Diagnosed with prostate cancer and worried!!!

lighterwood67

From your update

From your update on September the 7, you had the surgery on September the 5th.  Right?  When I was in the hospital, the first liquid I tried to drink made be nauseous.  This went a way.  I am 5 months and a few days post op RP.  I do feel nauseous sometimes, but I think that was Sildenafil (Viagra).  I quit taking it about a month ago.  I am 99% dry.  I have intimate relations with my wife.  I am 67.  My first PSA was undetectable.  I will have my second PSA test in October.  My Gleason was a 4+3=7.  Good luck on your journey.

John-Can

lighterwood67 said:

From your update

From your update on September the 7, you had the surgery on September the 5th.  Right?  When I was in the hospital, the first liquid I tried to drink made be nauseous.  This went a way.  I am 5 months and a few days post op RP.  I do feel nauseous sometimes, but I think that was Sildenafil (Viagra).  I quit taking it about a month ago.  I am 99% dry.  I have intimate relations with my wife.  I am 67.  My first PSA was undetectable.  I will have my second PSA test in October.  My Gleason was a 4+3=7.  Good luck on your journey.

Hi Lighterwood67,

Hi Lighterwood67,

Thank you for your input. I hope this nausea and heartburn will go away gradually together with stomach gases. But I'm still suffering from all of this. I'm glad you have returned to normal in 5 months.

GeorgeG

John

John

It looks like you posted your update about surgery while I was toiling away writing my long response so my comments were not of much help.

Everybody reacts differently to surgery and heals at different rates. The effects of the general anesthesia can take a while to completely resolve and everyone reacts differently. Keep you doctor informed about your status but try to relax and get some rest, your body just got pretty beat up and needs some time to heal and recover. I was a great candidate for surgery and heal very fast and don't scar BUY boy did I have problems with orthostatic hypotension. My tall a** could not stand up after surgery without passing out and I had to spend an extra day in the hospital. All of that resolved and my recovery was 100%.

I don't get nauseated from anethesia but my wife has a terrible time with it. Over the years they have figured out the best anti nausea medicine for her and she always recovers fully but there is always a bucket handy for the first few days until it completely passes and we are back to joking around.

Best of luck,

 

George

 

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

GeorgeG said:

John

John

It looks like you posted your update about surgery while I was toiling away writing my long response so my comments were not of much help.

Everybody reacts differently to surgery and heals at different rates. The effects of the general anesthesia can take a while to completely resolve and everyone reacts differently. Keep you doctor informed about your status but try to relax and get some rest, your body just got pretty beat up and needs some time to heal and recover. I was a great candidate for surgery and heal very fast and don't scar BUY boy did I have problems with orthostatic hypotension. My tall a** could not stand up after surgery without passing out and I had to spend an extra day in the hospital. All of that resolved and my recovery was 100%.

I don't get nauseated from anethesia but my wife has a terrible time with it. Over the years they have figured out the best anti nausea medicine for her and she always recovers fully but there is always a bucket handy for the first few days until it completely passes and we are back to joking around.

Best of luck,

 

George

 

Agree

JonCan, I agree with George G that the nausea most likely is from the sedatives, although even people who are anesthesia-sensitive seldom have nausea for over two days.    I had no nausea or acidity at all in my particular post-op days.

I wish you luck. You did a lot of research and made a well-informed choice. Recall that there is no "perfect choice," however.  Be hopeful and rest easy,

max

John-Can

Normal

Dear All,

 

Sorry, I have been unable to post as my situation was so bad. I stayed 6 day in hospital after surgery unable to eat anything because of nausea and vomiting. I was just living on IV feeding. Day 7, I could eat a little bit without having nausea and throwing up my stomach contents. I was sent home on day 8 and yesterday my catheter was removed.

My problem is now total incontinence. That is 100% incontinence. It looks that my bladder got used to the catheter mechanism and is refusing to keep urine. Is this normal? What can I do to eliminate of at least reduce this complete incontinence?

Your valuable advice is greatly appreciated.

Georges Calvez

Incontinence

Hi John,

This is one of those dirty little secrets that urologists like to keep to themselves until after your prostatectomy.
It varies from man to man how much incontinence you will have and how long it will last but most men are leaky for at least a few weeks, sometimes a lot more.
I had a lot, I would guess that the weeks after the catheter came out I would soak two or three pairs of the Tena Active Pants a day so maybe more than 95 %, I then improved over several weeks until the start of the radiation when I went downhill again.
Seven months after the operation I am losing less than 10g a day, I have days that are completely dry.
Kegel exercises are good, so is getting about and doing as much walking as possible, it is horrible at the beginning when you seem to lose some with every step.

Hang in there, it should get a lot better quite quickly,

Georges

eonore

Incontinence

Hi John,

 

The most important thing at this point for you is to be patient and not worry.  The vast majority of men do regain their continence.  Kegel exercises are important and will help the process along.  In my case, my doctor was worried about my long term prospects due to the gigantic size of my prostate and the damage that would be done by in its removal.  Despite that, at the three month point I was able to switch to pads from pull-ups, a real relief, and several months after that, light pads.  

It is entirely normal for you to be incontinent at this point.  Don't worry, it will soon be better.

Eric

lighterwood67

John-Can said:

Normal

Dear All,

 

Sorry, I have been unable to post as my situation was so bad. I stayed 6 day in hospital after surgery unable to eat anything because of nausea and vomiting. I was just living on IV feeding. Day 7, I could eat a little bit without having nausea and throwing up my stomach contents. I was sent home on day 8 and yesterday my catheter was removed.

My problem is now total incontinence. That is 100% incontinence. It looks that my bladder got used to the catheter mechanism and is refusing to keep urine. Is this normal? What can I do to eliminate of at least reduce this complete incontinence?

Your valuable advice is greatly appreciated.

Like most of us

 I have read on this site where a person regained bladder control in a day or 2.  A person, that I know, who had an RP (open), told me he regained control in a day or 2, but still wears a shield when doing heavy work.  In my case, RP (robotic); bladder neck reconstruction; 8 pelvic lymph nodes removed.  Currently, I wear a Depends thin some of the day, none at night.  I am at the 6 month point.  When the physical therapists checked my kegels, with 3 probes up my rectum, I scored 4 out of 5. This was pre-surgery.  The surgeon checked my bladder pre-surgery and had me exercise my kegels while watching the bladder. He said all looked good.  I still do my kegels.  I still exercise (core strength).  Your body needs time to heal.  I remember the first time I felt no sense of urgency to urinate.  I thought something was wrong.  From that day forward eveything got better.  Good luck on your journey.

MudMan

My two cents

John,  I really can't add too much to what has been said above about the incontinence you are currently experiencing other than I am a week ahead of you on the surgery date (3 weeks post surgery).  I am 100% incontinent presently, but seeing improvement and using less pads inserted in the pull-ups on a daily basis.  I have learned to manually pinch off the urine flow on the way to the bathroom.  My therapist said this is fine for now and think of it as using crutches. 

I just started seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist and highly recommend you do the same.  Learning how to breath properly improved my situation.  Of course, regularly doing your Kegels is a major key.  The therapist also checked my three pelvic floor muscles and rated them 2/2/5 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 is the strongest.  I have room for improvement and my therapist said I would get there.

My surgeon told me that I should regain good urinary control within 4 months with the first two months requiring heavy protection.  By month four I should be in thin shields. His statement was based on how he did during my surgery and a vast majority of his patients have had the similar time lines.  He has done thousands of prostatectomies. Of course, there are exceptions.

Good luck on the journey.

John-Can

Normal

Dear forum members,

 

I thank everybody who tried to help me or comfort me and would like to post my update.

My incontinence started to improve yesterday and it is now around 50%. I’m still taking pain killer medications like Oxycodone and Tylenol because I still feel pain. I hope to improve daily over the next few weeks and wish good luck to everybody.

John

Georges Calvez

Good way

Chin up Blue you are on the good way, you really know you have won when you can take and hold several beers or wines without dribbling in your strides!