Neuropathic Bladder
Several years ago I started having difficulty with urination. I used a medication called Flomax, which helped. A few years later my bladder was not being emptied properly, and I started using Rapoflo and AvoDart. Those medications were not working so well a few years later. My bladder was expanding and stretching to compensate for the excess urine. There was a possibility that the urine would backflow into my kidneys and cause kidney damage. My doctor had me get ultrasound examinations of my kidneys. Those examinations showed that my kidneys were not damaged. There were also tests done in my doctor’s office that showed the internal lining of my bladder was not significantly affected, but that was not likely to continue that way, because of all the stretching involved.
In May of this year my urologist doctor performed outpatient surgery and placed a device called UroLift in my prostate gland. That device gave a larger passage through the prostate. One month later I still had a full bladder, the UroLift was not helping.
In July I started using catheters, three times each day. That is the only way I can empty my bladder. I was very concerned about continued use of a catheter, but my doctor told me about one of his female patients. She is more than 100 years old and she has been using a catheter for 10 years. She is doing very well with catheters. That eased my mind, and I am ok with using catheters now. My bladder is completely emptied with the catheters. My bladder may be restored to a healthy condition.
This could have been a serious side effect of my diabetes, but I am satisfied with my present status. Life goes on!