Melanie
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Melanie broke her neck and back after falling from a horse in 2010. She had a urethral catheter for a few months and then tried intermittent self catheterisation. She found the latter was impossible without help so decided to have a suprapubic catheter.
Melanie is a journalist. She is married and has one child. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.
More about me...
Melanie had a horse riding accident. She was paralysed from her arms down and had limited use of...
Melanie had a horse riding accident. She was paralysed from her arms down and had limited use of...
Well in April 2010, I fell off my horse jumping over a small fence, and landed on my face and my body, flipped over. I broke my neck at C6 and my lower back was fractured. But it was the neck injury that was the bad one, so I was left as an incomplete tetraplegic with impaired hand function and a loss of function throughout my body from my arms down.
Melanie could only self-catheterise with the help of nurses or friends because of her paralysis....
Melanie could only self-catheterise with the help of nurses or friends because of her paralysis....
Melanie was in shock when she became paralysed. She had no awareness of what was happening to her...
Melanie was in shock when she became paralysed. She had no awareness of what was happening to her...
Melanie had a suprapubic catheter inserted under local anaesthetic. She felt very sore when the...
Melanie had a suprapubic catheter inserted under local anaesthetic. She felt very sore when the...
Melanie describes the advantages for her of having a suprapubic rather than urethral catheter.
Melanie describes the advantages for her of having a suprapubic rather than urethral catheter.
It has taken Melanie 3 years to get used to having a catheter and ‘it’s still ongoing’. She feels...
It has taken Melanie 3 years to get used to having a catheter and ‘it’s still ongoing’. She feels...
Melanie, who has a spinal cord injury, knows she has a UTI when her urine smells unusual. She has...
Melanie, who has a spinal cord injury, knows she has a UTI when her urine smells unusual. She has...
Melanie feels that her UTIs start in the urethra. Changing her bowel routine and using a silver...
Melanie feels that her UTIs start in the urethra. Changing her bowel routine and using a silver...
When I started getting infections, I was curious I think because I was maddened, because I wanted to know how the germs were getting in. Whether they were going in urethrally or whether they were going in through the actual site, the hole of the site on my belly. Or whether they were going in the end of the catheter. I suppose by putting the leg bag on, you distance the risk of that happening because you’re not going to get germs. It’s unlikely travelling all the way, right up the leg bag and into the bladder that way. But I’m now fairly certain that the infections are caused urethrally.
Melanie panicked when she felt pressure in the bladder and was leaking. She realised the catheter...
Melanie panicked when she felt pressure in the bladder and was leaking. She realised the catheter...
Melanie was upset when she leaked in her friend’s car. She no longer uses a flip flow valve and...
Melanie was upset when she leaked in her friend’s car. She no longer uses a flip flow valve and...
I’ve never leaked through the site of the suprapubic. I did leak for a while when I was first using, when I was doing the intermittent, the flip flow using the suprapubic. I did start leaking urethrally. I blamed myself for that because I didn’t empty my bladder often enough and I think I overstretched it. I started leaking urethrally. I did it in the cinema one day – and it really kind of upset me. I had to get in a friend’s car to go home, wet the car seat and that traumatised me a bit. I think that was another significant reason for going back to a leg bag because I had more control and more insurance policy if you like that I wasn’t going to leak in public.
Melanie remembers struggling to open the tap and empty her bag into the toilet. She found out...
Melanie remembers struggling to open the tap and empty her bag into the toilet. She found out...
Melanie’s leg bag is worn in a sleeve below her knee. She now has to wear trousers that are wide...
Melanie’s leg bag is worn in a sleeve below her knee. She now has to wear trousers that are wide...
Melanie had more infections when she used a valve without a bag. Having a bag makes her feel ...
Melanie had more infections when she used a valve without a bag. Having a bag makes her feel ...
I was always determined to be as independent and as normal as possible, to make as much recovery as possible. And some of the nurses started encouraging me to consider doing intermittent, using a flip flow valve on the catheter so that I would collect urine in my own bladder and then empty it.
Melanie’s first suprapubic catheter change in hospital went wrong. She had to have a urethral...
Melanie’s first suprapubic catheter change in hospital went wrong. She had to have a urethral...
The district nurse changes Melanie’s catheter quickly. Melanie doesn’t feel very much and has had...
The district nurse changes Melanie’s catheter quickly. Melanie doesn’t feel very much and has had...
Melanie keeps spare catheters and bags in case of an emergency. She also has a spare urethral...
Melanie keeps spare catheters and bags in case of an emergency. She also has a spare urethral...
Do you usually keep an emergency supply at home for changing the catheter?
I like to keep, I have spare catheters, yes, in case there’s an emergency. I have spare catheters there and spare leg bags. I like to keep a nice little stock pile and I suppose one always lives with the awareness that if you got a blockage you might have to have an emergency change. I still have with me, that I got from hospital, it’s an emergency urethral catheter pack. So if for some terrible reason something happened with my suprapubic, I have the ability and the knowledge, because they trained me to do this in hospital, I know how to do an emergency catheterisation on myself.
Melanie was ‘horrified’ to learn that the catheter’s design hadn’t improved in over 80 years. She...
Melanie was ‘horrified’ to learn that the catheter’s design hadn’t improved in over 80 years. She...
Melanie pays for her council carers, who come in every morning. She said it’s ‘functional’ and ...
Melanie pays for her council carers, who come in every morning. She said it’s ‘functional’ and ...
Melanie can’t fault the care she has had from health professionals. She said that the nurses...
Melanie can’t fault the care she has had from health professionals. She said that the nurses...
Melanie no longer feels ‘any shame or embarrassment about having a bulge’ in her trousers. She...
Melanie no longer feels ‘any shame or embarrassment about having a bulge’ in her trousers. She...
Sometimes information can be given too soon after a life changing injury. Melanie feels there isn...
Sometimes information can be given too soon after a life changing injury. Melanie feels there isn...
Melanie advises asking questions and trying intermittent self-catherisationfirst. A suprapubic...
Melanie advises asking questions and trying intermittent self-catherisationfirst. A suprapubic...