On school vacation (really fun!) I had to come back here, and this lady told me how to use a catheter. And I didn’t really know how to, so that whole day I was trying to figure out how to use one. And I was just nervous, so she said, “Okay, I’m going to let you go home, but I want you to try it, and just call if you have any questions,” basically…
She gave us this package and it had a picture and she drew on it: “Right here, not here.” I was like, “That’s kind of weird!”
Gabriella, age 12
My fear was gone
The doctors were just like, “You really need to start cathing.” I think it was because of puberty, because once I started getting my period, then I would probably get infections. They just wanted to get me to cath before all of that happened.
I went to a nurse on the Urology floor, and she was just like, “All right, we’re going to do this today.” And I don’t know how long I was there…I think I was there for a couple hours, just trying to get me to cath, trying to get me to cath.
And I actually had been meeting with Lauren on the Psychology floor, and she was helping me. We set up this whole system because I had to cath, just because puberty was coming around the corner and I couldn’t chance not being able to cath with the risk of infection. So we did this whole system where it was like, for one week I had to set everything up, and the next week I had to set everything up and touch the catheter, week three I had to put the catheter in, week four I had fully do it – or something like that. It was some system that we set up. And I met with the Urology nurse one day and she just helped me and we just did it and it worked. And from then on, my fear was gone.
Elizabeth, age 16
Snap, I did it!
If you can’t let the doctors do it, let your mom or dad do it for the first time. I think that should really help, because that’s kind of how you get into it. And before you start it, try to set a goal. Like for me, I had to watch my parents cath me for a week. Well, I was going for a week, but it took two weeks. But after that was done, I just snapped right into it. I did it perfectly! Kind of like how I learned to crawl: I was trying, trying, trying…but then I saw another baby do it, and I did it. Snap, I did it!
Meghan, age 8
Naomi, age 10
I could be able to do it
This nurse came in and explained it – she was kind of like a specialist on the topic. And she gave us pamphlets and a movie which I watched when I came home, and it kind of explained the whole thing more in depth, about how to do it, when to do it, why doing it.
The video was honestly the easiest way to understand it, cause they showed little girls, like four years old, doing it. And if they could do it, and me being almost eighteen – for a little girl to be able to do it by herself, I thought I could be able to do it!
I mean, the pamphlets sort of explained it, but they used a lot of medical terms, so I think that’s why it didn’t really register. But with the movie, you could actually see it, and it was more hands-on how to do it, so that’s what really helped me. For somebody who’s just starting catheterization, I think a movie would be probably the best.
Alexa, age 16
The training session
It was so weird! She came in and she was like, “Take off your clothes, and don’t have any underwear on.” And for me, being older, that was just like – you know, I don’t like anyone down there! So she’s like, “Oh, I’m not trying to do anything bad to you or anything, I’m just going to put in the tube and that’s it.” So she put a mirror down there and she showed me where my urethra was, and she put the tube in there. And it pinches a little bit at first, but they use lubricant, which is wonderful – it helps it not sting. And then we just watched the urine come out and that was it.
The first time I was just so nervous and I didn’t want her down there or anything, but after she did it once I felt more comfortable with her.
The nurse was wicked calm, and if I didn’t want her to go any farther, she wouldn’t go any farther. She didn’t really push it. So she was a big help to make it not as awkward as it was… I used the mirror for probably about three weeks, and then I decided not to. Because the nurse told me that there was a little girl, she was maybe about six years, and she could do it without the mirror. So I thought, you know, if a little girl could do it without the mirror, then I could do it. So I tried it without the mirror and I could do it, so I just started to do it without the mirror!
Alexa, age 16
We went through everything step by step
I came back and was taught how to do intermittent catheterization and all that kind of stuff, which was awkward. I was kind of embarrassed, because I never thought that I would have to do that. But it helped.
The nurse was really nice, and we went through everything step by step, and I left knowing how to do it. I went to a vocational school for high school anyways, so I kind of already knew about cathing and stuff. I studied Health Technologies, so you learned all the sterilizing and all that… The first couple times I’d be in the bathroom for a while, and it would hurt. Because it would hurt, it goes right through your urethra. So it does, it takes a while, because you have to find that right spot.
Val, age 19
The training session
Val: I watched a video first and then the nurse came in and said, “Let’s try it now.” And she did it two times the first time, and then had me do it with her in the room. If I didn’t get it in the exact spot, she would, like, lead my hand. And mirrors are helpful to have, even at home – I used that a couple times, because you can’t really see down there. So mirrors are helpful. But yeah, I think the nurses did a good job.
Mom: I think it was really nice, too, that you had the one-on-one with the nurse to explain things and help you. Val was over-age: like, as a mother, I didn’t have to be responsible for her, she could be on her own, but they still treated her with respect and everything, and I think that’s very important.
Val, age 19, and mother
Well, first it definitely was frustrating, but once I kind of got the hang of it and got the flow, I got better at doing things, and it kind of went a little faster and it wasn’t as much of a problem.
Henry, age 12