Catheter removal

Mackattack,

You said, "The other good news is continence appears to be nearly 100%. " I'm guessing you have all the control and no involuntary leaking at all? Everyone is different. I also had a nerve-sparing robotic radical prostatectomy about 26 months ago, had done Kegels religiously for the first year, and I'm still wearing depends daily. I'm still having ED issues as well.

The blood in the urine post-op was scary too, but my weewee doc told me that too was normal.

My complaint was that they left my original catheter in for a total of seven weeks, that may have caused scar tissue in my urethra.

If you regained your bladder control AND have had non-issues with getting back your normal erections after RAD Prostate surgery, consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

In recovery, there are a lot of factors my doc told me, on the incontinence or ED problems post-op...whether you had good erections prior to surgery, If you do your kegels post-op, the experience of the surgeon dong the procedure, whether or not they perform the nerve-sparing, or not, and many other factors.

Everyone is different, like I said. Also, DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET OR CERTAIN FORUMS.....When I first joined this site before my surgery,and have posted since the big day about my problems, some have chimed in to tell me after their radical nerve-sparing prostatectomies, immediately after surgery they had both 100% full on erections, and no incontinence whatsoever.

That was troubling for me, I asked my doctor about why are they so lucky, he told me after his 1000's of these types of robotic procedures he's done, that's just simply not the case,and for me not to believe it. He is one of the best. He practiced at Sloan-Kettering, is presently an assistant professor, and Chief of Urology, at two well named prodigious hospitals, so I do believe him. Good luck and take care.

Unhappy cramper,

Yes, I would say I have total control. The little bit of leakage that I have seems to be that sometimes I get a few drops on my guard after I go to the bathroom. I hope this gets better over time.

No, I haven't had an erection yet, but quite frankly haven't tried. I start on Cialis Tuesday. So at this point, I have no answer on ED. I honestly have been too consumed with the rest of my recovery to have the urge just yet.

I had robotic surgery 8 weeks ago now.

My catheter was in for a week. As soon as the catheter was removed, and it didn't hurt at all, I immediately realized I had full urinary control. 100%. The only very limited spritzing I've had is when I got the flu and was coughing and sneezing non stop. So if I would cough 10-15 times in a row i'd spritz a little sometimes. If I would kegel while coughing my guts out no spritzing.

I got no erections at all while the catheter was in. Thank God. I started getting promising erections, maybe 50% without cialis a day after catheter removal. My nurse told me no erections for 4 weeks so i took it very easy, but during that 4 weeks I also started taking cialis. She said not to worry about getting erections those weeks even if on cialis because the pill only worked if you fooled around. Well I was really curious to know so I cheated a little. I immediately got full 100% erections while on Cialis. I do remember feeling my urethra aching a little but less and less so every week. It now feels completely normal. I'm now 100% with cialis and anywhere from 70%-80% without. It realy depends on the mood and mostly, the pressure I put on myself.

I have also spoken to many other people who have had the same procedure and experienced same results.

I believe that skill of surgeon, age, fitness level, and sexual performance level prior to surgery dictate who we respond to the surgery.

It is very nice to see some one have that kind of control right out of the box. You have to realize that we kinda hate you for it. All kidding aside, well done and congrats!

Hi Mack,

Congratulations on the no incontinance outcome!!!
With neg margins and no inconinance you are off to a great start.

Heal well, best wishes,
An