Yes, Kitty, I'm female and I got my Foley catheter several years ago so I have plenty of experience. I wanted to get it because like you I was having some pretty uncomfortable leaking. It was getting to the point it was too hard to find the bathroom in time. I also went through times of wearing pads or panties to help out.
Yes it will alleviate those all-too-common trips to the toilet, although you need to remember that you will also have to empty a bag so you can't be away from a toilet for say, 12 hours. I find the most inconvenient part about the catheter is that you do you have to have a leg bag or you can get something called Belly Bag. I would highly recommend that you order at least a couple of belly bags because they are much more convenient if you're going to be away from home and want to wear clothes that that would give you enough room to have the bag in the front. Tight jeans just won't do it; they never have enough room for the abdomen bag to grow without feeling too obvious, but you can control that by drinking a little less fluid and of course by changing your bag to a leg bag. I kind of skipped using an actual leg bag because the Belly Bag worked out well enough for me by going to a restroom and emptying the bag in the toilet, but now that I am immobile I use a bed bag which my caregiver empties for me. After I have been out wearing my belly bag and get back home I removed a belly bag and replace it with the bed bad and just rinse out the Belly Bag very well and allow it to dry and then store it for the next time you want to wear it. A warning for you Kelly bags are much more expensive than leg bags and the Medicare don't believe we'll cover them so you have to order them and pay for them yourself but they're available online just do some comparison and pricing. You should be able to find them in range somewhere from $17 each to $19 or $20 but look around because I've always been able to find them at $17 or $18 each, and remember they can be reused.
Any more questions, feel free to ask and good luck with your surgery!
MsBluIs