Ron,
I had the AdVance sling installed in Jan 2011 and love it.
Recovery from AdVance sling surgery is upside down from your prostate surgery. Remember how everyone told you to "walk, walk, walk" "keep moving" etc. after your RP? Well here they tell you to sit still! Let the tissues grow around and absorb the sling mounts. You need to be extremely careful so you don't yank it out of place before it is healed.
At 3 weeks some kind stranger from this site sent me an unsolicited email that said basically: "You are feeling pretty good right now. I'm sure you are ready to start doing things around the house or go outside and shovel some snow. Don't!!! Don't muck up the surgery!!! You want the good results results to last! Don't blow it!" (Only he used stronger words.) He was right . I was tempted. He put me right back onto the couch and I'm glad he did.
I hope you are not driving yourself. Lifting your leg will put a strain on things. If you have to lift your leg quickly from gas to brake in a emergency you can hurt yourself. (I just went back to my old thread and would strongly advise you not to be the driver!)
There was another difference betwen RP and Sling surgeries. With the RP you had 4 or 5 small incisions that healed quickly. With this surgery you will have three long ones. One in each leg crease and one across your perineum to your scrotum. Be prepared to be sore.
What else would I do? Before the surgery I'd jog, kegel and try to knock off those 5 pounds that you've been thinking about
dropping for the past 10 years. Do it now! It will never be easier.
Also try to orgasm as often as possible. You will not be able to do that for a while and you want to make sure the connections are still there when you are ready.
Good luck to you. This will give you your life back!
Ron, I found the thread where I posted my sling story. I had forgotten some of the "bad" parts.
Worried Guy's Incontinence Journey posted here on HW.
I had forgotten how happy I was that I was suddenly dry, and then a day later realized I couldn't pee and needed to be catheterized again. Oops! Also I was surprised to reread and see how long the recover process took. We all have selective memory.
I was very
open and honest in my posts. If you go to page 6 you will see I was at 5 weeks and still having some minor issues and being very careful.
Jeff
Excerpt at 5 weeks:
"Update 2/14/2011 - 5 weeks, Leaking has increased to about
20 ml/day. Just a little cramping pain if sitting in the car or on a couch with soft cushions.
I'm at 5 weeks - still shy of the recommended 6-8 weeks of no lifting. The AdVance sling takes that long to knit into the tissue. It is not screwed into the bone.
Two weeks ago I was at about
5-10 ml/day. Last week, I had a few days where my leak was in the 10-15 ml/day range. Now I am at the 15-20 ml day. Is this a trend?
My capacity has grown to 400ml. Typically I will go at 300 ml. I'm not just measuring pee pads and the volume and time of each urination event. I'm also keeping track of how long the event takes! Now there's a Mettler balance, a data log book, a pee catch container and a Kodak timer in the kitchen. (My poor, poor, loving wife. Note to self- Pick up an extra box of chocolates today.)
A typical event takes 2 full minutes. It seems like forever. If I ever pee outside again I'll need put on sunscreen! It takes 10 seconds for the flow to start. Then a full 90 seconds to put out 300 ml. I keep a copy of 'The Economist'
open on the back of the toilet to read while going. Then, I have to do light kegels and wiggles for 20 seconds so I don't walk out with wet undies. Two minutes! Heck, that's almost as long as it used to take me for s*x."