Home Hospice,Urgent Foley Catheter Issue, Advice Needed

[MichaelT817582]

Hello all, my wife is in the hospice program and I'm taking care of her at home. She has a large abdominal mass which is starting to encroach on her bladder. She currently has a foley catheter which is working well. We are VERY careful to make sure it is secured with enough slack on the tube where it enters her urethra. However, it recently came all the way out by accident. Thankfully there was no serious injury to my wife. Anyway, the hospice nurse WAS able to re-insert it, but mentioned that he encountered some resistance probably due to the mass. Unfortunately, my wife is NOT able to pee without the catheter. My question is, is we get to the point (in the future) where the catheter cannot be inserted, what can e done? She is not in any condition to go to the hospital for surgery. Also, I believe doing so would violate hospice rules and put an end to her hospice care.

If anyone can address any or all of these concerns please reply to this posting. Thanks so much!

[GailL1]

The hospice nurse or your wife's doctor can explain this to you better but there are other ways to insert a catheter to remove the urine and although it does require creating a small hole in the abdomen to get to the bladder.   It is called a suprapubic catheter.  I can be placed by a urologist as an outpatient procedure or even in their office if set up for this procedure.

Hospice is palliative care - relieving her of urine in her bladder isn't considered lifesaving or even life prolonging - it is more of a comfort and bodily function measure so getting something else done for this problem is fine.

Again, talk to the hospice nurse and/or the doctor - the hospice nurse when they are changing the foley will know if something else has to be done.  If the foley is working now, then that's good, everything is OK and you can spend some quality time with her. 

Day by Day . . . . . . Moment by Moment . . .  . .

[MichaelT817582]

Thanks so much for your thoughts!