Can't urinate after total proctocolectomy

My 68 year old dad had a total proctocolectomy five weeks ago.  Thankfully they were able to remove all the colon cancer.  However, he has not regained the ability to urinate on his own.  Today he went to the doctor again to try to urinate but nothing happened.  They scheduled the next appointment to try urinating without a catheter in another five weeks.  Has anyone ever experienced the same problem after surgery?  I am trying to understand his chances of recovering this funciton.  Also I like this forum, hopefully I can get him to participate himself. Thanks!

Yes, this can happen after surgery but it should improve with time.

Sue

I was cath'd for my entire post-op time in the hospital (about 12 days), and then I self-cath'd at home for about another 2 weeks.

Then one day, I just had to pee so bad I sat down on the toilet, and everything worked fine again. IT was like someone waved a magic want over my muscles and they all worked again.

Your dad's dilemma does seem to be lasting a long time, but I'm also 28 vs. 68, so my healing time is a bit faster. There's still plenty of time and hope that his muscles will re-learn how to do it on their own, but he really needs to be "trying" to pee and not just automatically cathing. I don't know what it involves for a man vs. a woman as far as cathing at home, but if he has the opportunity to try without the cath, make sure he does every so often.

Hope things get better for him soon!