Thanks for adding me!

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Hi. I had a prostatectomy 3 weeks ago.
Catheter has been out for 2 weeks. I’m 64.

Can’t imagine going back to work with coworkers knowing I’m wearing diapers. But I still need to change out 5 times a day so I’m not going to be one of the lucky ones.

I have a lot to vent about, and my wife is burning out.

 

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Welcome to the forum. It’s been valuable to me since my RRP 6 weeks ago. I hadn’t anticipated the issues and don’t feel that I was well informed but this resource has definitely helped.

 

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@dlj this is not a long time at all. Your doctor probably recommended taking of six weeks and strongly suggest you take his advice. I was doing really well and talked my surgeon in to letting me go back to work a week early. At the time I was standing about forty five minutes morning and evening. The pain in my groin area grew intense at times. Also I work in an elementary school and was caught in a meeting that went longer than it should have while seated in a tiny chair for kindergartners. At the time I was still changing pads several times a day. Well while seated in that position like peed the pad to overflow status and wet my pants. Luckily I had on black dress pants so it did not show and it was the end of the day.


Anyway the point of this is, it takes time to heal. A lot of trauma has been inflicted on your body and all of the workings in that area. I was downhearted at my first visit back to the surgeon at about the seven week point but was reassured that I would feel differently by four months. At the four month mark I was seeing lots of improvement.

Again it all takes time. Do the kegel exercises. Drink water and stay hydrated.

 

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Alh63 is completely right. It’s far too soon to conclude that you’re not one of the “lucky ones”. Improvement will happen, but it’s often so gradual that it’s hard to see. I highly recommend weighing each used pad, and keeping a daily weight total. If you look at the the totals over the course of several weeks, I'll bet you’ll see the numbers go down. It sounds like a silly exercise, but it does a lot for your morale. Hang in there….there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

 

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Hi be strong I am Incontinent a year and a half after my prostatectomy and after having to have radiation treatment as they did not get all the cancer. I am now at 0.1 PSA. So given everything I am happy to be fit and alive and when the opportunity arises I tell people that my incontinence is a product of the operation. I have still not given up on improvement happening.

 

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@dlj I may have responded a little too quickly without processing your post fully. In your initial post you said “so I’m not going to be one of the lucky one”. Yes I would have to agree with you on that point. Some men are indeed “lucky” and are continent in a very short time frame (two to four weeks). Those are the lucky ones. For most of us it takes more time to heal and regain control of those muscles.

Please don’t get discouraged. That will adversely affect your progress significantly. We have a tendency to not work at anything when we become discouraged. If you will scroll through some previous posts on NAFC I think you will find many encouraging comments that have been posted to others in similar situations.

Hang in there. If you know someone personally who has experienced this talk to them about what they went through. In my experience, and I live in a smallish town in rural southern KY, most are willing to talk about it. When I had surgery about 18 months ago I personally knew about 5 older farmers that had experienced prostate cancer plus some other folks. Everyone was encouraging and most laughed about their some of their experiences.

Best wishes.

 

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My prostatectomy was a little over 5 years ago, and I still need to wear diapers. I did have control issues prior to my surgery which is one of the reasons for my continued incontinence. Since then, I have had back surgery, dealing with heart failure, among a few other health issues. My urologist has suggested having an AUS implanted, but I refuse to have any more additions placed in me. I have had 3 rotator cuff surgeries requiring screws and pins, and also have a pacemaker. Enough is enough, I'm 75 Maybe, it appears to some that I'm giving in, but after a while one gets used to wearing a diaper. I hope you heal, but if things don't get back to where you would like be thankful that you are still alive.

 

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Got tired of the diapers so decided to try external catheter so much better than being damp/wet a lot of the time. Was a little apprehensive at first but once I got the hang of it, it is so much better than pads or diapers. Will only go to diapers as an absolute last resort. Like being dry and the no smell is wonderful.

 

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Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Not that I like them, but wearing depends is better than being dead! So I’m trying to be grateful and positive.
And still having time off work the inconvenience does not seem so bad.

2 main concerns for my future are sex and backpacking lol!

Not sure how many diapers I can bring on a week long High Sierra backpacking trip. Looking like this summer is not happening.

And so far, sexual arousal equals uncontrolled peeing.

Although both of these activities are not essential to live, they have been important to me, and I’m very hopeful I will adapt or get more control