know how to do it. A standard Foley balloon (which holds the catheter in place) is inflated with 10cc of sterile saline. This balloon is around 2.5 cm/1 inch in diameter (I've just checked!). This is why it MUST be deflated! Catheters have a separate line with a valve (that's what the extra 'tail' is) and the valve is released when a syringe is pushed onto the port to either inflate or deflate. I've done it many times and occasionally the syringe doesn't open the valve so you have to wiggle it about a bit to get the connection made. Then you have to check the balloon to see how much saline comes out. If catheters have been in place for several days or weeks they can lose some fluid through osmosis so the person removing the catheter has to take a bit of a gamble as to whether less than 10cc in the syringe means the balloon is fully deflated having lost some, or whether it's still partially inflated. Just 3cc in the balloon means its about 1cm in diameter - so not handy for pulling out of the bladder and down the urethera (I'm betting many of you have watering eyes at this moment!)
There's also the matter of the bladder's sphincter - this is normally closed tight (to prevent urine from escaping) and the catheter, with its hopefully deflated balloon, has to first be pulled out of the sphincter.
This young lad, whatever his position and training, obviously did something very wrong. Make a complaint and try to remember every detail - did you see him put a syringe to the catheter? Did he seem to be having a problem with the syringe? Did he explain anything? Ask if you were in pain? Did anyone else rush in to see what he'd done (assuming he'd told someone when he went out - or maybe he was just hiding!). The more detail you can give the better.