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My 94 yr old father has a foley catheter because of urinary retention and is currently in a skilled rehab on private pay. He has been in extreme discomfort for at least 3 days and they have changed it 2-3 times already. I just called him now to see how he is doing and he said "pray for me to die because of this pain". I called nurse and they are going to try again with smaller cath. I am now sitting here feeling so bad and not knowing what to do next. I have talked to everyone there about this in the last few days and it does not seem to be getting better. I asked if they could give him something more for pain and they said they were going to call the doctor. If it were incontinence, I would say leave it and deal with the diaper. But unfortunately it is not that issue and staff will have to go in a few times a day and get urine out and that will be a nightmare! Any ideas? Am I wrong to think that this problem has an answer? Or should I just move on to pain management and see where this is headed? He fell in Sept, has lost a lot of weight and has not responded well to any treatment the last few months. I really do not know what to say or do when I go visit today......very frustrating to see him like that.

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Hire hospice. Your dad will get individualized attention, pain control, and anything else he may need. An entire team of hospice professionals will be tending to his every need and you'll have someone to call, who will talk with you, whenever you need it.
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Also note, hospice is paid for by Medicare .
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Contact a urologist as soon as possible. A properly placed Foley
Should not hurt. Chances are he is infected. Dr should be contacted
Asap.
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My 88 yr old father, has had similar problems with UTI's and retention. He was hospitalized two months ago for a severe UTI. When he was in the ER, it was extremely painful when they put foley catheter in. Possibly due to the bad infection. He screamed and screamed - I had to step out. They had to change it to a flushable type because it clogged and was not draining. I did ask them to sedate him in the hospital when the had to replace the catheter for the third time (a long story) and that did help. He lives in an assisted living home and we ended up keeping the foley catheter in permanently when he got out of the hospital. I recently watched the hospice nurse replace the catheter and it was not painful and as traumatic . It was when my father was in the hospital for this bad UTI when I called in hospice. I wanted help in making some decisions about keeping him comfortable verses extending his life. I didn't want him to go through such pain again. He is in the end stage of Parkinson's with dementia. I do not want him to be hospitalized again and hospice is in place and can help with those decisions. He is getting more individual care from hospice nurses as well as an aid who comes daily to bath him.
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I agree, see a urologist. Sounds like he has had a decline, contact your local long term care ombudsman. The ombudsman is an advocate for residents in facilities and can help you navigate through these issues. Typically, a catheter shouldn't be painful, so it sounds like something else is going on. I'd get more info on why he is retaining urine, why is he losing weight, etc. I'm sorry he is having these issues. Good luck.
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Thanks for all your responses. As far as hospice goes, I was looking into it and was told by one doctor of 1 hospice place that "he is not ready" Not sure what that means. Heart, lungs, BP still pretty good, just getting weaker from not eating and moving around and pain from catheter still biggest issue. He saw urologist, they treated him for infection and tried to get him more comfortable with it but he is getting where he doesn't want to move at all if he finds one comfortable spot thru the day. My main concern for him is to be pain free if possible. I think he would eat better and move around more if he was not in pain. Any more thoughts? Thanks
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I would think that once the infection has cleared, he will be able to move around a bit more without catheter pain. Make sure he has a leg strap so the tubing doesn't pull when he is transferring or walking. If it pulls he may not want to move again.
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