HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Welcome new member BW64 -- Trouble with his new sling

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 7/22/2014 12:03 PM (GMT 0)
Found a first-time post in a long-running thread. I am starting this thread for him so folks can say hello without scrolling through lots of comments from 2008.

BW64 said...
New to forum. 68 yrs. old. Had prostate surgery in Dec 09. AMS surgery 7/15/14. Left with catheter. Saw Dr. next day for removal at 9am. Peed & all was well. Went home & within 4 hours my scrotum was the size of a grapefruit. Went back. Cath. back in for 5 more days. Told I had a leak. Dr. said they scoped me before I left OR & all was well. Dr. had emergency & cancelled appt. on Mon. Now waiting for Wed. to get cath. removed. So far not a happy camper. Touch of arthritis in left hip so I can't sleep on left side. Pain meds. help but constipate me. Beginning to rethink my decision.

Welcome to the forum. Sorry you have troubles but glad you found us.
Posted 7/23/2014 6:58 PM (GMT 0)
Update: Well back from the Dr. Now he wants a voiding cystocope done. Wants to make sure there are no leaks in uretera I guess. This is becoming a real PITA!!!! If I had any idea this was in store I never would have had the AMS done. I was only trying to make life a little better without pads & this is what I get.


BW
Posted 7/26/2014 1:27 AM (GMT 0)
Had my test this morning & saw the Dr. this afternoon. Catheter is out & all is well so far. Burns to pee but dry!!

BW
Posted 7/26/2014 5:08 PM (GMT 0)
OK So now I have a urinary tract infection!!!! They told me to drink lots of water but every time I drink I have to PEE FIRE!!!!! Burns like hell! I know one thing.........I would never do this if I knew what would happen! This is horrible. I'm healthy as a horse & all this crap is happening!!




BW
Posted 7/26/2014 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
If you have a UTI you need an antibiotic. After taking the antibiotic the pain will go away quickly.

Call the doctor if he hasn't given you one. The pain is too great without them, I know!

Bill from Florida cool
Posted 7/28/2014 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
OK New problems. Had to go to RE yesterday. Urine backup. Doubled over in pain. Drained 800ml. Put in catheter AGAIN!!! Showing up at Dr's office tomorrow at 8am with no appt. ER doc said remove cath within 48 hours! Here we go again!!


BW
Posted 7/28/2014 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
Urgh. Sorry you are having such a rough time.
Posted 7/28/2014 3:55 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you. Let's hope I get some better news tomorrow. I just have visions of having a catheter for the rest of my life!! :(

BW
Posted 7/28/2014 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
Update: Dr visit. Catheter back in for another week. :(


BW
Posted 8/5/2014 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
Update: Dr visit today. Nurse put 200 ml in my bladder & I got 170 ml out. Great!! Catheter is gone. YEA!!!!! Hopefully for good. Going fairly steady with minimal burning or straining. Feels good. Dry so far!!


BW
Posted 8/5/2014 3:47 AM (GMT 0)
It's about time you brought us some good news. We've been waiting here...

Keep it coming...
Posted 8/5/2014 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks. I've been waiting also. 30 minute walk today & just a little damp spot. Incision is healing well. Very little discomfort. Hope to be able to get in my truck in a few more days. Had my doubts for a while there.


BW
Posted 8/11/2014 4:00 AM (GMT 0)
Sigh!! Well so much for being dry. Just sitting watching tv & I can feel it leaking. :( 4 weeks post op.




BW
Posted 8/11/2014 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
BW,

It's been kind of a busy four weeks for your sphincter. You might give it a bit more time to recuperate from your recuperation before you get too depressed.
Posted 8/12/2014 2:12 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry to hear about all you've been through with this. Here's hoping everything's easy from here on. If the sling works well for you I think you'll eventually decide it was all worthwhile. Life's too short to live with incontinence.

I'm sure your doc told you, but make sure you go REAL easy for the next 6 weeks. Those guys aren't kidding about that stuff. The last thing you want to do after all you've been through is to pull that sling loose. Easy does it.

Best,

Jonathan
Posted 8/13/2014 12:44 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks guys for the pep talk. I guess I'm rushing things a little. I'm not used to being down this long. I heal very quickly & I'm very active so I'm expecting good things.


BW
Posted 8/22/2014 3:04 AM (GMT 0)
Well since my last post nothing has changed. I sit in the chair all day & wait for 9:30 so I can go to bed. Still leaking more than a pad a day! Guess it didn't work. Appt. on Monday. I think it will be my last one with him. Not what I expected.


BW
Posted 8/22/2014 11:06 AM (GMT 0)
BW,

The success rate for slings is in the mid-seventy percent range. It's starting to sound like you may be that one guy out of four for whom it fails to meet its objective.

I read back through your thread here and I don't see where you characterized your pre-sling leaking. Does your more than one pad a day leaking constitute an improvement? On days when I am really active I use three to five pads a day... but I have days where I am really active.

Right now I am travelling on business and am staying in a (mildly seedy) hotel in the financial district in Manhattan. Yesterday after work several of us walked across the Brooklyn bridge, found a rather nice place to eat on the other side and walked back. The only problem with the restaurant we chose was that it only had one restroom and there seemed to be someone camping out in there so I didn't get my after supper pee. Since I leak when I walk I did the Guards-inside-the-Depends thing and, while I was pretty soggy when I got back to my hotel room I made it fine.

My point is that you really don't need to sit in your chair waiting for bed time. Your results are depressing and you are depressed about it. Fine. You're entitled. Feel free to vent. Its good for you. But depression is a treatable condition in its own right and if you could make it to one of our GFMPH gatherings we could show you lots of leaky old men having themselves quite a time.

The next gathering is in upstate New York a little more than a month from now, or there is one in Louisiana in the spring. My email works, write me for details if you are intetrested.
Posted 8/22/2014 5:58 PM (GMT 0)
Pre sling leakage was one pad a day but not full unless I was very active. My Dr. said no problem getting me dry. I'm getting edgy because I have a hunting trip on Oct 4th & I'll be in close quarters with 2 good friends that don't know about my leakage. I'm not a very public person so only a handful of people know about it. Some of my family doesn't even know. I know about the depression thing it's just annoying that I try to make life a little better & get slapped in the face for it. As with the prostate surgery I ended up being a leaker. One fortunate thing is I have a very understanding & faithful(I hope) wife. She has taken good care of me for the past few weeks without a complaint. Guess she has the Italian mother genes. I plan on living a lot longer but I didn't want it like this.
Posted 8/22/2014 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know if you read any of "worried Guy's" (Jeff) posts about his sling experience but he made an interesting point. Right after surgery, before you start resuming psychical activity, your sling will be at it's tightest allowing the least amount of leakage. It doesn't get better it can only stay the same or get worse. Knowing this his did as little as possible as far as staining or picking anything up and kept his sling tight until it was healed, 4-6 weeks? Anyway he got a great result. According to him the "break in" procedure is crucial. Perhaps your implant doctor didn't explain this as well as his doctor did with him? Based on this, you may now have the best that you will get from this implant. At only one pad per day you may still gain some dryness from incontinence physical therapy?
Posted 8/26/2014 3:18 PM (GMT 0)
Saw my Dr. yesterday & he's stumped. He said the top Dr. in the country for AMS assisted him with my sling & they can't figure out why I'm not dry & why I had the leak that filled my scrotum. He said I can go back to normal activities. Time to sight in the rifle.


BW
Posted 8/29/2014 3:23 PM (GMT 0)
Well I'm back to normal activities and........................now I'm up to 2 pads a day. :( Can't wait to see what happens when I play golf!!


BW
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply