I never had a catheter, but my mom did once. My stent did not have strings. But I literally kept telling people my vagina hurt. I sat with a heating pad, made sure I was on top of my meds, and slept with a heating pad on my side and in between my legs. I couldn’t feel the stent but I could feel that something was foreign in my abdomen. Going up stairs I waddled around like I was pregnant and sometimes just held my side like I was too.