doogles

Outstanding! Absolutely *sinister*

You know, I'd rather be a bedwetter than have sleep apnea. Without my CPAP, I can't get more than an hour of actual sleep. When I was tested, I had over 60 arousals an hour. Severe is half that. On top of this, I'll have to get up 3-4 times a night unless I want to dehydrate myself. Now with my CPAP and my stent, I've been getting the best sleep of my life. It boggles my mind that my weird "extreme" kink (according to those on other sites) is actually better for my long term health.

It's a leatherworking punch I found on Amazon. Pretty cheap, does the work well. Be sure to confirm any punched out bits are fully removed. Oh, a minor update on my design: I downscaled the catheter used to a 14fr, and now I definitely don't even know it's in. The only thing remaining is minimizing the retrieval system. Suggestions? I was thinking about tinkering with magnets in some way.

THIS is the most pertinent advice!

I have no idea how to phrase this into a google search, so I'll just ask here and see if anyone has wondered the same thing: Is there a device I can wear that will keep me pointed down in my diaper? I've seen chastity devices that roughly approximate this, but I'm looking for as low profile a method as possible while still remaining comfortable.

Pretty sure you mean "EKKY EKKY EKKY P-TANG Zoomp boing mrowr...."

It really isn't. I'm betting that you've been married a while, and that is the reason that neither of you is willing to directly face the fact that YOU have hard limits that you didn't defend. You capitulated and told her that you would change when you could only hide it because you love her. I know the feeling. Creating an uneasy peace where you get some of what you want instead of nothing, and she gets most of what she wants instead of nothing. It is either ok or a nightmare. I think about the choices I make that make me happy and at what cost to my partner. I might be to cowardly to address this, too.

The heat shrink is nicely rounded, so I don't have any edges. However, it isn't as perfectly rounded as the head of a catheter. That is the next problem to tackle. As far as toxicity, I haven't noticed any issues after a week or more.

This is why I always test a cath before using it. Inflate it with a syringe, then deflate, then insert. If it inflates funny or acts, in any way, other than 100% normal, toss it.

Apologies for the delay. Attached is the picture I took of the stent I currently use.

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I've found a nearly perfect (so far) configuration as far as stents go. I use about 5 inches of a foley catheter bent into an L shape. I see other designs here include a small angle at the interior end (inside the bladder), but I haven't had an issue with migration in either direction, and I would prefer to make it as fail-safe as possible (erring towards external migration during failure). The big trick is having the distal portion of the L be around 1.5 inches (I'm using it now, so I don't have it handy to get exact measurements or pictures) and very firm. The 90 degree angle and firmness of the bent portion actually "locks in" to the urethral bend. It looks wonky going in, but once it settles, the angle is perfect for any position with zero irritation. I'm actually quite surprised how it is more comfortable than any catheter I've ever used. The bend is achieved by using heat shrink tubing and various tools to get the perfect 90 degree bend without compromising flow. The internal portion of the stent is peppered with holes punched with a tool punch so that I don't need to worry that the drainage hole of the catheter is too high to allow drainage and so that the entire stent gets flow (preventing dry areas of irritation or pockets where fluid can stagnate). The heat shrink tubing also allows me to soften the interface between the stent and my urethra. My retrieval line is double stitched through the stent and the heat shrink tubing with 10 pound test fishing line (will upgrade to braided line in a bit) so that if one side breaks then I'll have friction holding the line in place. At the end, I have the two ends tied in a simple overhand knot, then I lark's head through a rubber O ring. The O ring fits nicely over the head of my penis. The only remaining improvement would be to add more fail-safe features to aid extraction or to find a way to minimize the footprint of the retrieval line. On both, I've toyed with the idea of introducing some magnetic (but bio-neutral) metal into the stent where it is closest to the skin surface. In a pinch, a magnet could be used to draw the stent out. The danger is that too strong a magnet could pinch the skin and do some serious damage. Maybe that's an acceptable risk when the negative outcome is an internally migrated stent, or, less seriously, a broken retrieval line. One thing to keep in mind about me: I don't get sick, ever. I have never had a UTI in the three years (maybe more?) of using caths or stents. This is incredibly unusual from what I see in these forums, and I warn anyone from jumping this far into our idiotic chicanery without taking proper precautions.

@Old_PA 100% agree. In addition, my designs incorporate the idea that IF something does disconnect, then it should disconnect beyond (distal to) the external sphincter. This way any detritus would get pushed externally with stent extraction or normal urine flow.

I think it was mentioned much earlier in this thread, but I'm having trouble getting info on how y'all fold/roll/bend(?) the ends of the tube to minimize trauma to the urethra upon insertion. I can't even google up a tutorial on this, as most results are "throw an end cap on it!" Is there a roll pin or some such technique everyone uses? Bonus: My experience has informed me that I want to absolutely zero out the possibility of ingress of a stent or any part of a stent. Putting an end cap on the internal (bladder) end of the stent means that it could come off and get lost if separated from the stent. Recently, the only thing that saved me from a trip to the ER was that I used heat shrink tubing on the distal end of my cath. This prevented it from getting past the external sphincter because of the increased diameter and inflexibility. From now on, I am always going to have the distal end a greater diameter than the internal tubing for two reasons: prevention of migration (increased diameter and inflexibility around the first bend) minimal effort for smoothing the end of the tube

From my own personal experience, the hole should be uniform and round. This prevents irritation on the urethra and does less structural damage to the catheter. I use a leather punch (cheap on Amazon). One other thing: Do not fill the retention balloon with anything other than water. I tested a catheter (not using it) by filling it with the surgical lube I use and then cutting the end. Filled with normal water, the catheter should drain in a few seconds. It's been a few months with no reduction in balloon size. This could easily lead to maiming and death, as it is not at all fail-safe.

Oh man, that's awesome! I really love the direction NSC is going. I may not need any other vendor soon.