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Posted 5/7/2008 12:40 PM (GMT 0)
I'm heading back to work Monday and, as you can probably guess, I'm very apprehensive about it.

I have a desk job, where I sit all day. I only get up to walk down the hall to the bathroom. I can wear jeans, which is a plus, since I'm wearing pads.

I plan to bring my regular satchel to work with plenty of extra pads. I'm also going to bring a hair dryer to put in my locker in the combined bathroom-shower downstairs. I figure it might come in handy if I have any sort of "leak" on the outside of my clothing.

My question is, am I forgetting anything? What did you bring to work when you returned after prostate surgery?
Posted 5/7/2008 12:52 PM (GMT 0)
Anglophile - wow you are making remarkable recovery and sound like you have everything organized. One word of caution . . . many in here have posted that they returned to work early, and although things went well, fatigue was an issue . . .an 8 hour day is long when your body is still in recovery. Be prepared to maybe shorten your first few days if you can.

Good luck to you. The hair dryer sounds like an awesome idea . . . . .probably won't use it though!

;o) Linda & Bob
Posted 5/7/2008 2:05 PM (GMT 0)

Anglophile,

I just went through the same thing.....my da vinci was 4/8.  Started going back to work last week, but, like Lawink says, only 1/2 days as I was really tired about 1:30.  I'll work 1/2 days this week and then return to a somewhat full time schedule next week.

I also can wear jeans every once in a while so I took an extra pair, but didn't need them.

Only other things are a big smile and great attitude, which it seems like you have already packed!!!!  Your friends will be glad to see you back.

Posted 5/7/2008 3:38 PM (GMT 0)
I've been working from home in order to get back into shape for this. I worked half days for a week, starting two weeks after surgery. I've been working full days since then. Another plus for me is my work "day" is 5 am to 1 pm, so I have the afternoons off the rest up.
Posted 5/7/2008 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
I found returning to work very tiring. After the first 2 days, I had to ease off and work half days.. Your recovery is fast and you are probably in much better physical shape. See how it goes,but if you find it tiring take care to listen to your body.
Posted 5/7/2008 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
Dito on the start at half days for 1 week and then maybe fulltime next week. I am in my third full time week and still get tired or sore when I stand a long time. Walking is no problem. Try and bring an extra cushion or donut the first week or two. You will go through more pads when standing or walking. When you get up from sitting you will need to make a practice to go to the bathroom to drain the bladder otherwise it will leak out and you will go through more pads.

Keeeeeep drinking even though your common sense says to stop. If your urine gets concentrated it can become irritating and you have pain. I know I did.
I never had an accident outside the pad at work or even close. I only leaked twice in my bed when my protective clothing got turned around like a pretzel. Yikes....

You will do great just take it easy.

Take care and good luck
Frank
Posted 5/8/2008 2:13 AM (GMT 0)
Hi. Glad to hear you are going back to work. My Dr. told me to stay out for 6 weeks. I tried to go back at 4 weeks and the boss(Wife) reminded me of what the Dr said. I would bring a change of pants, underwear along with some pads. Dark pants might be a plus too. I only used two pads a day for the first couple of months and used one for several months after because I was self conscious of leaking. One thing you will notice is you will feel 3:00PM coming on and you will not need your watch to tell the time. I ran out of steam at 3:00PM every day for several months. At around 5-6 PM I would recover until one day it was 5:00PM before I knew it without and problems. Everyone is different and you will soon be over this. Take care and stay in touch.

Mika
Posted 5/8/2008 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
Looks like you had the open surgery, which I'm told has a longer recovery time.

I opted for for the laproscopic robotic surgery and my doctor said he had one patient who went back to work the next week, but he advised me to take it easy... no heavy lifting... for six weeks. He preferred I not go back work for a month and that's where I'll be when I return to work Monday.
Posted 5/11/2008 4:12 AM (GMT 0)
Anglophile- Good question- First, although you should try to change your pads often enough to take care of the wetness before it gets really wet in your Depends or whatever, there may be times when you don't keep up with it, and you experience what I call "Overload." This means getting so wet that it spills over into your jeans or slacks, and you have to change them. Therefore, always have an extra pair of jeans with you (in your car, desk, locker, etc.). Also , keep a package of Depends, and pads, in your car. I like that you have a hair dryer. One of the bathrooms where I work has a wall mounted hand dryer, so when I go there to change a pad, I first stand under the dryer with my penis, thighs, etc., exposed, and the warm air dries everything off. It feels great to be all dry at the same time you are putting on a nice, clean, pad.

By the way, I think the best pads to use are the Stay Free Overnight Pads without wings. They come 28 to a package, and are nice and thick. Even tho' they are called "overnight" pads, I use them during the day because they are soft and really thick.
Posted 5/13/2008 1:39 PM (GMT 0)
I'm on my second day of work. I had no problems yesterday. Just remembered to hit the bathroom every hour, although I did leak walking to the bathroom. I changed my pad 4 hours into my shift to be safe and had no outside leakage. The only strange sensation was standing there talking to someone and feeling that "warm" feeling around my crotch.

Last night, I had my first "dry" night! If I dribbled, it wasn't enough for me to notice that my pad was moist. It was a nice feeling waking up dry.

I use Prevail Male Guards - 126/Case http://www.cwimedical.com/maleguards.html
Posted 5/13/2008 8:02 PM (GMT 0)

Guys,

Question: What's the average length of time somebody is out of work? I had open RRP 4/17, was out for 19 days including the day of surgery, and back on day 20. Worked 1/2 to 3/4 days the rest of the first week and am full-time this week and feeling good.

No doubt the answer depends on various factors - health, age, surgery type, disease stage, etc.

Just curious.

Mark

Posted 5/13/2008 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor said four to six weeks for recovery. I think a big part of it depends on your age.

I started working half days from home two weeks after robotic surgery, then went to fulltime from home at three weeks.

Monday was four weeks and, as I said, I returned to work and felt great.
n
Today, I was doing fine for the first five hours and then, all of a sudden, I felt like a ton of bricks hit me. I had o energy, couldn't focus and went to lie down on a couch in the break room. I woke up two hours later and went home. I'll work from home tomorrow and try and go back in on Thursday.

As some people here had warned, it's a slow process getting back into the swing of things. I had no idea that it could take so much out of you. I have never felt like this before, but then I've never had major surgery before.
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