Urination after surgery

eonore

I am hoping that someone can  tell me if what I am experiencing post surgery is normal.   I am now two weeks post surgery.   Foley was removed on October 10th, was able to void in doctors office but had to bear down as if I was defecating to force urine out.   Since then I am incontinent with mostly a steady drip with more force from standing up, etc.   I do not seem to have any sensation of a full bladder, of of having to go to the bathroom.   When I stand at the toilet, I can urinate, but only if I bear down, with a relatively weak stream.  Is this a normal result of the swelling and injury to the bladder from the surgery, and can I expect to have a full stream over time. or should I be concerned?

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

Opposite

Eonore,

Your urinary experience is the opposite of most post-surgery, in which guys "pee too easily."  What did the doctor say about the surgery: any complications encountered, potential problems following ?  Men have 2 urinary spincters, but one of these is cut out during the RP when the gland is removed, accounting for a lot of the incontinence.  Did you have urination issues before the surgery or bladder disease ?  Clues of this will be in your post-surgical report, of which you should have a paper copy.  If not yet available, demand one as soon as it is typed.  This must include a summary of the post-op Pathology Report, or get a full pathology report also.

{{ UPDATE: I just saw yor report on the Pathology Report, posted October 11.   Other than the huge size of the gland, it does not provide an easy answer.  What caused the gland to get so massive ? }}

Viewed as just a plumbing problem, your issue almost has to be either some form of stricture with the uretha, or a problem with the remainng spincter.  Surgeons are essentially pipe welders after the gland comes out, attaching the urethra to the bladder.  Urethra problems are rare but occur.  A remote third problem might be internal to the bladder itself.

Obviously, the first thing to do is to demand that the surgeon figure this out, and then fix it, even if a follow-up surgery is required.

But no, your description is not typical of what most men describe here after RP, and was not what I experienced post DaVinci either.  I did have bladder spasams in recovery and for the first night, but this was fixed the first day with anti-spasam meds.  This caused a sensation of extreme fullness that day, despite an EMPTY bladder. Distressing in feel, but not dangerous medically. My surgeon did say he had only had a few other reports of this sensation in his career, which at that time included over 900 DaVincis.

It may be that your urethra and spincter are normal, and this is just an odd reaction to the surgical pain, but I would make the surgeon give a full account of this.  When any person s cut open and their "junk" is massively stretched apart for access, all kinds of odd nerve damage or feelings can occur.

max

Clevelandguy

Voiding

Hi,

It was very easy to pee with a strong stream after my surgery and cath removal, no problem there.  No knowing the extend of your surgery I would talk with your doctor, could be related to how the doc had to remove your prostate(post surgery swelling?).  This hopefully will be a temporary thing while you heal up.

 

Dave 3+4

eonore

Clevelandguy said:

Voiding

Hi,

It was very easy to pee with a strong stream after my surgery and cath removal, no problem there.  No knowing the extend of your surgery I would talk with your doctor, could be related to how the doc had to remove your prostate(post surgery swelling?).  This hopefully will be a temporary thing while you heal up.

 

Dave 3+4

Thank you for your responses.

Thank you for your responses.   Interestingly, I have seen some improvement today.   I also found some info on the web that said this can be normal as the tissues involved return to normal.   I am going to give it another week before I raise the alarm.

Once again, thanks.