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Hi
I couldn't find the "Introduction Page", so I'm doing it here.

I'm Scott, and I'm just starting on this journey called incontinence. I'm 63 years old, and have been diabetic from about age 25. At age 59 I was diagnosed with Gleason score 3+3 prostate cancer. With rising PSA, a swelling prostate, and growing cancer size, we decided to have my prostate removed this past Nov. 30. The catheter was removed Friday Dec. 3. I had been doing kegel exercises, 3 sets daily of 10 at a time, holding for 10 seconds each.
When the catheter was removed, I was told by the nurse that I had to drink "a lot" of water, and hold my urine for 2 hours. She said that I have to get my bladder to expand back to normal size. I have continued to do my normal routine of kegels daily, but can't get past 45 minutes or so before having to sprint to the bathroom. Also, I have had a steady "dribble" of urine since the catheter came out. Will this dribble end?
I'm better at night. Then I'm able to go between 1 to 1.5 hours between trips to the bathroom. I've had a dry Chux pad every time I get up, so that's good! I wear Depends Maximum briefs with a shield 24/7.
Is all of this normal?
Has anyone found any certain foods or drinks that either help or hinder regaining continence? Today I didn't drink any coffee, and things are a little better. Coincidence??? Also, am I doing enough kegels, and is there anything else that I can do to make this better?

Thanks,
Scott
 
Thanks Scott - and welcome! We're glad you're here!

We realized from your post that the Introductions page had somehow gotten pushed to the bottom. We fixed it and it is now a starred topic at the top of the forum menu. No need to reopst but just wanted to let everyone know.

Sarah
 
Had my surgery in October. Yes the leaking and dribbling is normal. You measure recovery by the week not day. Good luck stay strong.
 
No expert on any of the medical issues you describe but I can say of you drink only water and no other flavored drinks from soda to alcohol and drink water hourly you will benefit greatly. Everything flavored is harder work on your kidneys and potential bladder irritant.

Walking briskly daily as much as possible
Good progress to you!
 
I had my radical prostatectomy on March 8, 2021. I’ll share my experience as it is similar to others on this forum. Even then bear in mind that all of us are recovering at our own rate.

UnLike you I leaked like a sieve for the first month using 5 or more pads a day. I did my Kegel exercises daily and I attended by sessions with my pelvic floor physical therapist at least twice a week.

I found the I couldn’t measure progress in days but could look back on the past week and see where things were slowly improving.

The first signs of recovery was not during the day but finding less and less leakage while lying prone in bed at night. It seemed that the bladder needed to be retrained on when to send the “urge” message to get up and use the toilet. The minute I’d stand up the drain opened up and leakage proceeded. The good news was things were improving at least at night.

Then slowly I started to see the bladder starting to come back on-line and start retaining some fluid. At this point in the recovery any sneeze, cough or even trying to pass some gas resulted in a leak.

For me significant leakage started to abate three months after surgery. I kept up with the Kegel exercises but cut back on the visits to the physical therapist. Bladder control continued to improve and I was down to 2 or 3 pads a day.

By month 4 I was down to a single pad unless I was really physically active and then it was more than a single pad.

This is my recovery and as many have noted, your recovery will be different but the general sequence of recovery is the same.

I tolerate one cup of coffee in the morning without issue. I do see that regardless of time of day a beer at lunch or wine with dinner will result in a some leakage. Not a major issue but fact of where I am in recovery.

While Kegel exercises are good don’t limit yourself to just isometric exercises. Start walking, if you are able, and increase distance and speed over time.

Don’t get discouraged, you are amongst friends here.
 
Thanks everyone!

...and they just opened the new Starbucks...right down the street. LOL
That's OK!
With help from all of you, I will conquer this!!!

Scott
 
It's a pick your poison and know the enemy situation. We all have our coffees etc but we accept the imperfect outcomes. You are doing great. Patience and time are healers
 
My prostatectomy was august 2020. I’m 62 and always been very active. Resulting incontinence and ED was initially pretty discouraging, but was determined to get back to walking 4-5 days per week at a brisk pace, getting back to strength conditioning, and getting back to riding the dirt bike, all of which I have done. I wear 1 depends men’s shield per day and have good luck with that. Most dribbles are due to stress(movement). ED hasn’t really improved much and age is not on my side either, but my psa is undetectable and that’s the most important part. Hang in there, recovery is a long process and different for all. Exercise, watch the caffeine and alcohol, and enjoy life!
 
After your 10 reps of 10, and squeeze hard. Finish with rapid 1 sec keigal x10
Also remember to rest 10 sec between each set of 10.
I'm have diabetes as well, 72 and 13 month post surgery and not wearing a pad, but maybe leak with a sneeze. When you fell a sneeze coming on, do a keigal.
 
I am a week short of 4 months post my surgery now and my recovery so far has been very similar to that of @Greensleeves351 as described above.

If you can, see a physiotherapist who specialises in pelvic issues for guidance on a suitable exercise program and to ensure you are doing the exercises correctly and on the right muscles ~ the physio I have been seeing has been worth every penny.

The first few weeks may be discouraging, but persevere and don't dwell on the daily, focus on how you are compared to a week ago and you should start to see steady improvement from the 2 - 3 month point.
 
Sounds a lot like me. I’m 10 weeks out. Do Kegels. Get up twice a night to go. Can void when necessary. Up and about does cause leaking, but I measure progress by how heavy my pull up is when changing. It is discouraging sometimes, but better than having cancer in your body. Hang in there, dude.
 
Maymay941 said:
It's a pick your poison and know the enemy situation. We all have our coffees etc but we accept the imperfect outcomes. You are doing great. Patience and time are healers
 
I was kidding about the Starbucks, kinda. Yes, I have to pick my poison, and right now I'll give up almost anything in order to get better. I'm already a bit better, 1 week in.
I got the pathology report back. All the cancer was contained to the prostate, no positive margins!!!
I'm far better than I was 2 weeks ago!
 
ScottB - my granddaughter is a barrister at a local Starbucks and she loves working there but they do take advantage of the employees as far as work schedules and low pay. I'm encouraging her to look for a better company.
 
ScottB said:
I was kidding about the Starbucks, kinda. Yes, I have to pick my poison, and right now I'll give up almost anything in order to get better. I'm already a bit better, 1 week in.
I got the pathology report back. All the cancer was contained to the prostate, no positive margins!!!
I'm far better than I was 2 weeks ago!

yep, thats the way to think, focus on the positives. Even adversity can be an opportunity.

I was similar to you, biopsy showed a nasty cancer (graded 9 out of 10) but we got it early while it was only just still contained to the prostate. And I just had my post op followup PSA check and my levels were "undetectable" so that confirms we got it all. And the Urologist managed to "spare" the nerves on one side of my prostate, improving the chances of ED recovery down the track.

I also found that while the surgery recovery and incontinence issues were/are frustrating, they did force me to rest up and take stock. In particular, worrying about what was coming out also caused me to think about what was going in and I made some dietary and lifestyle changes that have resulted in losing around 10 kg or 10% of my body weight which takes a lot off pressure off my bladder and my dodgy old exfootball player knees. At 66yo I am now the leanest and fittest I have been for decades and will try to maintain these changes going forward.
 
Anyone else 2-4 months out of prostate removal surgery and is able to void on their own, but void a lot during the day?
 
I hope this isn't a fluke, but last night I only got up once at 2am and at 7am! Up until then it was once every hour to hour and 1/2.
A few of you mentioned brisk walking, which I like to do. But what correlation is there between that and continence?
 
Scott,

First of all the disclaimer, I am not a medical professional and unless stipulated to the contrary neither are others on this forum.

Now that we have that out of the way, what walking does is uses the body's natural reaction to movement to exercise the pelvic floor muscles. The very same muscles that need to compensate for loss of your sphincter muscle(s) that were damaged or removed as part of your radical prostatectomy.

Walking in combination with doing Kegel exercises is the quickest way to regain control. Regardless of how much walking and how many Kegel exercises you do your body still has to recover from the surgery and that is different for each of us.

Hope this helps.

Greensleeves
 
Thanks. No, I wasn't looking for a professional opinion, nor would I hold anyone accountable for what they say on a forum. I'm just looking for practical advice that worked (or is working) for them that may help me in my recovery. And if someone knows something because they were told by a professional or from their own research, that's great, and sufficient for me.
I figured that there is a correlation, and figured that someone on here knew what it is. You explained it well for me.
I already feel much better mentally and emotionally since I've joined this forum. Learning from people who have or are experiencing the same thing is encouraging to me. It has given me confidence in that what I'm experiencing is common, and the rate of recovery that I may expect. Being told that measuring progress week to week vs. day to day was immense.
Thanks to everyone!
 
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