I'm about to start using a conveen, advice please.

[Gavin1]

I'm new to this site and am looking for some advice. After some recent problems with a urethral catheter coming out twice in quick succession and a disastrous re-insertion that involved a trip to hospital in an ambulance I am thinking of using a conveen. I have no control over my bladder and get spasms which result in a fairly strong stream of urine.

Whilst in hospital after an attack of transverse myelitis I tried a conveen but suffered from problems with it being forced off by the strength of the flow and was wondering if anyone else had suffered from this problem and how they coped with it.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[NannaB]

Hi Gavin, my husband's convenes have never come off with the strength of flow but if there is a kink in the tube, either where it joins the convene or the bag, it can back flow and urine comes out of the top. I have to make sure there is a clear way through. At first, several convenes did come off but mainly because they weren't put on correctly. I don't let carers put them on now as if I do it myself and it comes off, I only have myself to blame. Now we use Conveen prep wipes. It creates a protective film that also helps the convene stick better. You wipe it on and let it dry before putting on the convene. Make sure you get the correct size as well, as too tight will restrict flow ( my dad was in agony as the DN didn't measure him at all, just bought very small convenes), and too big will come off.

I hope you get something suitable to help you with this.

X

[Gavin1 in reply to NannaB]

Thanks NannaB, I shall be getting in touch with my local continence team tomorrow to see what they can do, so the more I know before I apeak to them the better.

[Doglinton in reply to NannaB]

Still struggling a bit. Mixed results. Mainly due to him removing it early morning. Then wetting bed. Success today !!

Where do you fix bag ? The latest lot have a very long pipe. Do you trim it ?

J x

[NannaB in reply to Doglinton]

They are long but it's on a stand hooked on the side guard of the bed. I'm not sure how you could trim it. I'm glad you had success and here's to many more.

X

[Doglinton in reply to NannaB]

I'll keep you up-dated.

x

[vlh4444 in reply to Doglinton]

Do hope you get on a OK with it in the end Jean. As I said it really transformed things for D as it stopped the need for rushed trips to the toilet with all the risks of falling attached to that. It also meant we were more confident to go out without having to pre-plan where the accessible toilets were.

I am surprised though that carers don't have more training on how to use them correctly. The day bag needs to go on the inside of the calf so that the tube doesn't become stretched over the knee when it is bent. This also helps to disguise the fact that there is a bag under the trousers even when full as it doesn't show much there. Some carers put it on the outside of the leg, or on the knee or even on the thigh with a big loop of tube which is never going to work! One other thing is that you need to empty the day bag regularly. If the bag is full, the next lot of urine will have nowhere to go and will back up and push the sheath off - seems obvious, but it is easy to forget when you can't see the bag under the trousers and D has no sensation of when he is going.

Good luck!

V x

[Doglinton in reply to vlh4444]

Thanks Vicki.

Success last night. The previous night - failure and I felt ready to give up. Will persevere, Going up to Yorkshire tomorrow so will wear it on journey. Its night-time thats the problem. I've had to work out for myself where to put bag etc. I don't think there's much training.

Thanks for your ideas.

love, Jean x

[vlh4444]

We find they work very well for my husband on the whole. They do occasionally come off but, as NannaB says, this is usually if they haven't been put on properly. Some carers are better than others at doing it. It is very important that gravity is allowed to do its thing - urine will not flow up hill! and there must be no kinks. If there are it can blow the sheath right off. At night I put the night bag on the floor, rather than hang it on the bed rails, and make sure the tube is straight where it goes into the sheath (the exact position varies depending on how the tube has been curled while in the packet). It is also fairly key to make sure the tap at the bottom is in the up, or off, position after rinsing - it is very easy to forget and everything just comes straight out on the floor! - sounds stupid but has been done many times! A great system though that really transformed things for D when he first started using it and we now depend upon it. Hope it works for you too Gavin.

[Rowan8831]

Hi everyone I am new to posting on this site but have been reading it and finding it really helpful for quite a while. Sadly we are not new to CBD though as my husband was given a first tentative diagnosis in 2012 and then it was confirmed in 2015. He has had symptoms for at least 10 years though.

We find a convene really helpful and it has made a real difference in that I am not washing bedding every single day and I get to sleep through the night unless he falls out of bed, which is the latest symptom. He wears a pad and has the convene. We put the drainage bag in an old washing up bowl next to the bed which works really when when I occasionally forget to turn the tap off after I have emptied it! You need some special spray to get it off easily. We have such a small narrow bathroom that I call it the convene dance every morning as I attempt to navigate him and the bowl into the toilet. As one of his symptoms is an almost total lack of spatial awareness it can be quite challenging!

I hope it works well for you too.

[Julieandrog]

hi

see a urologist a urethreal catheter should'nt come out. conveen both from my nursing knowledge and with rog and this illness causes more problems than it helps.

regards

julie

[Gavin1 in reply to Julieandrog]

Thanks for the reply. Iam waiting to see a urologist and have an appointment later this week. I may have kidney stones that are causing the balloon to deflate which is why they keep coming out. After a traumatic attempt last week that caused massive blood loss and a trip to hospital the district nurse can no longer get a catheter in, which means I now swell up untill the pressure forces an overflow. Hopefully this won't cause any other ptoblems before my appointment on Thursday.

[Frosty]

I taped it on with paper tape. It wasn't perfect but did help.

[cabbagecottage]

I joined two bags together and left the tap open and hung it into a bowl .