Richard
Richard had an accident in 2007 when he was cycling home from work and ran into the back of a parked van. He was 55 at the time. He had a urethral catheter for about 6 months and then a suprapubic catheter.
Richard had an accident in 2007 when he was cycling home from work with a friend and ran into the back of a parked van. He was 55 at the time. He was taken into hospital, where he was fitted with a urethral catheter. He had a spinal injury which left him paralysed from the chest down.
In hospital, Richard tried intermittent self catheterisation but continued having problems. After about 6 months in hospital he was fitted with a suprapubic catheter. About nine months after having it, he had to go back into hospital and was told the catheter may need re-siting. Whenever the district nurse tried to change it, she had problems inserting the new catheter. Rather than re-siting it, though, Richard was fitted with a bigger catheter instead, a 20mm catheter instead of a 14mm.
Richard now has his catheter changed at home every 5 weeks. He said he had problems with infections early on but much less now. He is prescribed Oxybutynin to help with bladder spasms and takes this daily as well as Baclofen, a muscle relaxing medication used to treat muscle symptoms such as spasm, pain and stiffness. He has a carer coming in daily to help him get into bed at night. His wife, who is now retired, also helps care for him.
Richard said that when he was discharged from hospital he came back home, which had been extended for wheelchair use before his accident. His mother-in-law had been ill with Alzheimer’s and his wife had been her mother’s main carer. Richard uses the extended part of the house.
Richard uses a flip flow valve during the day. He tries to drink as much as he can, and often drinks water and green tea. He advised other people to remember to take extra catheter equipment when going on holiday, something he said he’d learnt from experience. Even travelling locally, he said he always carries GTN spray for autonomic dysreflexia. This is a potentially life threatening condition that requires immediate attention. It occurs most often in spinal cord-injured people and is a reaction of the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system to overstimulation causing an abrupt onset of excessively high blood pressure. Richard goes out once a week with a local group with various health conditions, an occasion to go out for a few hours and exchange news and information.
Shortly after his injury, Richard joined the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA), a national charity for spinal cord injured people. Through the SIA, he said he got a lot of helpful information and attended a few of their seminars. He also found useful information on internet forums.