Making A Urethral Stent

[Baby Brian]

Ok, some short history about me first. I was urge incontinent from a car accident 15 years ago. Every doctor I met wanted to try and "cure" me but all I'd been interested in is getting rid of those painful urges. Last year I used catheters to reduce my urges into a more functional incontinence. It worked ok and I am now (mostly) functional incontinent. Unfortunately I still get a slight urge just before peeing, actually it's not much of an urge any more, just an annoying warning that in about 20 seconds I will be going. I don't consider myself as having any control, though sometimes my sphincter will still spasm and prevent me from peeing for another 20 seconds or so. Also, I still wake up at night just before peeing, all of which has been going on for the past year since I used the catheters. I was hoping that just letting myself pee then the urges would gradually go away to the point where I don't notice it until I'm all ready wet, and get to sleep a full night again- but that isn't happening since my control over peeing is messed up to start with. I've worn diapers 24/7 for the last 15 years but I'm still seeking a more comfortable life (to which the doctors won't help me). That said I'm just looking for input here to see what everyone thinks.

I've tried getting many different urologists to help me achieve full incontinence or even just buying a (pre-mounted) urethral stent- no luck in the last 5 or 10 years of trying. I just realized the simplicity of stents are really nothing more than a bimetal strip that is coiled when hot then mounted on a catheter at room temp. When it gets inserted into the body it expands again so you can pull the catheter out while leaving he stent. The coil holds open your sphincter, and in about 3 months scar tissue grows around it, making it permanent without any further, additional, risk of infection. I think I might be able to make one out of a new bimetal thermostat which uses stainless steel & copper (that little copper inside you would be safe since it takes a lot for copper poisoning). Warm it up in 99 degree water, coil it around a bic pen, make sure it contracts tight around the pen, warm it up again to 98 degrees and make sure it expands to slide off easily, place it over the tip of a catheter and let it contract again, soak it in rubbing alcohol and let it dry, insert it (with lube as needed) until you feel the resistance of the sphincter give, insert 1/2 an inch more (I'm guessing the coil will be about 3 inches long), hold it until the coil expands from your body temp, remove the catheter, drink lots of cranberry juice for 3 months. Viola, permanent functional incontinence without the aid of doctor.

First, has anyone ever had a real urethral stent inserted in them (for any reason)? What was your experience on this, and what could I expect IF I went through with this? Please no conjectures here if you haven't had it done (defined as the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence; a guess)

Second, do you believe this might work or should I refine my idea for manufacturing it? Should I use different materials? Do you know if I can get a bimetal strip that is actually rated for implanting- or better yet a stent? Go ahead and rant about your concerns but again, please stick to facts and tone down the conjectures (ie- using catheters WILL cause an infection because it happened to you even thought I used them on my own for 7 months and never got one).

Third, I have great medical insurance and would be inclined to see my doctor after I've inserted it to make sure nothing is going wrong. And yes, after, not before (since I've all ready tried that but they're more worried about the "do no harm" part of their oath instead of the "do good" part that comes first.)

[Bettypooh]

I would not try to make any medical device when a tried-and-proven professional version is already being made. I think a better approach would be for you to dig online and find someone somewhere who will sell you the stent. It might take some doing, but short of a nuclear bomb or happiness you can buy anything online if you look in the right places. No suggestions there, I just know of people who have bought almost everything from online sources, though sometimes it took an intermediate in another place who wanted to be paid for their efforts and often the legality was, er, questionable. I think with the right approach you can do this- just saying.

Bettypooh

[DAQ]

I agree with Bettypooh, there has to be somewhere that you can get it. However if you do exhaust all options i would definitely select a different material. Look at the metals that are used in the real ones. Stainless steel and silver are more antimicrobial than copper, don't know where you could get the silver in a form that would make sense for you though.

[warpiper]

Dude, I don't even need to tell you what a horrendously awful idea this is.

You think that those items (which are roughly $10000) can be replaced by some copper wire wrapped around a bic pen? it doesn't work that way.

My guess is that if you try this, you are most certainly going to die, and no, I am not being dramatic. Stents have more flex than you realize, and they are engineered as such. They are not simply wire wrapped around a mold. Your version will cut into your urethra, give you an infection because oh yes, no matter how much alcohol you dip it in, it's going to have bacteria on it, probably from the insertion, and it's going to get into your bloodstream, and you are going to die, or have a seriously long hospitalization, and I'm sure you don't want that.

If you aren't getting the results you want from the urologists you have seen, find another one, and keep looking until you find the one that will do the procedure. You will eventually find one that is sympathetic to your situation and will be willing to place the device for you. It's your only option in this case, because your version will most likely be deadly.

Please don't do it.

-piper

[ldatsea]

you might want to research this further

READ the link and think... THIS is WITH PROPER medical CARE!.....

http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/22/5/1005.full

[warpiper]

thank you idatsea, that's even more convincing than my rant.

-piper

[wetman]

But unfortunately the wrong stent type, so it won't convince him. He was on about a (bladder) sphincter stent, not an (kidney to bladder) urethral stent as linked by idatsea.

Still, Brian's idea is, in my opinion, not a good one. He needs to research a fair bit more to understand the issue and see where he's going wrong.

[ldatsea]

yeah good catch but other sites this is what i found,

A urethral stent is a braded wire mesh tube that can be inserted in the urethra to hold the sphincter open. The stent is put in place and over time it becomes epithelialized (covered with skin). The surgery required to place the stent is minimally invasive and the stent can be removed — but removal may not be easy if epithelization is extensive.

Journal studies on stents report they work well in the short term but have a high rate of complication over the long term. Two years ago Dr. Fredrickson published a poster presentation on stents. At the time San Antonio Hospital had seen a 100 percent complication rate in stents. He says that they no longer offer stents as a first or second option for bladder management. They will still use them when appropriate but try other options first.

Complications in stents include the stent migrating; scarring or encrustation of the stent; or having a kidney stone plug the stent. Any of these complications can cause a life-threatening emergency. You can’t pass a catheter through a stent, so if it gets clogged you would need to go to an emergency room immediately. If doctors weren’t able to clear the blockage they would need to put in an emergency suprapubic catheter. By contrast, if a chemical or surgical sphincterotomy stops working you would still have the option of using an intermittent catheter.

[babykeiff]

Brian,

what you are looking for can be performed by any hospital as long as YOU request it in writing. This is called elective surgery, and you need to first contact your legal representive, and then a hospital. Your local doctor will not do any of this for you without a legally binding agreement in writing.

Secondly, any form of home surgery is a bad idea. Apart from the lack of backup etc if complications occur, it can easily be construed that you tried to cause yourself harm, and as such, the state / country will have power over you in ALL medical decisions.

[Baby Brian]

Thanks all, I have found a couple of places that would sell a stent to me for about $500 but I would need a doctors note. I've tried every approach I can think of (including a legally written waver) with every urologist in my area. Every one of them refuses to help me (or even write that script) and only wishes to "cure" me of my incontinence. After the first 5 years of test, drugs, & surgeries I came to doubt I am curable. Why they still cant see it after 15+ years dumbfounds me. I was doubtful my idea would work before but was still hopeful. You've convinced me not to try it this way-thanks. I'm not giving up though, will just have to keep looking for someone willing to actually help me.

[diapernh]

Get a copy of all your medical records and search out a dr who will. With your records, you can shop around (other metro sreas, states, countries, etc)

Sent from my Galaxy Tab using Tapatalk

[wetman]

@ brian: Thailand? Romania?

[Goerge]

It would be interesting to know the resulting damage it would cause having to have the DIY stent removed by professionals? They would have to cut around the sphincter I guess to get to it I guess............

[babykeiff]

It would be interesting to know the resulting damage it would cause having to have the DIY stent removed by professionals? They would have to cut around the sphincter I guess to get to it I guess............

Goerge,

we all know how far YOU would go to convince others of your wish to wear diapers, but there are a few home truths that you seem to forget:-

Diapers are not the only nor the medically prefered way to cope with urinary incontinence. The medically prefered way is an indwelling catheter plus a leg bag.

Secondly, if it is discovered that you, or anyone else, is capable of self harm - by, for example, introducing a home made urethral stent, it is normal to institutionalize that person. As a result, doctors, or more like students, would be making the decisions of what you eat, when you eat, what medical procedures you are subjected to, what time you get up, go to the bathroom, get washed, get dressed and what you wear. All this is done to a state controlled budget, which you have NO control over, and which is reduced on a day-day / year-year basis. You are a ward of the state with no chance of freedom.

Micro surgery CAN remove a uretheral stent with minimal damage to the uretheral sphincters (there are two). Also, the uretheral sphincter is a large muscle that is capable of self repair.

Even after all this, since you are in control of the state, you probably will not be even seeing diapers never mind wearing and using them.

You, Goerge, are like a lot of people - have a fantasy in their mind yet the reality is never like the fantasy.

Adult Babies have two distinct sides to them.The baby side, AND, the most important side which allows them to act like a baby, the ADULT side. Without this adult side, the baby side cannot exist, since it is the Adult side that covers the cost.

With a real baby, (that is a human being between the age of birth and 3/4 years) an adult has given birth to this offspring and it is the adult that will gladly sacrifice his/her time and/or money to care for its offspring. If this does not happen, there is no way that the baby will survive.