Post Prostectomy Recovery and Care

Ray,

Sorry to here you're joining the club no one wants to join. 

I had three inguinal hernia repairs before I was DaVincied.  One repair was with mesh.  Surgeon worked his way around the mesh and the RRLP went fine.  Surgeon did say that if he ran into a problem he would switch to an "open" procedure.

If you have a history of inguinal repairs you may want to ask your surgeon about the possibilty of putting mesh in the "navel" incision (the biggest incision).  I did not do this, and sure enough about nine months later I was back getting an "incisional hernia repair" that was located right at the RRLP incision site.

I spent one day in hospital and needed help for about two more. Probably could have gotten along on my own after the third day... but it was real nice having help.   The worst problem I had was the (surgery) gas pains in the shoulders.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

Ray,
my condolences on the loss of your wife.
I am almost two years post op, had the Da Vinci operation. My Dr. did not want to do open surgery because I have had two hernia repairs like you have  (I have not had any problems post op with hernias at the Da Vinci incision sights and I do heavy lifting at work and home).
Lots of good advice already offered here, I would like to add that it made it easier for me to get off the toilet with one of those hospital type seats that raised the seat level up a bit and made it easier to push myself up with the arms on the seat. I did not have a BM for 4 days or so after the surgery, wish I would have eaten soft foods until I had the BM to make things easier. I used a leather office chair with arms in my living room to sleep in for the first few nights as it was easier to push myself out of the chair than to get out of the bed, remember how sore your abs were after the hernia surgeries? I loaded up my digital video recorder with classic westerns to watch the first few days as I did not feel like doing much. I was weak for a month or so after the surgery, more so than the hernia surgeries. be sure to drink plenty of water, enough to keep your urine a light or almost clear color to help flush your bladder. When I had to go out to Dr. appts. after the surgery while still wearing the catheter I left the big catheter bag hooked up instead of switching to the smaller bag. I ran the catheter tube down loose fitting pants and hid the catheter bag in a large Harley Davidson paper shopping bag (cut a hole in the bottom of the bag and pass the catheter through).

Probably my worst experience was when my Jack Russell Terrier jumped on my lap after I got home after surgery.  As soon as I sat down he jumped up on my lap and landed right on the catheter tube where it goes inside Mr. Happy......OW!  I think people in the next county probably heard me yelp. 
Good luck and heal fast!

 

Post Edited (califlostnspace) : 11/22/2010 3:48:14 AM (GMT-7)

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update, I've been seeing a nurse, she's had quite a bit of experience in post-op care. She a real godsend for me. She's going to stay with me the first few days after my procedure. So my surgery will be 12-16-2010, I'm to be there at 5:15 AM. I'm hoping for an overnight stay and then my nurse friend and my family will help me. Thanks everyone for your help and guidance, it's been a great help to me.

I'll post again after the procdure.

Ray

Ray, glad you got some skilled help lined up. Good luck with your procedure, and wishing you a fast and easy recovery.

Ray, I hope you are doing well after surgery.
The catherer becomes very inconfortable and most probably the last days you will hate it. Your physical conditions will improve very quickly but in my case I still feel weak 18 days after surgery. After the catherer removal I started walking about 35 minutes every morning at a very slow pace but after that I feel weak for the whole day. I also have abdominal pain. Good luck.

Hello Everyone,

Well I'm back! The procedure took about 3 1/2 hours, Dr. Powsang was very pleased with the results. The previous hernia surgery and the appendectomy did not interfere with their endeavors. Dr. Powsang said there was no evidence the cancer had spread beyond the prostate. The pathologists were  to biopsy the prostate gland but Dr. Powsang is out of town for the next two weeks so I will wait for the results of that biopsy.

They released me before noon on the following day, and I have been home since. I have an appointment tomorrow for a cystogram and if that is good the nurse practioner will remover the catheter. I'm ready for that. The thing is uncomfortable and a constant nuisance, but necessary I must admit.

I've slept a lot since I've been home. I was given a prescription for percocet, but haven't taken any for the past three days. Aside from the catheter the only discomfort I'm experiencing is a low grade fever. The patient release instructions said to call if your temp went over 101.5F, mine at first was 100.7 (the highest it's been), but I've been taking extra strenght Tylenol and it's keeping it doen, sometimes it gets below 98.6F. I'm going to talk to the nurse practioner when I see her tomorrow. 

Thaks for all the support, I'll post again, hopefully it won't be so long this time.

Sounds like good news! Welcome to the other side.

Sandok,

Welcome to HW. Don't be discouraged. My surgeon laughed at all those who think they will be back at work the next week. He said 5-7 weeks at home as a minimum. I was able to work some from home by computer the next week, but is was almost 2 months before I went back into the office.

Both of you - take it slowly, walk a lot, but break it up into shorter sessions (maybe 2 or 3 walks per day with breaks between), no 5 mile hikes at one time just yet. Keep drinking the water - better too many pads than a urinary tract infection.

Glad to hear the catheter is out, now the real recovery begins. I had a low grade fever the first week, I think that's fairly common. I can't recall any digestion issues. Now that you are free, walk, drink, walk, drink. Gotta flush out the gunk and junk...

I am 9 days RRP post op and have had and am having a low grade fever as well (though the UTI caused a spike to 101). Guess there's sympathy in numbers. How long is this gonna last? I apologize for using this thread, but had the same question.

My GP told me not to be surprised if I had digestive problems. After all he said you just had your inside thrashed. He said this after 6 days of me not having a BM. It took me a month before I was back eating as I did before.

Hi Everyone,

I finally called Dr Pow Sang's nurse Monday 12-27-10 and let her know I was experiencing the fever. Within an hour someone form Moffitt returned my call; they phoned in a prescription of Cipro and asked if I would come in and give a urine specimen before I started the antibiotic. By Wednesday the fever was almost totally gone, the indigestion left as well. Thursday I took my girlfriend to lunch, my first outing back into the world. A little tiring but not too bad. I'm glad to be over the fever, I just didn't feel like doing anything at all when that was going on. So now it's to start trying to do a few more things, easy stuff to start.

Ray