Pads per day

johndz

142 said:

Condom catheter
My doctor suggested that it was better to wait and exhaust the idea of Kegel exercises before going to other products. I suspect that he uses the logic that if I used something else, it might take away from the emphasis to keep going with the exercise routine.
In fact, now 11 weeks out from DaVinci, I am better. Still not off the pads by any means. He gives me a target of March before revisiting other options.

I'd read up on the various catheters before surgery, and the big take-away from posts and web pages is that ultimate cleanliness is a must, and a bit of a pain to maintain. The nurses who checked me out of the hospital had extreme reservations about one's ability to maintain the minimum needed over time when dealing with any catheter-type solution.

I'll be watching for your reports on progress.

condom catheter vs pad
I think you are righ. Dr may not want you to give up on exercise. This is just short term convinience while working to get out of leaking as soon as possible. I start do some Kegel slowly to make sure all the wounds back to normal- still have some mild pain off and on. one thing I have learned that if I let my baldder have free push the urine out to the end . It will be very painful due to bladder try to sqeeze to the bottom and made blood came out the woound. So I start use my bladder muscle to stop and go the urine and stop the flow when I feel it almost empty. It working well. no more pain and blood! 2 days before catheter removal I have nighmare each time my bladder push and squeese all my urine out and follow is the 10-20 second painful follow by pink blood urine and some scrap came out the tube too. I think the blader squeeze to hard and peel of all the new skin cell cover the wounds. Look like you peel off the new dry dark skin from the wound on any part outside your body. That is what I was thinking? So far everything going well except how to control the leaking for now.

Thanks

JohnDZ

LBlanks

LBlanks said:

Two A Day For Me
I'm 3 weeks from surgery and two weeks from removal of the cath. At first I was at 4 or so pads a day and bought the Depends version with 48 in the package. I'm now at 2 pads a day, One after I shower in the morning and one when I go to bed.

I'm nearing the end of the 48 pack of Depends and bought the Tena because they seem to fit more comfortable for me. Thats that the Doc gave me when they removed the cath.

Guess everyone's different.

Larry B

Well, It WAS Two....

Guess I spoke too soon.

I'm 4 weeks post op now and thought I was starting to do well. However, in the last couple of days, I've been leaking quite a bit and am back to 3 pads a day.

My bladder still is not completely evacuating, just like before surgery, so I have an urgency to go, then 5 minutes later, have to go again.

For the first time, I had a few drops of red blood after urinating, but no more... My doc said nothing to worry about, it'll happen up to 6 or 8 weeks post op.

johndz

LBlanks said:

Well, It WAS Two....

Guess I spoke too soon.

I'm 4 weeks post op now and thought I was starting to do well. However, in the last couple of days, I've been leaking quite a bit and am back to 3 pads a day.

My bladder still is not completely evacuating, just like before surgery, so I have an urgency to go, then 5 minutes later, have to go again.

For the first time, I had a few drops of red blood after urinating, but no more... My doc said nothing to worry about, it'll happen up to 6 or 8 weeks post op.

Leakage - good forum discussion
Thanks Larry for very active on the feed back and pass your experiences to all of our friends. Very helpful and give us a positive, peaceful to the future to handle all the new things in our life. Think positive that we altready got out the deadly situation if we can't not solve the key problem is cancer. I'm in the good spirit to work and overcome all the things so we can regain a better life for our age now and enjoy every moment of our life if we can. This forum give everyone a good supports to handle all the new things coming in our life after Davinci.

shubbysr

JohnK11 said:

Comment on attaching pads to underpant
Thanks for the quick response. I'll try Walgreen's or Target's pads (it may even be
the exact same thing as the Walmart Assurance house brand I am using--I'll find out)
--or even Tena Serenity heavy pads (I keep worrying about leaking when I sleep, and
visit the toilet overnight far too often--if I can use a heavy pad that will absorb more, maybe I can just go back to sleep without visiting the toilet when the urge arises, and
get a better night of sleep--lately I have had more trouble sleeping, perhaps the
hormone shot Trelstar 3 weeks ago (similar to Lupront) is finally having an effect ).

One quick comment is that I have had great success in attaching pads to underpants by only removing just 1" of the top and bottom of the pad paper from the adhesive, and attaching that to the underpants. It provide sufficient securing, and make it much easier to remove it from the underpants when I need to change pads. It even works fine when I change almost 8+ pads per day for a single underpant just after catheter removal--especially since you could attach it to slightly different locations on the underpant.

If you do need more underpants, considering trying Walmart's Assurance underpants with leakage control (about $9 for 18 medium or 16 large --make sure that you get the one with leakage control, and not the regular one)--I find that they provide the
best leakage control (though I have never try Depend--perhaps I should when they are
on sale).

Leaking at night
Hey John,
you said: I keep worrying about leaking when I sleep, and
visit the toilet overnight far too often--if I can use a heavy pad that will absorb more, maybe I can just go back to sleep without visiting the toilet when the urge arises, and
get a better night of sleep--lately I have had more trouble sleeping, perhaps the
hormone shot Trelstar 3 weeks ago (similar to Lupront) is finally having an effect ).

For me, the first sign of "urinary control" was at night. @4weeks post surgery, I slept through the night and awoke with a dry pad! Yes, I still wear pads up until bed time and down to 2 per day. Trust yourself, recovery is happening.

jim (shubbysr)

shane59

shubbysr said:

Leaking at night
Hey John,
you said: I keep worrying about leaking when I sleep, and
visit the toilet overnight far too often--if I can use a heavy pad that will absorb more, maybe I can just go back to sleep without visiting the toilet when the urge arises, and
get a better night of sleep--lately I have had more trouble sleeping, perhaps the
hormone shot Trelstar 3 weeks ago (similar to Lupront) is finally having an effect ).

For me, the first sign of "urinary control" was at night. @4weeks post surgery, I slept through the night and awoke with a dry pad! Yes, I still wear pads up until bed time and down to 2 per day. Trust yourself, recovery is happening.

jim (shubbysr)

I love the nights no leaks and good sleep wake up at 2am and 6am good flow and empty bladder magic feeling ,woke up this morning and almost forgot I had surgery at all .If I have an urge i just go to the toilet if I can I beleive the exercise is helping and lots of walking getting the fitness level back .just got to get the mind and bladder working together.life is getting some normality back it just takes time be patiant and relax we are all differant and heal at differant speed thanks all for a good forum and great support thanks shane

JohnK11

shane59 said:

I love the nights no leaks and good sleep wake up at 2am and 6am good flow and empty bladder magic feeling ,woke up this morning and almost forgot I had surgery at all .If I have an urge i just go to the toilet if I can I beleive the exercise is helping and lots of walking getting the fitness level back .just got to get the mind and bladder working together.life is getting some normality back it just takes time be patiant and relax we are all differant and heal at differant speed thanks all for a good forum and great support thanks shane

Price of pads and absorbency --a comparison
(I post this on a new thread--but it may also be interesting for people here--so, here is a copy)

A shopping guide to pads

Summary : rating from 1 (least absorbent) to 4 (most absorbent)
(some pads have rating from 1-4; others don't--my estimates)
--all prices are Suburban Chicago and does not include
tax (1.75% where I am for medical supplies)

---for Male guard pads (except unisex)-----
(4/4 supersize) Tena Serenity overNight (unisex) 36 to 53 cents
(30 for 10.99(sale) to 15.99)
(?4/4) Assurance (Walmart house brand) @ 20 cents (48 fot 9.52)
(3/4) Certainty (Walgreen's house brand) @ 16/22 cents
(52 for 7.99 on sale; 11.49 regular price)
(supposed to be the same as Target house brand)
(2/4) Depend Male guard 22-32 cents (48 for $10.49(sale) to $14.99)
(?1.5/4) Best deal is Jefeena Maxi (-unisex/Aldi house brand)
7.5 cents (24 for $1.79)--sometimes name brand (lightday
Kotex, etc.) are on sale and can be as cheap.

Preamble : From a previous thread "Pads per day", I explore
some of the other brands mentioned (I have a slow recovery due
to extracapsuler Robotic prostate surgery--promising slow
recovery; just recently after 3 months, down to 3 pads a day
plus the diaper (underpant))--and have some recommendations.

As you can see from the summary above, if you have lots of leakage,
the Walmart house brand Assurance seems to be the best choice--
with thicker pads than Walgreen/Target (much thicker than Depend--
what a disappointment)--Although the Walgreen house brand,
when on sale, is significantly cheaper and thus might be a better
value.

For overnight use, you may want to spend the extra bucks for the
Tena Serenity Overnight pads--but it's expensive.

If you have just a little leakage, maybe you can get by with the
cheaper Aldi pads, which are very similar to the huge number of
maxi-pad brands targeted for women (Lightday, Kotex, Tena, etc.)

Comments on underpants (adult diaper)

I have to wear an underpant (diaper--changed daily) to which I
attach pads as needed --nowadays 3-pads-a-day; I noticed that the
guard strip on the side are often wet--so, it would leak if I
do not wear an underpant; the easiest way is to just remove the
top 1" and bottom 1" of the paper from the adhesive on
the pad--and attach the pad to the underpant

I did not try too many brands --initially stuck with Assurance (Walmart
house brand) underpants with Leakage Control 50 cents each for
medium (18 for $9) mostly, and now with Sam's club Member Mark house brand
40 cents (60 for $24) which provide less leakage protection
--should have stuck with Assurance. Maybe should have tried the
other brands--Depend, Walgreen, etc. --So, total cost daily now
is $1.00 ($1.10 with Assurance underpant).

Unknown

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Unknown

JohnK11 said:

Price of pads and absorbency --a comparison
(I post this on a new thread--but it may also be interesting for people here--so, here is a copy)

A shopping guide to pads

Summary : rating from 1 (least absorbent) to 4 (most absorbent)
(some pads have rating from 1-4; others don't--my estimates)
--all prices are Suburban Chicago and does not include
tax (1.75% where I am for medical supplies)

---for Male guard pads (except unisex)-----
(4/4 supersize) Tena Serenity overNight (unisex) 36 to 53 cents
(30 for 10.99(sale) to 15.99)
(?4/4) Assurance (Walmart house brand) @ 20 cents (48 fot 9.52)
(3/4) Certainty (Walgreen's house brand) @ 16/22 cents
(52 for 7.99 on sale; 11.49 regular price)
(supposed to be the same as Target house brand)
(2/4) Depend Male guard 22-32 cents (48 for $10.49(sale) to $14.99)
(?1.5/4) Best deal is Jefeena Maxi (-unisex/Aldi house brand)
7.5 cents (24 for $1.79)--sometimes name brand (lightday
Kotex, etc.) are on sale and can be as cheap.

Preamble : From a previous thread "Pads per day", I explore
some of the other brands mentioned (I have a slow recovery due
to extracapsuler Robotic prostate surgery--promising slow
recovery; just recently after 3 months, down to 3 pads a day
plus the diaper (underpant))--and have some recommendations.

As you can see from the summary above, if you have lots of leakage,
the Walmart house brand Assurance seems to be the best choice--
with thicker pads than Walgreen/Target (much thicker than Depend--
what a disappointment)--Although the Walgreen house brand,
when on sale, is significantly cheaper and thus might be a better
value.

For overnight use, you may want to spend the extra bucks for the
Tena Serenity Overnight pads--but it's expensive.

If you have just a little leakage, maybe you can get by with the
cheaper Aldi pads, which are very similar to the huge number of
maxi-pad brands targeted for women (Lightday, Kotex, Tena, etc.)

Comments on underpants (adult diaper)

I have to wear an underpant (diaper--changed daily) to which I
attach pads as needed --nowadays 3-pads-a-day; I noticed that the
guard strip on the side are often wet--so, it would leak if I
do not wear an underpant; the easiest way is to just remove the
top 1" and bottom 1" of the paper from the adhesive on
the pad--and attach the pad to the underpant

I did not try too many brands --initially stuck with Assurance (Walmart
house brand) underpants with Leakage Control 50 cents each for
medium (18 for $9) mostly, and now with Sam's club Member Mark house brand
40 cents (60 for $24) which provide less leakage protection
--should have stuck with Assurance. Maybe should have tried the
other brands--Depend, Walgreen, etc. --So, total cost daily now
is $1.00 ($1.10 with Assurance underpant).

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

142

142 said:

Pads per Day
I am exactly 8 weeks out from DaVinci, and it is completely unpredictable. Yesterday was a 7. Today a 5. I've had days with only 3. The exercises appear to have been useless so far, but the doctor says keep at it.

I found the Depends to be good, but the Walgreens house brand holds more. Downside is that it gets very heavy and very uncomfortable if you wait until it must be changed.
Just because I have no confidence yet, if I am out and find it 30% wet, and I have a place to change it, I do, as one major accident was enough. At home, you can push the envelope a bit. My signal is whenever they get uncomfortable.

Here is my experience on ranking (prices compared in TX/AR area):
-Tena guards are thinner and smaller, but probably a different material, as they seem to match the Depends. They are the most expensive.
-Depends guards are a bit larger, but manageable with normal clothing. Middle of the price range, but they just repackaged reducing the count from 52 > 48. The Tena and depends will fit unnoticed in a jeans hip pocket, the Walgreens will not.
-Walgreens "certainty" are largest and most absorbent I've tried (appears to be about 2x Depends). That gives you a little more margin. The Target 'Affirm' house brand guards appear to be a different external wrapper, but exactly the same stuff as the Walgreens, at a slightly lower 'list' price. Walgreens runs enough various sales that they are by far the best buy.

Both Tena and Depends will send a sample pack (2 pads) if you go to their web sites.
Friends at a prostate cancer support foundation have given me samples of coloplast pads, but they are clearly for those with a lesser problem. It will be a while before they will work for me.

Update on Pads
By chance I came upon Kroger's house brand Male Guards for a really good price, otherwise would not have bought them. However, they appear, as best I can tell, to be exactly the same as the Walgreens (house brand Certainty) and Target (house brand Affirm) guards.

Couldn't find anything different except the outside plastic bag.

Trew

Ocean-View said:

No pads per day!
As of this week I am down to 0 pads per day. da Vinci Sept 24 2009. First week or two I was like the river runs through it. Last week I was down to wearing the same pad 24 hours, just for the "oops" moments. Now I'm on my own control. If I feel a small leak going to start, I head for the bathroom. So far so good!

New years we went to a cocktail party until just before midnight then out to a local night club for the midnight champaign. No leaks the whole time.

Tom D Orlando 62 in December

I'm Jealous
Ocean View, I had surgery March 23, 09. I was down to 1 pad a day by Ocotber except then hiking/exercising and then I could use a pad every 2 hours. Then I hit radiation and now I am back up to 3 or 4 pads a day and once agan trying to find the right muscles to do the kegels with.

I drove myself to exhaustion doing the kegels the first 3 or 4 months and saw little progress, but started seeing improvements in August and September. My Doc wanted me as dry as possible before starting radiation. took me 8 months but I think my local doc and Loma Linda wanted by to get started on the radiation. anyway, I am still using pads. Joy!!

And I am jealous of those who are doing so well. Just demonstrates not everything works out the same way for everyone.

My pad is the Tena Guards- I feel more comfortable wearing them and I dont have many "simple pleasures" left these days.

shane59

JohnK11 said:

Price of pads and absorbency --a comparison
(I post this on a new thread--but it may also be interesting for people here--so, here is a copy)

A shopping guide to pads

Summary : rating from 1 (least absorbent) to 4 (most absorbent)
(some pads have rating from 1-4; others don't--my estimates)
--all prices are Suburban Chicago and does not include
tax (1.75% where I am for medical supplies)

---for Male guard pads (except unisex)-----
(4/4 supersize) Tena Serenity overNight (unisex) 36 to 53 cents
(30 for 10.99(sale) to 15.99)
(?4/4) Assurance (Walmart house brand) @ 20 cents (48 fot 9.52)
(3/4) Certainty (Walgreen's house brand) @ 16/22 cents
(52 for 7.99 on sale; 11.49 regular price)
(supposed to be the same as Target house brand)
(2/4) Depend Male guard 22-32 cents (48 for $10.49(sale) to $14.99)
(?1.5/4) Best deal is Jefeena Maxi (-unisex/Aldi house brand)
7.5 cents (24 for $1.79)--sometimes name brand (lightday
Kotex, etc.) are on sale and can be as cheap.

Preamble : From a previous thread "Pads per day", I explore
some of the other brands mentioned (I have a slow recovery due
to extracapsuler Robotic prostate surgery--promising slow
recovery; just recently after 3 months, down to 3 pads a day
plus the diaper (underpant))--and have some recommendations.

As you can see from the summary above, if you have lots of leakage,
the Walmart house brand Assurance seems to be the best choice--
with thicker pads than Walgreen/Target (much thicker than Depend--
what a disappointment)--Although the Walgreen house brand,
when on sale, is significantly cheaper and thus might be a better
value.

For overnight use, you may want to spend the extra bucks for the
Tena Serenity Overnight pads--but it's expensive.

If you have just a little leakage, maybe you can get by with the
cheaper Aldi pads, which are very similar to the huge number of
maxi-pad brands targeted for women (Lightday, Kotex, Tena, etc.)

Comments on underpants (adult diaper)

I have to wear an underpant (diaper--changed daily) to which I
attach pads as needed --nowadays 3-pads-a-day; I noticed that the
guard strip on the side are often wet--so, it would leak if I
do not wear an underpant; the easiest way is to just remove the
top 1" and bottom 1" of the paper from the adhesive on
the pad--and attach the pad to the underpant

I did not try too many brands --initially stuck with Assurance (Walmart
house brand) underpants with Leakage Control 50 cents each for
medium (18 for $9) mostly, and now with Sam's club Member Mark house brand
40 cents (60 for $24) which provide less leakage protection
--should have stuck with Assurance. Maybe should have tried the
other brands--Depend, Walgreen, etc. --So, total cost daily now
is $1.00 ($1.10 with Assurance underpant).

FINNALLY 1 PAD A DAY
SO FAR SO GOOD 2 MONTHS ON NOW AND JUST 1 PAD PER DAY A LITTLE BIT DAMP BY 7PM BUT NOT TO BAD ,STILL THE OCCASIONAL LEAK UNEXSPECTED BUT MUCH BETTER THEN EVEN A WEEK AGO,NO PADS AT NIGHT.i HAVE A KYLIE UNDER MY SHEET JUST IN CASE OF A LEAK DISSPOSABLE BED PADS ARE GOOD ALSO .YES ITS SEAMS LIKE FOREVER STILL TRYING TO DO PELVIC FLOOR EXERCIZES I THINK THEY HAVE HELPED A LOT . THIS FORUM HAS HELPED ME SO MUCH TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO DEAL WITH THE DAY TO DAY ISSUES AND GIVEN ME HOPE THANKS AGAIN SHANE.


AND MAY YOUR PADS STAY DRY AND YOUR PSAS BE LOW

Trew

Pads....
Since radiation I have been leaking like a new post op patient again. Very discouraging. The wife picked up a packageof Assurance pads from Walmart this week- a lot cheaper than the Tena pads I like and use most of the time. I am on my 5th pad today and I will make this comparison between the Tena and Assuarance pads: I feel drier with the Tena.

And I like the way the Tena pads feel, too.

oh well, onward with the kegels and hoping for better days ahead.

shane59

Trew said:

Pads....
Since radiation I have been leaking like a new post op patient again. Very discouraging. The wife picked up a packageof Assurance pads from Walmart this week- a lot cheaper than the Tena pads I like and use most of the time. I am on my 5th pad today and I will make this comparison between the Tena and Assuarance pads: I feel drier with the Tena.

And I like the way the Tena pads feel, too.

oh well, onward with the kegels and hoping for better days ahead.

Baby diapers cut in half catch the dribbles
My doc told me to try baby diapers cut in half they arn,t to bad my wife ran a few on her sewing machine stops the absorbent stuff coming out ,they seem to work for me no where as comfortable as depends but very cheap. I use them when at home in workshop garden etc I save the depends for work or social outings.Just a thought as pads are exspensive here in Australia .Thanks again shane

virginian08

Trew said:

Pads....
Since radiation I have been leaking like a new post op patient again. Very discouraging. The wife picked up a packageof Assurance pads from Walmart this week- a lot cheaper than the Tena pads I like and use most of the time. I am on my 5th pad today and I will make this comparison between the Tena and Assuarance pads: I feel drier with the Tena.

And I like the way the Tena pads feel, too.

oh well, onward with the kegels and hoping for better days ahead.

Similar story
My incontinence got worse after radiation also. I made the mistake of having an artificial urinary sphincter installed. Within four weeks, my incontinence was worse! I had learned to do most activities (even playing racquetball)with pads, so I am again coping that way.

I use the pads with straps from Walgreen's.

Trew

Trew said:

I'm Jealous
Ocean View, I had surgery March 23, 09. I was down to 1 pad a day by Ocotber except then hiking/exercising and then I could use a pad every 2 hours. Then I hit radiation and now I am back up to 3 or 4 pads a day and once agan trying to find the right muscles to do the kegels with.

I drove myself to exhaustion doing the kegels the first 3 or 4 months and saw little progress, but started seeing improvements in August and September. My Doc wanted me as dry as possible before starting radiation. took me 8 months but I think my local doc and Loma Linda wanted by to get started on the radiation. anyway, I am still using pads. Joy!!

And I am jealous of those who are doing so well. Just demonstrates not everything works out the same way for everyone.

My pad is the Tena Guards- I feel more comfortable wearing them and I dont have many "simple pleasures" left these days.

Wow!
Did I write this? I have been tracking pad weight now since August 31. Pad weight- minus the weight of the pad- just urine- runs about 8- 20 oz a day. How one divides that up pad wise is a personal decision. I feel wet with only 2 oz in my pad and often change with only 1.5 oz in it.

If you want to get handle on pad use- get a good postal scale yu can subtract the weight of the pad and really see what you are dripping.

I will tell you this- 8 oz is a lot of dripping. You can drown in 20 oz.

I am hoping I can get a AUS installed in May.

Trew

virginian08 said:

Similar story
My incontinence got worse after radiation also. I made the mistake of having an artificial urinary sphincter installed. Within four weeks, my incontinence was worse! I had learned to do most activities (even playing racquetball)with pads, so I am again coping that way.

I use the pads with straps from Walgreen's.

I didn't think a AUS could
I didn't think a AUS could be activated after only 4 weeks. You have the surgery- wait 6- 8 weeks for the swelling to go down, then the doc activates it in the office and you are off and running, hopefully drip free.

I am seeing a doctor I have a lot of confidence in at the U of MI but there is a lot of hope and expectations riding on an AUS working for me. I am sorry to hear yours isn't working as expected.

steve55555

Trew said:

Wow!
Did I write this? I have been tracking pad weight now since August 31. Pad weight- minus the weight of the pad- just urine- runs about 8- 20 oz a day. How one divides that up pad wise is a personal decision. I feel wet with only 2 oz in my pad and often change with only 1.5 oz in it.

If you want to get handle on pad use- get a good postal scale yu can subtract the weight of the pad and really see what you are dripping.

I will tell you this- 8 oz is a lot of dripping. You can drown in 20 oz.

I am hoping I can get a AUS installed in May.

pads
What kind of pads are you using?

Trew

steve55555 said:

pads
What kind of pads are you using?

I use the Tena Guards. I
I use the Tena Guards. I have tried other brands- I find the Tena the most comfrotable and with all the other stuff I have put up with since surgery and radiation, I am going to go for comfort.

I have been wegihing just about every pad since Aug 31 and it gives me a very accurate picture what I am leaking. I see the doctor at the U of MI on May 9 and I will show her the chart I have made showing total mmonthly pads used and urine weight. It is amazing the number of pads I have used since Sept 1- the end of March is 1675. That is a lot of pads! March average was down to 5.9 pads per day with an average daily weight of 10.6 oz.

I am looking forward to getting a AUS this spring. That should be determined at my May 9 appointment. I hope. I have been doing the cath thing since Sept 1 and the urethra is staying open- no more resistence and it looks promising.