I compiled this list starting in September 2001, before my own operation
based on responses I got to a request here for suggestions. Thanks to all
those who helped put this list together. Since then I have re-posted
periodically it to make it available to the newly diagnosed. When it is
posted, a few more suggestions are often added.

One thing I would like to make clear up front - the list is exhaustive
because I have included everything everyone has ever suggested. This does
NOT mean you should run out and buy everything on this list. Some of these
items are in the "luxury - nice to have" category and others are specific
remedies some individuals found they needed for complaints that may have
been specific to them.

Read through the list and at least think about what is here and what its
purpose is. Get creative in thinking how you might adapt something you
already have around the house to function in the place of some of these
items.

I've taken the liberty of broadly ranking the suggestions with what in my
opinion are the more important items first.

Certain activities, not strictly hardware items, were recommended
frequently. I've included those activities as well.

The late Robert Young went to the trouble of posting the list on his great
Phoenix 5 website:

http://www.phoenix5.org/Basics/treatsides/RPsuggestsJoe.html

Here goes -

Hardware:

. A pair of oversized basketball type warm-up pants with snaps or zipper up
the leg (to allow discreet access to the catheter and bag).  Get a pair that
is large enough to accommodate the large (night) bags and smaller (walking)
bags - that will be provided by the hospital.  A dark colour will be less
likely to show wetness from any accidental leakage compared with a light
colour.  Fast drying material ("parachute material") is recommended if
possible.  This is not essential.

. A five-gallon plastic bucket is very useful at night as a receptacle for
the large night bag".  The bucket may become your constant companion around
the house. Get a square one if you don't already have something else.

. "Invalid" cushion (looks like an inner tube)

. Antibiotic ointment/lubricant (Polysporin, for example) for where catheter
exits (some had this supplied by their hospital).  Some recommend a
water-based lubricant such as KY Jelly but that tends to dry out quickly.
There has been some debate about the best fluid to use.  You want something
slick, long lasting and certain not to damage the tube. It would be nice if
it were also antibacterial.  I used Polysporin and Erythromycin with no
problem.

. Alcohol swabs to clean the catheter at the tip of the penis (single use
wipes designed for cleaning the skin before an injection).

. A pair of slippers or sandals or loafers.

. Over-the-counter stool softener

. Get a haircut and trim your toenails before surgery

. Several people recommended buying, borrowing or otherwise acquiring the
use of a reclining chair.

. Place a chair by the bed with the back facing the bed.  Use the chair as a
bedrail to help you get up.  Use the seat as a bedside table to hold some of
the things you want to keep handy.  I would STRONGLY suggest you test this
out BEFORE you go to hospital to be certain it can take your weight as a
handrail before you rely on it post-surgery!

. A pillow to hug early on to ease pain in laughing etc.

. A cushy pillow to put between your knees while sleeping on your side.

. Grab bars in the area of the commode (don't use towel racks for grab
bars!)

. Use a plastic coat hanger stuck between the mattress and box spring to
hold the bag or use the bucket on the floor.

. Nice baggy, soft sweat pants or warm-ups - oversize with drawstring if the
weather is warm inside the house or out of doors

. A soft bathrobe belt to make a shoulder strap to suspended the big bag if
you prefer it to the "walking" bag.

. Silk/nylon/rayon boxer shorts for the period you have the catheter

. Get a haircut and trim your toenails before surgery

. Several people recommended buying, borrowing or otherwise acquiring the
use of a reclining chair.

. A plastic sheet to go under the bed sheets and protect the mattress once
the catheter comes out.  A large garbage bag might work.

. Have enough easy to prepare food on hand for 2-3 weeks

. Book you've been intending to read

. Fresh batteries for your TV remote

. A cordless phone

. Some big baggy mesh shorts (in summer)

. Suspenders may be helpful, in place of a belt

. Two dozen inexpensive white washcloths (in a big bundle)

. Some of the little plastic, stick-on hooks to put in the shower etc., for
a place to hang the bag or simply the pail, placed outside the tub.  A much
better recent suggestion - just pull the tube off the bag and let it drain
while you shower!

. To help stave off possible urinary tract infection, either Ural (seems to
be an Australia/New Zealand over-the-counter drug) or a supply of cranberry
juice.  They work in different ways to achieve the same thing.

. A watch or interval timer to remind you not to stay sitting too long

. Over-the-counter stool softener

. A walking stick may prove to be helpful.

. A safety bench for the shower (sometimes you're a little light-headed when
you first come home and it's nice to have something to sit on)

. A raised seat to put over the toilet (as an alternative, or in addition
to, grab bars)

. A grabber for picking things up if you drop them so you wouldn't have to
bend down.

.If you have the hardware, fill up a MP3 player with your favourite tunes &
use headphones to help "drown-out" the hospital noise.

. Another recent suggestion was a "toilet seat lifter".  I would be inclined
to bend a coat hanger into a hook that I could work under the lip and lift,
but there are probably commercial step-on type mechanical devices akin to
garbage can lid lifters out there.  Just use a stick or bend at the knees,
keeping the back straight.  Heck, just leave the lid up for a few days.

. One person indicated his hospital made him wear a pair of anti-embolism
stockings the whole time he was there. He bought another pair when he went
home and suggests considering doing the same.

Repeated Advice:

. Learn to roll sideways out of bed (rather than sit on the edge trying to
stand upright)

. Walking is the best way to get your body ready and to recover.

. Wait to see how bad your incontinence is BEFORE purchasing a lot of pads
etc.

. Kegel, pre-operation and post-catheter removal (not with catheter in)

Remember, what you are going through is TEMPORARY, in a few weeks you won't
even remember the discomfort of some of this stuff!

JP