robotic surgery

hello brothers

newbie here, not familiar with abbreviations but will get more educated on them..

age 57

PSA 5.4

biopsy 9 of the 12 were cancer with the right side being over 80% and decreasing as the biops moved to the left.

Gleason 3+4

da vinci robotic surgery set for jan. 20...

concerns for the unknown...(catheter especially)...

This forum helped me with my decision on having the surgery, thanks for all who post..

Urologist (surgeon) says two week recovery, hope he is right..

Welcome to HW, sorry you need to be talking to us.

You'll do just fine. The thought of the catheter is sometimes worse than actually having it. Certainly no fun but something you can get through.

With your numbers I guess you're likely in the curable zone. In a couple of years this will all just be a bad memory.

Keep us updated on your progress. We're here most days if you have other questions.

Andrew

Yes, at least two weeks of recovery and a little longer for most of us to get back to a normal routine. Catheter is a pain, but when they take it out you will remember that day forever. In a good way. Keep us posted.
Michael

You'll do well.......Just remember the catheter will be out within the first two weeks. Once it's out, your recovery is almost complete.

I'm about 10 weeks post op and very similar to Stay+. Just walk as much as you can tolerate, drink plenty of water to flush your system and listen to your body. If you feel tired, take a nap.

Keep us updated with your progress and questions.

Tailwinds.........Berk

REDCAN

As others have said, fear of the catheter is normal because who wants something protruding out of their Johnson? But I found it to be no big deal. Just do your daily cleansing and lubricating and you should be fine. I only had the large bag and basically wore sweat pants for the 13 days it was in. When showering you just act like it's an appendage (Tail!) and be careful not to step on it LOL! At night I just let it hang off the side of the bed. One thing that may happen, and it's normal, is that when straining while having a BM, blood and urine may leak around the catheter and shoot out on the floor! Yuk! Just hold some TP over your Johnson to catch it. If the surgeon does a good job reconnecting the urethra and bladder, it will heal quickly and will be able to be taken out in no time. But don't remove it too early!!! If you're still seeing blood in the bag it's not time to remove the catheter!
Bob

Redcan,

Since nobody has mentioned the most important thing to do in preparation for your surgery I suppose it falls to me. After surgery you won't be allowed to move furniture for six weeks. For God's sake make sure your recliner offers a good view of the TV before you go. A recliner-side table for the remote and a place to put a plastic pail where you can put your catheter bag are also required.

If you do that you'll be fine.

Hey there
I am 10 weeks post surgery. The catheter is not totally awful its just not pleasant at first. Towards the end of the time its in you kinda get used to it. Just keep it clean and lubed. There's a bunch of threads from November where there was about a half dozen of us going through surgery. We all came out of it ok.

2 weeks seems pretty aggressive for recovery. Sure you can go back to work but your energy will be pretty low and you cant move without some discomfort. Plan on twice that long and 8 weeks till you really feel close to normal.

The whole thing will a blur and really its not that bad. Before you leave the hospital they will pull your abdominal drain, it feels kinda strange, no pain just strange. That's pretty similar to getting the cath pulled. Alot of guys are nervous about this, including me.

Make sure you have a recliner, it will be your friend for at least a week

Good luck and keep us posted

Red- Welcome to this unfortunate brotherhood. Just a ditto on a few of the other comments. Yes to stool softer and pain meds. I carried my cath around in a small bucket because I was paranoid it would slide out! Humorous with hind sight. There is no better feeling in the world then the day it comes out! Do kegals now and as soon as you can post op(when the doc says you can), and get on VED as soon as he allows it. Best Regards Inkhorn

Redcan,

You may want to read my surgery recap (link below) for an idea of what to expect. Bottom line, they give you anesthesia, deep nap, wake up and it's all over.

Best of luck.

-Gedman

Update on day4 post op. bowels finally back to something approaching normal, the bloat is mostly gone. getting used to the logistics of the catheter, still feels like i got to pee all the time, hopefully that will fade a bit more. had a bit of a shock last night while doing catheterr cleaning and maintenenance, noticed my willy had swollen up and was purple with blood drainage, scotum swelled up too with some discoloration. freaked me out, but got on the horn with the doc and he said not to worry as long as the catheter was still flowing and no fresh blood. Phew. would have appreciated that info in the post-op what to expect discussion. Anyway feeling pretty good today, still sore at thee portal sites, but mostly off the vicodan, stilll take one at night to help sleep. Anxiously awaiting next friday for the catheter removal and the path results. like lotsahope i am hoping for clean margins and negative biopsy on the nodes.

thanks for the support guys, good thoughts on the pathology.

chattybill

Redcan74,

Welcome to the club. Like all of us, you did not ask to join but here you are. I am 52 years old with general good health. I was diagnosed with PC in September of 2013 and I had the robotic prostatectomy on 11/5/2013. My pre-op biopsy showed 4 of 12 nodes positive for Gleason 3+4. Luckily, my surgeon was able to spare both nerve bundles. He removed the prostate and lymph nodes. Post-op biopsy showed negative for spread beyond the prostate capsule which is what you will want. Also two weeks ago I had my first post-op PSA which was 0.

Regarding the operation, for me, now it is an afterthought. I every goes like it goes for the average, you'll spend the night in the hospital and wake up with little pain. The catheter will be something more inconvenient that painful. Actually very little pain until they take it out which will be intense pain for 1 second. Really. Wish all pain lasted that long. Anyway, I would start the kegels and walking/running right away to strength your pelvic floor muscles prior to the operation.

In my case, I got my first erection (manually stimulated) the 20th day after the operation. The continence is another issue. For the first two months I averaged two to three pads per day. All of a sudden, these past three days I am down to one with little leakage. Hope I keep improving. Hang in there. This is one of the cancers that can be beat if you catch it on time which seems to be your case. Stay positive and post any questions on this forum. For sure you will get answers to you questions and a little perspective and reality check along with it.

Regards,

Ivan

REDCAN74 said...
hello brothers


newbie here, not familiar with abbreviations but will get more educated on them..



age 57

PSA 5.4

biopsy 9 of the 12 were cancer with the right side being over 80% and decreasing as the biops moved to the left.

Gleason 3+4

da vinci robotic surgery set for jan. 20...

concerns for the unknown...(catheter especially)...



This forum helped me with my decision on having the surgery, thanks for all who post..

Urologist (surgeon) says two week recovery, hope he is right..

If you've ever had an IV inserted into your wrist/hand, you know that there is really no pain associated with it. I always assumed it had to be horribly painful. But after having my first IV inserted a couple years ago, I found that it is simply a needle occupying the same space as one of my veins. Hence no real sensation.

The same holds true with a catheter. It simply occupies the urethra and is not actually piercing anything. Hence, there really is NO pain at all, at least in my own experience.

After a few days, you might experience a bit of irritation at the tip where it exits the body, but you'll be given a jell that relieves this immediately.

So, be aware that you really won't even feel the catheter. And as an added bonus, you can drink as much as you please without worrying about running to the bathroom every 5 minutes. I kind of enjoyed that. LOL

Another thing you might be concerned with is removing the catheter. When the nurse at Mayo removed mine, it took about one second and was over before I even knew it. I then realized, moments later, that it was completely painless.

So you should do just fine. :)

Chuck

Resident of Highland, Indiana just outside of Chicago, IL.
July 2011 local PSA lab reading 6.41 (from 4.1 in 2009). Mayo Clinic PSA Sept. 2011 was 5.7.
Local urologist DRE revealed significant BPH, but no lumps.
PCa Dx Aug. 2011 at age of 61.
Biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma in 3 of 20 cores (one 5%, two 20%). T2C.
Gleason score 3+3=6.
CT of abdomen, bone scan both negative.
DaVinci prostatectomy 11/1/11 at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), nerve sparing, age 62.
My surgeon was Dr. Matthew Tollefson, who I highly recommend.
Final pathology shows tumor confined to prostate.
5 lymph nodes, seminal vesicles, extraprostatic soft tissue all negative.
1.0 x 0.6 x 0.6 cm mass involving right posterior inferior,
right posterior apex & left mid posterior prostate.
Right posterior apex margin involved by tumor over a 0.2 cm length, doctor says this is insignificant.
Pathology showed Gleason 3 + 3, pT2c, N0, MX, R1
adenocarcinoma of the prostate.
Prostate 98.3 grams, tumor 2 grams. Prostate size 5.0 x 4.7 x 4.5 cm.
Abdominal drain removed the morning after surgery.
Catheter out in 7 days. No incontinence, occasional minor dripping.
Post-op exams 2/13/12, 9/10/12, 9/9/13 PSA <0.1. PSA tests now annual.
Firm erections now briefly happening in early mornings, 2 years post-op.

ChattyBill,

I had that bit with the purple and the swelling. I talked to my surgeon's nurse and she told me that it was a sign that I was on my feet too much and needed to spend more quality time with my recliner.

Seemed to work. Thank God for Netflix.