No More Baby Powder

I'm tired. I just got up and already I am thinking I might go back to bed. Well, I didn't "just" get up. I got up a couple of hours ago, went to the bathroom, tried to have a shower, then did exercises, getting lessons on how to properly attach this stupid catheter. I did learn something important in the process, how to reduce the chances of disattachment such as happened on Saturday evening.

But first, that whole thing about trying to have a shower. I have a brand new commode chair. It would appear that the bolts holding the axle sleeve in place are a bit loose. This means the axle itself does not lock into place. This morning, while wheeling about to get into the shower, the right wheel, the one with the loose bolts, detached completely. Fortunately this new commode chair has small wheels on it as well so it can convert from self-propelled to a push chair. When the big wheel fell off, the small wheel was there to stop a calamity.

Nonetheless, I forwent the shower and opted for a hand wash of critical areas. During this process I discussed the condom catheter with my HCA. Kathy is an experienced woman, about my age, and has been doing Home Care for a decade or so. She's seen it all. As she washed and dried me, she talked about the way they were supposed to stick and options for making it stick on better. Then, as she went to apply creams, she skipped Baby Powder, telling me it would interfere with the glue that holds on the condom part.

That was my mistake on Saturday. After a thorough cleaning, I put Baby Powder on myself. It helps reduce the dampness and potential chafing. However that powder interfered with the glue, allowing my catheter to come loose right in the midst of dinner with David. Catheters don't come loose when they are idle; the explode off under pressure, as did mine. I uttered an expletive. David looked at the look on my face and laughed. He was amused. I was not amused.

Kathy stepped me through the proper method of attachment. She pointed out a couple of pitfalls and assured me I had the right size. She also explained that the green collar on the device was for protecting it before application, and could be disposed of. I did not need to wear that collar anyplace at all. She also suggested getting a blow dryer for my groin as a way of ensuring no moisture got into the glue that holds things in place.

So no more Baby Powder for me. I guess the expectation is that I will be dry anyways. And now I need to look for a blow dryer, but not one for my hair. Today I put on another of these monsters. Let's see how it goes.