Cathetre issues for stylish lady .

My lovely Mum in Law has had an indwelling catheter now for the past few months .Its great as she gets a good night sleep , but daytimes are stressfull as vision issue - no up down eye movement -combined with balance issues and weekness of the hands and fingers all make managing the mechanics of the flip flow valves and the changing over of bags night to day etc

difficult and accident prone. We are using bags and supplies the NHS in Surrey supplies via Great Bear at the moment but the connections between the bag and the indwelling tube are not user friendly even where myself and the carers are assisting . Also for a lady there must be some more comfortable and confidence giving aid to keep the day bag supported and secure .

Can anyone share their experiences , are there better and more lady friendly bags and attachements out there somewhere even if we have to pay as Mum is managing quite well overall but this business is draining and she is getting very stressed if she has to go out and of course we want her to enjoy going out withut worring about this bag , leaks and drips and becoming detached. She also finds that the bag in the day can make her balance worse if its slipped thus making her more prone to fall. The Urology Nurses had no clue about PSP !

Be greatfull for any advice . Thank you all in advance .

[SharonAB]

Dear Lucylol,

Sorry, don't know how it works with PSP (Though daresay will becoming finding out with my husband in near future). However maybe the oncology dept of your local hospital has some ideas.

For many years ago (through a friend of a friend) I made 50 trendy shoulder tote bags for six men as catheter bag covers who had cancer. Apparently volunteers normally make them out of materials suitable for ladies. Sorry don't have patterns as I just made the up as I went along (were given rough measurements to work with at the time). Anyway I received thankyou notes at the time & I was given a fair bit of feedback. I was advised that because they were made them out of dark soft fabric (I went for santeen cotton - tartan plaid designs), had made them with wide shoulder straps to go across the body, made them envelope shaped with large box gussets and no draw sting (I used extra large press studs) and used rubber backed curtain material as a lining and they were easily washable they were appreciated. Also one wrote back to say it was good to get lots 'cause accidents happen.

Its weird how it takes the dreaded PSP to give me an appreciation on how the little things can make a diffference.When I received the thanks & lots of info back years ago I was puzzled why - because at the time they were an easy, straight forward thing for me to do. It's only now that I am realising it is the little bit of help received from others that can make all the difference to each day.

Regards,

Alana - Western Australia

[SharonAB]

Dear Lucylol,

Just looked back on what I wrote - Got to giggle about how tongue tied I can get-

Sounds like I am writing about some catheter bags who have cancer or men who are catheter bags....

But I am sure you get the drift. Obviously need to get some rest.......and read/spell check before I hit the 'Submit answer' button..

Regards,

Alana - Western Australia

[Hidden in reply to SharonAB]

Alana, thank you for taking the time to reply . Every little bit of information helps.