After surgery report

CharlieG
CharlieG Member Posts: 67
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
Made it through with flying colors - I was pale, then pink now a little more colorful.

The surgery went well and Dr. was happy with the removal and very happy with the new connection for the bladder (hopefully that means good for incontinence recovery).

This is day 5 after surgery (Tuesday) and each day is so much better than the day before. Still sore and taking it easy, however, I am so glad that Wednesday (the worst day) is over!

Comments

  • bdhilton
    bdhilton Member Posts: 866 Member
    #2
    Charlie…Congrats and
    Charlie…Congrats and welcome to the other side. From my personal experience, my surgeon came in a few hours after surgery and said”…your bladder fell perfectly in place…” I have yet to leak a drop from the day they remove my cath (but I do need to wipe a few drops sometimes after I urinate)…Best to a great recovery and walk, walk and walk some more-Peace
  • 142
    142 Member Posts: 169
    #3
    Welcome to the other side
    Welcome to the other side - glad things are going well.

    Drinks lots of water - use that bag while you can!
  • CharlieG
    CharlieG Member Posts: 67
    #4
    bdhilton said:

    Charlie…Congrats and
    Charlie…Congrats and welcome to the other side. From my personal experience, my surgeon came in a few hours after surgery and said”…your bladder fell perfectly in place…” I have yet to leak a drop from the day they remove my cath (but I do need to wipe a few drops sometimes after I urinate)…Best to a great recovery and walk, walk and walk some more-Peace

    Walking
    Thanks for the encouragement... As for walking, I have the oddest (or at least I think it is odd) situation - my feet (especially my right one) are killing me! I wonder if it is a residual from the epidural anesthetic during surgery or perhaps some gas wandered down there?

    Right now, day 6, the worst pain is in my feet!
  • CharlieG
    CharlieG Member Posts: 67
    #5
    142 said:

    Welcome to the other side
    Welcome to the other side - glad things are going well.

    Drinks lots of water - use that bag while you can!

    Thanks! I agree, the no pee pause is kind of a nice thing and I plan to "enjoy it" while I can.
  • ejn
    ejn Member Posts: 64
    #6
    CharlieG said:

    Thanks! I agree, the no pee pause is kind of a nice thing and I plan to "enjoy it" while I can.

    Charlie, the worst pain for
    Charlie, the worst pain for me was in my shoulders which was from the gas which I thought should be going to the highest point in your body. The pain was really bad for about 5 or 6 days them went away. Once the cath comes out healing will speed up greatly. It has only been 6 weeks post op for me and it all seems a distant memory right now. Good luck.

    Ed
  • ProfWagstaff
    ProfWagstaff Member Posts: 105 Member
    #7
    Great News, Charlie!
    Now starts the recovery (full, I hope!) I do recall recovery seemed to come rather quickly in my case. I had a general anaesthetic rather than epidural so for me the hardest part was coming out of the chemical haze. Really intense stuff. Day fter surgery I felt like I'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. By second day, I felt much better - like I'd gone 2 rounds with Cicely Tyson.
    Wishing you a speedy recovery as well. Next step is to get rid of the plastic ball-and-chain (Foley catheter.) Keep us posted.
  • griff 1
    griff 1 Member Posts: 114
    #8
    charlie
    welcome to our side, sounds like it went ok. best to you griff
  • JR1949
    JR1949 Member Posts: 230
    #9
    Charlie
    Hi Charlie, Just take it easy, the pain will go away. The worst pain for me was the tip of my penis where the cath came out. Vaseline is great for that. Next to that was the soreness where my thighs met my body in the groin area. My grandaughter played baseball and I could not sit on those aluminum bleacher seats so I used one of those folding camp chairs with a pillow.

    Glad to hear your surgery went well. You are furtunate that bladder connection was good. Hang in there, it will get better.

    JR
  • CharlieG
    CharlieG Member Posts: 67
    #10
    JR1949 said:

    Charlie
    Hi Charlie, Just take it easy, the pain will go away. The worst pain for me was the tip of my penis where the cath came out. Vaseline is great for that. Next to that was the soreness where my thighs met my body in the groin area. My grandaughter played baseball and I could not sit on those aluminum bleacher seats so I used one of those folding camp chairs with a pillow.

    Glad to hear your surgery went well. You are furtunate that bladder connection was good. Hang in there, it will get better.

    JR

    Cath is OUT!
    What a relief! Now I just need to re-train on my bladder control. The comfort factor just increased by a factor of 10 or so!
  • BRONX52
    BRONX52 Member Posts: 156
    #11
    CharlieG said:

    Cath is OUT!
    What a relief! Now I just need to re-train on my bladder control. The comfort factor just increased by a factor of 10 or so!

    CHARLIEG
    It's great when the cath comes out--Sounds like you are a the fast track to recovery--Best Wishes--Dan
  • ProfWagstaff
    ProfWagstaff Member Posts: 105 Member
    #12
    CharlieG said:

    Cath is OUT!
    What a relief! Now I just need to re-train on my bladder control. The comfort factor just increased by a factor of 10 or so!

    Great News, Charlie
    That's a great feeling isn't it? I felt unchained when that came out. I could get back to taking a few walks again. Congrats on the 2nd step along Recover Road. Best wishes for your continued steady progress from another DaVinci veteran.
  • CharlieG
    CharlieG Member Posts: 67
    #13
    ProfWagstaff said:

    Great News, Charlie
    That's a great feeling isn't it? I felt unchained when that came out. I could get back to taking a few walks again. Congrats on the 2nd step along Recover Road. Best wishes for your continued steady progress from another DaVinci veteran.

    Pads
    I just wish I knew how long before good bladder control. Dr. says that everyone is different and it really varies. I feel like I am getting some control (am able to actually make a stream every so often) but still losing drips pretty regularly.

    I guess that I can't be too picky on day 2...
  • JR1949
    JR1949 Member Posts: 230
    #14
    CharlieG said:

    Pads
    I just wish I knew how long before good bladder control. Dr. says that everyone is different and it really varies. I feel like I am getting some control (am able to actually make a stream every so often) but still losing drips pretty regularly.

    I guess that I can't be too picky on day 2...

    Bladder Control
    Charlie, your Dr. is correct, everyone is different. I am 19 months since Radical prostatectomy and still some leaks. I confess I did not practice kegels nearly as much as I should have after surgery. Take a fools advise, do kegels.
    Go to this website, www.kegelexercisesformen.com.

    After cath was out, whew what a relief, I was using diaper and pad and using something like 6-8 pads per day. Today I wear cotton briefs with Poise pad and using average of 4 per day. When I practice kegels it helps, but I am still not where I hoped to be by this time. If you read some of the posts on this network, you will see guys dry after cath out and some dry after a year, 2 years, 3 years and some never dry. Your Dr. is correct, everyone is different. My doctor tells me there are surgical options, but I really do not want to go through another surgery. I am still holding out for hope.

    Wish you good luck with the incontinence monster.

    JR
  • 142
    142 Member Posts: 169
    #15
    CharlieG said:

    Pads
    I just wish I knew how long before good bladder control. Dr. says that everyone is different and it really varies. I feel like I am getting some control (am able to actually make a stream every so often) but still losing drips pretty regularly.

    I guess that I can't be too picky on day 2...

    Day 2
    Day 2 after catheter - I think Depends stock went up by Day 2 for me - I was using Depends pants & 8-10 pads a day.

    Hang in there.

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