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Has anyone had a urinary tract infection right after their surgery? their surv

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  • Has anyone had a urinary tract infection right after their surgery? their surv

    Just wondering if any one out their has has a urinary tract infection soon after they were were released from the Hospital? If so, what symtoms did u have? I always feel like I have to go to the bathroom,but as soon as I try I can't. Or a little urine leaks out but the
    stops during mid-flow. My surgery was June 8 and as each day goes by I am feeling worse and worse. I felt great the first week I came home and now i just feeling overall achiness. Just wondering whAt you felt like if you had a had a urinary tract infection. I can barely move my arms or shoulders, they are so soar.

    Thanks,
    Jen m
    Surgery date: June 8, 2010 with Dr. Boachie
    Thoracic curve: 55 degrees, corrected to 25 degrees
    Lumbar curve: 58 degrees, corrected to 27 degrees
    Posterior-only surgery, Levels T3-L3
    31 year old mother of 2 young kids

  • #2
    Hey Jen,

    Not sure if maybe the cathedar would cause a UTI, or maybe just overall not going to the bathroom enough if you have trouble getting up. If there is severe burning or any blood in your urine you definitely need to get on antibiotics right away. There are actual home tests for UTI - maybe your husband can run out and grab one.

    Hang in there

    Comment


    • #3
      Dear Jen,

      I haven[t had surgery but I have a complex history of many UTIs including two bladder operations (for stress incontinence) and self catheterization. Despite trying to exercise careful hygiene, I had many UTIs.

      And more!

      Anyhow, from having so many UTIs I have a lot of experience with the symptoms and so on. I think that if you do NOT have such a history (and you feel what you report), you probably DO have one - and should certainly be tested. Untreated UTI's can lead to many problems, but they're very easy to clear up. They're extremely common after this spinal surgery partly because of how hard it is to keep catherization completely sterile. I think normal bladder sphincter reflexes can also be affected by some of the same causes for poor intestinal motility.

      You DON'T need this easily treated problem added to others which can ensue after extreme spinal surgery! I never tried the home test kits, but if you can get in to give a sample, it's better. Note, the test is "Clean catch" (they'll explain what it is) and you might need help from a nurse to do it properly after a long fusion. That is, guessing from what I've heard about problems wiping after BMs! (It's one of the many things I worry about after surgery because of my history!) If you don't clean properly, you can get an inaccurate culture.
      Last edited by Back-out; 06-27-2010, 09:13 PM.
      Not all diagnosed (still having tests and consults) but so far:
      Ehler-Danlos (hyper-mobility) syndrome, 69 - somehow,
      main curve L Cobb 60, compensating T curve ~ 30
      Flat back, marked lumbar kyphosis (grade?) Spondilolisthesis - everyone gives this a different grade too. Cervical stenosis op'd 3-07, minimally invasive

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi Jen...

        You should call your primary care doctor tomorrow. It may be nothing, but it doesn't sound like something that you want to ignore.

        Regards,
        Linda
        Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
        ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
        Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

        Comment


        • #5
          just my two cents

          Jen
          After my first surgery, after the catheter was removed I had that sensation of having to go all the time. And to me it seemed like it was all the time because it was such an ordeal getting up and down. In reality though, it was every hour and a half. That continued after I came home too. At week 3 I got the staples taken out and while at the Dr.s office I mentioned it so we did a culture there.

          I don't remember the exact results but the Dr. said that it wasn't a significant amount which would need to be x number of bacteria per million. I didn't want to go into the 2nd surgery with a UTI. I was skeptical about whether I did or didn't have a UTI as I had never had one prior (or since). I just thought it was so weird that I had to use the bathroom so often. He said it was probably my pain meds making me go.

          But all's well that ends well. Guess the Dr.s knew what they were talking about! Imagine that!

          As for the general achiness - It's still early in your recovery and it might have been stated in Wolpert's book about recovery being a series of plateaus. It is not at all linear. Perhaps you have done too much or were trying to cut back your pain meds - could be a lot of reasons.

          Worth a call to your Dr.'s office at any rate.
          Julie - 51 yrs old

          Dx'd 1973 - 43* thoracic curve / rotation
          Wore Milwaukee brace 1973 - 1979
          Pre-surgery: 63* thoracic / 52* lumbar curves


          Surgeries: P - March 16, 2009 - Fused T3-S2 with pelvic fixation
          A -April 14, 2009 - Fused L5-S1
          Achieved +70% Correction
          Dr. Khaled Kebaish, (and team) Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore


          Standing x-ray
          New Spine 03/19/2009
          New Spine Lateral 03/19/2009

          Comment


          • #6
            Sometimes when they insert a catheter, it "scrapes" the bladder wall which is nerve -sensitive. It can leave you with a nagging sense of having to go. This happened to me recently during a diagnositc bladder procedure and it was HELL afterward. I thought "GREAT! They're giving me a work-up for 'neurogenic bladder' and managed to make it ten times worse." I couldn't even tell them (as they filled me up with sterile water), when I did and didn't have to go - the purpose of the whole procedure.

            After all this time, I could tell what had happened as soon as the nurse (over) inserted the friggin' thing. For a while, I had to get up twice as much at night, but it seems to be gradually fading.

            So there ARE other causes for the feeling, but it's still impossible to tell without a culture.
            Not all diagnosed (still having tests and consults) but so far:
            Ehler-Danlos (hyper-mobility) syndrome, 69 - somehow,
            main curve L Cobb 60, compensating T curve ~ 30
            Flat back, marked lumbar kyphosis (grade?) Spondilolisthesis - everyone gives this a different grade too. Cervical stenosis op'd 3-07, minimally invasive

            Comment


            • #7
              wow Julie...your new back looks beautiful...
              Jen...hope you called the doctor to get a test..

              jess

              Comment


              • #8
                I did...right after they took the catheter out I couldn't pee other than a trickle...they had to put it back in and put me on antibiotics and flowmax. A couple days later I was fine....thank goodness...I was petrified of having to go home with a catheter.

                Rich
                Pre-Surgery Lumbar 65 degrees
                A/P Fusion T10-Pelvis by Dr. Christopher Good
                Virginia Spine Institute, Reston, VA 3/17/10, 3/18/10
                Post-Surgery Lumbar 19 degrees, and 2" in height

                Comment


                • #9
                  This might have been due to the catheter during surgery. I remember that when they took mine out I was SO nervous about getting a UTI...I had a bit of discomfort a little afterwards but nothing prolonged.
                  Definitely go see your doctor, but try a supplement called D-Mannose. While antibiotics might be needed to take the infection away (if you have one) the D-Mannose is a healthy sugar that makes it harder for bacteria to stick on the bladder. I've been using it for almost a year and I love it! And this is coming from someone who is prone to UTIs.
                  Feel better!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Jen,
                    did you end up having a UTI? As I told you on the phone, I had one even before leaving the hospital and I was sent home on antibiotics. I think it was caused by the catheter, but I don't think it was the hospital's fault in my case. I am prone to UTI's and whenever I've had a catheter (other times for births of my kids) I always ended up with one.

                    I will try to call you today.
                    __________________________________________
                    Debbe - 50 yrs old

                    Milwalkee Brace 1976 - 79
                    Told by Dr. my curve would never progress

                    Surgery 10/15/08 in NYC by Dr. Michael Neuwirth
                    Pre-Surgury Thorasic: 66 degrees
                    Pre-Surgery Lumbar: 66 degrees

                    Post-Surgery Thorasic: 34 degrees
                    Post-Surgery Lumbar: 22 degrees

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      No, but starting to think yeast infection caused by all the antibiotics.
                      Janet
                      36 year young cardiac RN
                      old curve C 29, T 70, L 50
                      new curve C 7, T 23, L 20
                      Surgery June 11, UCH, Dr. Cronen T2-L5, posterior
                      Revision December 20 L5-S1 with pelvic fixation
                      and Osteotomy to L3 at Tampa General Hospital

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I forgot to post my results here last week, but I got my test results back and I did not end up having a UTI. I was shocked as I really thought I had one. It was probably just having problems from the catheter.

                        JenM
                        Surgery date: June 8, 2010 with Dr. Boachie
                        Thoracic curve: 55 degrees, corrected to 25 degrees
                        Lumbar curve: 58 degrees, corrected to 27 degrees
                        Posterior-only surgery, Levels T3-L3
                        31 year old mother of 2 young kids

                        Comment

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