Sonny - 3 Days Post Surgery- Can it keep going this well.

It's Sunday afternoon 3 days post surgery and things are going so well I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Every day is better by discomfort standards. Really don't have any pain per se unles I sneeze or someone I talk to on the phone feels it is there obligation to make me laugh. Had to hang up on one good friend, told him he was hurting me with the jokes and laughter. He understood I think. I'll find out the next time I talk to him.

In my last post Saturday morning, I was waiting for the opportunity to pass gas. Well that time came about noon, what a welcomed relief. The rest followed shortly thereafter. 4 good Bms in the last two days. Feel human again. I think that did a lot to relieve the discomfort too.

I think that my plan to begin the post surgery recommended diet the week before surgery really helped in the intestinal part of the recovery.

I figured out by measuring the parking spots width by number of spots that it is .27 miles around the lot here at the complex. I walk four times each day and do at least 2 and sometimes 3 laps. So I figure that I am doing at least 2-2 1/2 miles per day. It is at an easy pace, I don't feel winded and don't feel like I am overdoing it.

I have noticed today that the sitting part is getting a little less comfortable and easy to do without moving around a bunch.

But I do have a question of you guys. Why is it that none of you has fessed up to the fact that the most comfortable place to sit is "ON THE JOHN." I swear that if I was home (where I have tv in the bathroom) I could sit and watch the whole football game tonight if it wasn't for the fact that my butt would go to sleep and I might be trapped there. What is up with that, it is some kind of inside trade secret for only the most experienced of you guys?

This is for the guys who asked about the Supra Pubic Catheter. I can only speak for myself and with the caveat that I have never had a Foley. I love this thing. If you gotta have a cath. I don't know why you would have the Foley.

The tube is installed at the time of the surgery. It is center of the abdomen just a couple of inches below the navel. The tube is held in place with a couple of stitches and is just a little larger that the catheter tube. The catheter tube runs through it to the bladder. Doing it this way allows for the catheter to be taken out and reinserted if need be. I have read that folks that have to have it for a long time can actually reinsert new ones themselves with the proper training.

Advantages; the tube is faced toward the left and is just below the waistline, if you are wearing the leg bag it is a simple connect and the bag is worn on the outside of the leg and the tube is held in place by brief or boxer brief style briefs on the OUTSIDE of the leg. Sitting, standing or crossing you legs doesn't kink the tube and there is no back and forth friction with movement. When I have worn it you don't even know the tube is there. When it is connected to the large bag the tube just comes out the top of the waist band. I have been wearing cargo shorts and whenever I move around in the apt I just hang the bag on the pocket. Hasn't gotten in the way yet.

Most of the time when I go for my walks I don't bother to change from the big bag. I just drop it is a doubled plastic grocery bag or small canvas shopping bag and carry it by the handles. The only thing you see is the clear tube and you have to be looking for it to see it.

The biggest advantage to it may be why they have such high stats in dealing with continence. My catheter comes out Wednesday. On Monday morning I start what they call Cycling. I empty the bag when I get up then turn off the valve on the tube. The bladder then fills naturally. I am supposed to leave the valve off 2-3 hours, with a goal of 3. Then I urinate the good ole fashion way. I go in a measured urinal and chart how much. When I feel I am done I open the valve and leave it open for 5 minutes. If anything comes out I dump it in the measuring urinal and record how much. This tells them if I am voiding completely or not and it not how much the bladder is retaining. I do this all day then open the valve at night and let the bag collect it so I can sleep without having to get up. Next day do the same thing. Then take the results with me to the catheter removal appointment.

I can't seem to find anything wrong with this approach and it could not be done this way with a Foley. open to input guys, if you see any holes in my logic.

Can't add too much at this point. I think I am having a very good recovery and saying my daily prayers that the continence and ED issues will go along this smoothly.

Missed talking with you guys the last couple of days. My brain just wasn't all there and it was a little difficult. But now I feel back and am ready to fully participate.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support.

Sonny

60 years old
PSA November 2007 3.0
PSA May 2009 6.4
Diagnosis confirmed July 9, 2009
12 Needle Biopsy = 9 clear , 3 postive
<5%, 90%, 40%
Gleason Score (3+4) 7 in all positive cores
CT Organ Scan - negative
Nuclear Bone Scan - Negative

Surgery done on September 17th by Dr. Menon, Vattikuit Urology Institute, Henry Ford Medical Center, Detroit.