8 weeks post RPS

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It’s been 8 weeks since surgery. 7 weeks since catheter was removed. Only improvement I think I can say is when I am sitting or lying down or overnight sleeping I can stay pretty much dry. Walking, getting up from sitting, lifting anything, or anything physical I leak constantly. I rarely pee unless it’s from sleeping overnight or sitting for a while. During the day while I am active I seem to leak it all out. Anyone had this experience at my stage that eventually saw significant improvement in the near future?? I need some hope!

 

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Sounds just like my experience but now at 7 months after surgery I only use thin pads and leak just a little during the day… big cough… not small ones anymore …. big sneeze, not small ones anymore…. Real heavy lifting…but even then it’s not often and not a big leak!
Hoping it keeps improving!
Good luck on your continuing journey!

 

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Personally, I saw dramatic improvement at about 16 weeks. I was feeling very discouraged before that. I felt like I was doing all that I could/ should. My body had it's own time frame to heal and according to my surgery. Yesterday, I used one light pad and only had to change it because I didn't like the smell after 24 hours. Still improving, better every day.

 

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Yes hang in there. Improving from RP is measured by months not days. It’s really tough but you should continue to see improvement.
Boomer

 

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Hang in there as frustrating as that may be. I’m close to 7 months post catheter removal and still using 2 to 3 pads per day. I saw my first improvement at right sbout 2 months, then not much change until recently where I’m still leaking but not near as much as I was previously. Nights are pretty much dry, I’m sure I’d have better results if I just sat around all day, but I continue to be active and I continue to hope and pray that some day I’ll be dry. Hoping the best for you as well.

 

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KLP I had a terrible experience, couldn't feel anything . I gather nerves injuries were severe. Needless to say holding back anything in my bladder was nothing but unachievable dream. Nonstop leakage diapers needed to be reinforced with pads during walks ( 30 diapers a day ) later I switched to catheter and finely a clamp. At the beginning, I guess the first 10 weeks I honestly thought that my life as I knew it is over... Continued doing Kegels religiously.. and finally at 4 months post RP surgery everything started to improve. Now at 5 months post RP I am down to 2 pads a day ..and I do have dry days .. however some days I leak much more than others so it's sort of like a bad marriage.. you never know what mood your wife will be tomorrow

 

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I am on my 9 weeks post RRP and I have the same experience as yours. We’re at the acute phase of incontinence and could last up to 6 months. Hopefully by then, this will improve much more. Our experience seems compatible with the experience of most of the members.

I do my Kegels at the minimum of 3 sets of 10 and I have my first appointment with my PT today. I will see if her advice will be an improvement over what I do now which is the basic Kegels recommended to me by my Urologist.

Regarding my ED, I still have no spontaneous erection in spite of Cialis 20 mg every other day and VED ( vacuum erection device) 2 x a week. I am just patient that hopefully it will improve with the given window of 3 months to 2 years as per general experience from research states. Although in some previous threads in this forum, experiences vary. Although mostly not very encouraging with still ED present even after 2 years. Did I get it right? Anyway. I will keep you posted too on my personal experience.

 

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I'm so sorry to hear you are having these problems. I don't see your age listed. If you are older (say 78+) then I think you can relax as it seems to take longer to conquer the continence situation at this point. I'm 68 and had my RP on 27th March of this year. Happily I have been more or less continent I'd say for the last two months. I really didn't have too much of a struggle from the get go. Happily I only had the prostate and seminal vesicles removed, nothing else. I think that can make a difference too. I still do the Kegels daily and also wear a lighter pad more for mental protection than anything else. I'm now down to one pad every week or every week and a half. I keep changing it over daily - but no need usually to throw it away as there really is nothing there. There comes the point, of course, when the sticky section is simply too week to hold.

I send you every good wish for a speedy recovery and hope it will come sooner than naught for your good self.

 

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It’s tough to begin with but stick with it and keep doing lots of Kegels to build up your pelvic floor muscles. I’m now 16 weeks post RP and am relatively dry. I still wear a lightweight pad as I sometimes have a small leak if I cough or sneeze or lift something heavy.i was dry at night quite soon after catheter was removed but getting through lots of heavy duty pads in a day but gradually it improved, moving to lighter weight pads and not using as many. It’s a bit of a marathon but the majority of men who have RP will see significant improvement in continence by 4 to 6 months. My RP was done robotically with the nerve sparing procedure which will have helped my recovery. I’m still doing Kegels every day.

 

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Nothing to add to the good thoughts offered already, other than the bladder continence you experience during the night and while laying down is a good sign. In my case it was the precursor to recovering my continence at around 12-16 weeks.

I read somewhere (from a website by a urologist...can't find the website now, sorry) that this can be a common experience for many in their RP recovery.

Hope this helps.

 

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I will echo everyone else. My story was the same as yours for over a year, with improvements quarterly rather than monthly. With Pelvic Floor PT I learned the correct exercises and improvement sped up. Now at 17 months post RALP I feel I am pretty close to the finish line. I still need a pad during exercising, but regular life is pretty dry now. I think the data quoted by urologists prior to our prostatectomies is skewed and overly optimistic. I wish they would give us more realistic timelines; I felt like a failure because I was taking so long to stop leaking. Now, with all the men responding in various categories here, I know I was far more typical than the medical community will own up to. Good luck and don't give up.

 

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There are no guarantees in this business. Two and a half years down the line and yes did see significant improvement after 4 months. Dry and night and minimal when seated or driving the car but when active eg gardening I have lots of leakage and worse as the day progresses and the pelvic floor gets tired. I use an external catheter a lot of the time if I am away from home.

 

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I'm sorry but the good news is it gets better. like most of the rest here I was the same im 18 months now past and have mild stress leakage but in the beginning for months its a constant dribble no control 4 large pads a day.
keep up your excercises you will get there its unfortunate it works this way but its not forever and gets very tollerable good luck