Artficial Urinary Sphincter installed Friday 4/11 Activated, now dry!!!!

Monday update -

Went to surgeons office to have the catheter removed. Got to the office 10 minutes before the appointment only to find out the appointment was for his OTHER OFFICE 10 miles away. Had to race over during morning rush hour traffic.

Had the catheter removed. Got to see Willie without the leash attached. He looked so small and sad. The Po Boys looked like one large rotten grapefruit, dark and swollen. Took the bandage off the upper incision. It was about 2 inches long running horizontally 2 inches below my navel, tender to the touch. The other incision was about 1" long vertically at the base of the scrotum. With the black and blue Po Boys, the whole package looked like a beat up prize fighter who loss the fight. The surgeon seemed happy with the progress so far. Doctors, they are in a world all their own. How could they be happy with that sight?

The swollen balls are the most uncomfortable feeling. Very difficult to get comfortable while sitting. I rode to and from the doctors's sitting on a large bed pillow, adjusting the fit every couple of miles. I live about 1 hour north of Miami, and his office is in N. Miami so it took an hour one way to get to and from his office. When I moved to adjust my seat, my stomach incision would hurt. My wife was driving my Hummer so it was hard getting in and out of the car also. That was still better than riding in her little Mazda Miata. I have a hard time squeezing my 6'1" body into her sports car on a good day.

I am glad I took the week off to recover from the surgery. It may take all that time for the swelling to go down some. I will have to work on finding the right padding in order to sit in a chair or car comfortably.

I continue with the frozen peas bag on my scrotum to help with the swelling. I don't see that it is helping but it gives me something to do that feels like it can only help.

I just heard on Dr. Oz that the best time of the day to have a surgery is 10:00 a.m. The doctor has time to warm up a little but not get tired and also it gives the patient time to recover some from the anesthesia after the surgery. My AUS surgery was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. But got backed up until 1:30 by previous surgery delays. Good to know!

Now the waiting begins. That has been my life the past 2 years. Waiting! Men are not known to be good about going to the doctor with our "problems". Actually, I have been better than average, I guess. But when we go, we have to wait.

1) wait to get the appointment to see the doctor

2) wait in the "waiting room" to see him. Why do they always make you wait 20-30 minutes more after you get to the office on time

3) wait for the PSA test

4) wait for the biopsy results

5) wait 6 weeks after your biopsy for your body to heal before having surgery

6) wait in the waiting room before be taken to pre-op

7) wait in pre-op to go to the operating room

8) wait to go home after surgery

9) wait for pharmacy to fill your pain meds prescription

10) wait for the pathology report

11) wait 3 months for your first post-op PSA test

12) wait for follow up PSA test, for me every 3 months

13) wait for side effects to go away

14) wait to see if additional treatment is necessary for the side effects or cancer to return

15) now I have to wait for the swelling to go down before I can get the AMS 800 activated

16) if that is not bad enough, I will be waiting 8-10 years to get a new 2022 AMS whatever model to be installed to replace the old one.

Don't even get me started talking about "Watchful Waiting".

Now I know why they are calling it Active Surveillance now!

The waiting is the hardest part........ As Tom Petty says!

Bill from a Florida

Big Mac, good luck with your procedure and all that goes with it.


Do me a favor and when you have me over for dinner, NO PEAS please.. ;)

Bill:

TINCTURE OF TIME

Mel

JCRush,
Looks like you have had a battle on your hands ever since your Da Vinci surgery. Happy to see you are in a downward trend lately. It all started with such a low PSA of 2.0 and a DX of 4+3=7 Gleason. I can't even imagine what your life has been like these last 3 years.

I see you live in Orlando, that is where I had my Da Vinci. I would find a new uro if I was you. Must be plenty of good ones there.

You show to be down to 1 pad as of 11/30/11. Is that the same now? If I was down to one pad I think I could live with that.

You have a lot on your plate dealing with recurrence. QOL is important. Sometimes we have to choose our battles. I had a slight rise in my PSA in January 2014 from undetectable to 0.1. That was my signal that I may have to deal with recurrence in the future. I remember being told that you want to be over the SE of surgery before dealing with additional treatments for recurrence because your SE will get cranked up again. I wanted to get the incontinence over should recurrence be in my future.

If you are only leaking a small amount, maybe an Advance Sling is in your future. Worried Guy Jeff can help you with advise on slings. My incontinence was too much to expect good results with a sling. My surgeon specializes in Bladder issues and he taught both my surgeon and my urologist at the University of Miami so I listened to him. He told me the AUS takes him the same length of time in surgery to install as a sling so why not get the AUS and expect much better results. I hope I did the right thing. Recovery feels worse than my DaVinci and the thought that I will NEVER pee again like I have all theses year pros really scared me.

But I keep going back to what my uro told me just after he said "You have prostate cancer". He said "From this moment on, your life is never going to be the same". Boy was he telling me the truth. The last 2 years have been a real roller coaster as you can relate with your last 3 years. You never know what is going to happen from PSA to PSA. So QOL is all you have to keep you sane. "To thine own self be true".
Do what you got to do and the hell with what others think.

I am honored that you posted on my thread. It is people like you that make me realize my battle is nothing compared to what my other brothers are fighting.

Be well my friend

Bill from Florida

No Mel,
I just go for an office visit and the doctor pushes a button on the controller and it is activated. At this point, the cuff that was installed around the urethra is in the open position during the healing process so I am leaking like normal now. When he pushes the button to activate the AUS, the cuff tightens up and shuts off the flow from the bladder.

The AUS consists of a cuff that clamps around the urethra with a hose that goes to the controller in my scrotum, then another tube from the controller that goes to a pressure regulating ballon. When you squeeze the controller, the fluid in the tube by the cuff empties into the ballon opening the cuff. After 30 seconds the fluid flows out of the ballon back into the tube closing the cuff.

Simple hyrdraulics but the cost is the same as a luxury car.

Bill from Florida

I understand perfectly. Now that we don't ejaculate semen we are now leaking urine. Not a good trade off.

As I said, QOL is important. Find a urologist who specializes in bladder issues and talk to the doctor to find what is best for you.

Bill from Florida

Hey Mike,
Thanks for checking in. I still have pains in the entire region. Scrotum still swollen, incisions hurt some especially the waist when I bend or squat. If I drop something, I try to get my wife to pick it up for me.
I find sitting in a chair difficult without a pillow under me.

We went out shopping today and I bring a pillow to sit on in the car. Strattling the pillow like a riding a horse feels more comfortable. Getting in and out of the car is a challenge. I am still not driving yet.

Have been napping in the afternoon which is something I don't usually do. I am most comfortable sleeping with a soft bed pillow between my legs as I lay on my side.

Slowly progressing in the BM department. I went for 4 days without having one. I have been taking milk of magnesia and stool softeners since after surgery. Diet has been rather bland, nothing too heavy.

My Da Vinci surgery went much smoother than the AUS but they just poked me full of holes rather than 2 inches of stitches in my gut and scrotum.

Regards,

Bill from Florida

Hi Jack,
I met you at GFMPH last month.

I had the swollen balls for 2 days after the DaVinci but that went away quickly. As I said before, no pain no gain, I guess.

Bill from Florida

Bill, glad to see you still have a sense of humor. Enjoyed your Monday update. I second the no peas for dinner. Good luck on your recovery and here's wishing you dry days ahead.

Bill,
I loved your "Waiting" thread. It is so true. And now you must wait for activation.

Did I hear someone say incontinence? Thatn always gets my attention.
JCRush - I get it. You leak during sex. Do you empty your bladder before you hit the sheets? Do you pee in the shower? Also try pushing on your perineum to force out the remaining drops.
If our leak is small the sling will very likely fix the dribble for you.
Here's to dry pants.
Jeff

Hi DYank,

Feeling about the same today as yesterday. I am sleeping well and napping during the day. Napping is something I don't do. My wife and I went out shopping yesterday and I was tired when I got home.

My wife suggested you stay home with your husband all week. She did a lot for me and around the house that gave me a chance to just rest. Something's as simple as picking up something I dropped. It is hard to bend or squat.

We filled out FMLA paperwork for my job "just in case" of any complications. My wife is a payroll manager an believes in preparing for the unexpected.

I have a long table next to my bed with all my meds, phone, IPad, laptop, tv remotes, lamp and reading material to avoid having to get up all the time to get something. My incision in my stomach hurts whenever I try to get out of bed so I try to avoid it as much as possible.

If your husband is spending the night at the hospital, they may remove the catheter before he goes home the next day. My surgery ended about 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday and I checked out of the hospital by 5:30. So I was stuck with the catheter for the weekend.nice not having to wear pads for the weekend. As I said in an earlier post, it hurt the first time I put underwear on with a large pad in it. I had some old Depends I had leftover when I stopped wearing them and I tried that but it hurt around the incision. I ended up using thin woman's pads that came around and covered the lower incision area also inside some low cut bikini underwear I had left over from pre-DaVinci days. That way the elastic band ended just under the stomach incision. Higher briefs would probably work also. The idea is to avoid rubbing the incision with the waistband of the underwear.

As I said, I am still not driving. I planned to go back to work Monday myself, giving me about 10 days off. But I am not sure I will make that timetable.

Hope that helps some. When is your husband having his AUS installed?

Bill from Florida

Mel,
You mean your wife doesn't?

My wife and I have both had several surgeries in the 20 years we have been together so we help each other get through it together.

Bill from Florida

Well, from my two time experience, sounds like everything is fairly normal.. big balls and all. Just got to wait out the six weeks. The activation time is really an easy thing. He presses the button, tells you to go drink a ton of h2o. come back in one hour and tries it out.

Then you go home and your free and clear. Mine is almost 4 years old and its great. Not perfect.. but a lot better than leaking every where.

Thanks for sharing

NEO