3 months post op RP. My thoughts and concerns.

Hi Medic,

I remembered a lot of similarities in your descriptions of the surgery and the next day in the hospital.  Sounds like you are on the longer than you would like road to recovery.  The leakage thing should improve over time, it took me about 2 years to plateau out, some guys go quicker some longer. Keep doing the Kegals(I still do mine 4 yrs. later and only require a light pad/day). The ED hopefully will improve in about the same time frame, but some recover quicker than others.  Pray for continued zero future PSA tests, let us know if you need more help as there are a lot of good experienced people on this forum.

Dave 3+4

Sounds like you are on the road to a good recovery.  I remember some of the issues you are talking about (blood and tissue in urine bag).  The physical therapist in my case put the probes up the rectum to check my kegels prior to surgery (scored a 4 out of 5).  She told me to keep doing what i am doing.  I have not been doing a lot of kegel exrecises lately, but I do walk 2 miles on a treadmill at a 5 and 7 degree incline everyday.  I do partner yoga (just staretd a month ago) with my wife.  I do core training with a yoga strap and exercise ball.  I lift some weights.  At this time, I have not worn any kind of pad for over 6 months now.  I am trying to get off the add-ons for ED.  In fact, I have not taken any Viagra or Cialis in over a month now.  My wife and I are still sexually active, whenever I can catch her, but she is awfully fast.  For your info, I am 68; Gleason 4+3=7; post-op this month 1 year.  More importantly my PSA is undetectable.  I go this month for my annual check-up.  Hope all goes well on your journey.

Hi medic.  It sound like your medical team is doing all of the right stuff.  Some dribble at this point is not bad, and the kegels do help.

My DaVinci experience was similiar, except that I only had the cath 5 days (due to a holiday weekend coming up), and I never had an abdominal drain.

I am interested in your screen name. Are you an Army medic ?   I was a submariner myself, and in the Navy medics are called Corpsmen, of course.  Corpsman duty is independent on subs and most smaller ships, meaning that there is one one on the ship.  Very impressive guys, basically equivalent to both paramedics and RNs. And they have to undergo basic surgical training also.

max

Medic856 said:

Good

I am a medic. Not military, I wish I had taken that route. Current medic on a hospital medevac. 

 

That is super work, thanks for what you do for people in extremely bad situations.

My cousin joined the Army for medic school in the late 70, as an E-1. Stationed around the world, eventually became a Warrant Officer, and then a commissioned officer. Sent by the Army through Physician's Assistant (P.A.) School.  Retired as a Captain or Lt Major, I forget which.    Since getting out of the Army, he has run two civilian medical clinics in the rural midwest for over a decade now.   Wow, he got his money's worth out of the Army, and them from him.

As I noted, sub duty as a corpsman on subs is independent duty. He is the only medical person on the ship.  Almost always a chief petty officer (E-7).  They 'have the load' by themselves.   SEAL teams are similiar, I have read at Wiki.  We had to helovac a kid with a severe injury off the boat once, from the North Sea. Our corpsman won a lot of 'chest salad' (ribbons) for that one, and deserved it all.

As a civilian I was "road kill" once. Ejected from auto via the driver window, and then the car rolled over me. Pumothorax, flail chest, 18 long bone fractures, including femur in 3 pieces.  Witness at scene said I was fould in a cemetery on my back, making gurguling noises.  My leg was under my back. They said my foot was under my neck.....   A week later, lung recollapsed, respriatory distress, a second vaccum line inserted, intubated for 16 days. I actually heard myself Coded over the intercom at that time.  Pulmonologist told my family the night the recollapse occured that "He will not live, just be ready. If somehow he does live, he will have severe brain damage."  Lead R.T. in the hospital told me months after I was discharged that my blood gases results "did not indicate life."  Despite severe vertigo for years, I ended up OK. I walk fine today, despite severe spinal damages.  I could not speak more than a word or two at a time for about six months, however.

Over a year of rehab before I could walk without a walker or quad cane.  I used County records to ID the paramedic on the truck that took me to the hospital, and thanked him and the driver.  In SC, one guy on a truck must be a paramedic, and the driver at least an EMT.  When my son was a Cub Scout, we took them for a field trip to see a Helovac operation in our county.

There are no "definitely dead" victims at an auto accident scene.  I was, but actually wasn't.

God bless,

max