leaking

Jacq50,

Welcome to the forum. We have lots of ladies here posting about their husbands' problems and offering advice to other ladies about their husbands. You'll fit right in. Sorry you need to be here but glad you found us. Hope we can help.

I must admit your question confuses me a bit. He still has his catheter but is leaking... ? The purpose of the catheter is to drain the bladder constantly, a process over which a man has no control. That part isn't "leaking" it is "draining" and it is expected. When I had my catheter I would sometimes leak around it -- when I stood up after getting out of bed a small amount of urine would drip outside the tube for a few minutes. That was "leaking" I suppose, is that the kind of leaking you are talking about?

Also you should call his urologist about the pelvic floor exercises. Most (all?) surgeons prefer that the patient wait until after the catheter comes out to start those.

Tell him not to freak out if he is incontinent when the catheter comes out. Most guys are for a while. A few are dry right away. The majority are dry at three months. Most are dry at a year, and those guys who still leak after a year will need to talk to their doctor about fixing the problem.

When he goes in to get the catheter out be sure to take a pair of the high-absorbancy incontinence underwear -- Depends is one brand -- because the smaller pads may not be enough. If he turns out not to need them they can be donated to a local charity (most food banks will take them). It is way, way better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.

So, if you would, tell us about the leaking that is worrying him and call his doctor about the Keagle exercises and ask when they should be started.

We'll be here. Keep us posted.

Hi Jacq,

I understand completely about the leaking - even with the catheter in place. I did too.
The catheter is more complicated than a simple pipe. It has a balloon on the end that goes inside the bladder. It is filled with about 20-25 ml of saline to hold it in place, prevent it from falling out, and stop leaks.
There is a fine line between too much or two little saline: too much and he will have bladder spasms; too little and he will leak.

When he has it removed, just for fun ask the nurse how much saline was in the balloon. Mine only had 15ml. I'll bet his is around there.

It will get better. Really!
Good luck!
Jeff

Hi, Jacq50.

When I had my catheter removed, they did not check to see if I could urinate or not. They sent me home, and I did need the Depends. In fact, I think I went through about 5 or 6 of them that first day. Paradoxically, the first few times I went into the bathroom to try and urinate, nothing would come out. I had read on here that could happen, so I wasn't too worried about it. Finally, after about 5 hours, I was able to get a stream. I suspect that if it goes too long without being able to go, that his doctor should be notified; but I think it is quite normal for it to take a while for the parts to start working again.

I was not one of the fortunate ones that was dry right away. I was still using a heavy pad 3 months after surgery, that would fill up by the end of the day. After about 8 months I was down to a medium pad per day; unless I had to lift something heavy. That gave me a lot of trouble for the first year - lifting heavy objects. Finally, by the end of the first year, I was down to a light pad. And now, 2 years and 5 months after surgery, I still wear a light pad daily just for the occasional squirt. It doesn't happen every day; but I just feel more at ease having it there. The light ones can hardly be felt, so it's not a bother wearing it.

Every man's journey with this beast is different. Would I like to be completely continent now? Certainly! But I will take the light pad every day, knowing that I got the producer of the cancer out of me. And with my pathology stats; I am grateful that I am still in the Zero club; and can complain every now and again about having to wear the pad. Yes; it does still grate at me that I have to wear it; but then I think about how much worse it could have been, and I am able to be thankful again.

One thing that did help me tremendously was the support my wife gave me through the whole ordeal (and still does!). Be there for him to be a listening ear. Encourage him; maybe even rebuke him on occasion, when needed. More and more I hear from other survivors of this beast who say they could not have made it through without the support of their loved ones. You are an integral part of the healing process. This disease does not just effect the man. It attacks the entire family. But; as a family; you can make it to the other side.

Let us know how he does. And never be afraid to ask questions!

-Bob

P.S. It might be helpful if you could give us some of the details of your husband's diagnosis. What was his PSA prior to surgery? What was his Gleason score - both clinical and pathological. How many cores were taken in his biopsy, and how many were cancerous? That sort of thing. If you look at my signature you can get an idea of what it should look like.

Hi everyone.

Just to let you know that my husband successfully had his catheter removed yesterday but it was a bit of a disaster when he got back from the hospital, as they had insisted on him drinking litres and litres of water to make sure his bladder emptied, so for the next 12 hours we had floods everywhere even though he was wearing the night time pads. I don't know what Depends are because we are in the UK. Anyway last night he looked suicidal before he went to bed and I was awake half the night worrying about him. Anyway today has been a different day, he has reduced the amount of liquid to one and half litres which is the minimum the hospital say he can drink and the night time pad has lasted for 8 hours.
He says he has no feeling in his bladder but has started the pelvic floor exercises as instructed by the hospital.

Just before he had his op his PSA was 7.8 it had been as high as 10 but after going on Lycopene which is a concentrated tomato tablet his PSA went down. He had a biopsy last year and out of the 5 samples they took only 1 had 5% cancer, so they have been watching and waiting for about 9 months.
Due to the pressure from his doctor, he decided to go on the waiting list in May.
He wont know the results of the biopsy on his prostrate until his appointment next month.

I am sorry I don't know all the jargon about his results to give you

l

Hi sorry to hear that you and your hubby have to be here but welcome. I too leaked very bad while I had my cath in, I had it in for 30 days! I don't wish that on anyone. Glad his is out and yes I leaked around the tube...the cath did remove some but much came out the sides.

I am now at almost 11 months post surgery and still incontenent. I have also just recently found. Out at my PCa is back my PSA has risen and now I will soon be going through seven weeks of radiation. After. I am done with that I will look into fixing the leaking because it is no fun at all. All the best and good luck ,

We told you he'd probably leak like an open faucet and he did. The good news there is we also told you most men don't leak forever. Tell him we promise it will get better. Everyone gets better. A few of us don't get better enough.

Your night pads might be the same as our "Depends" here in the US. They are a pair of waterproof underwear with a big wad of superabsorbant stuff bonded to the front part. The pads that stick inside of a pair of ordinary jockey shorts are often not enough right after the catheter comes out, even if they say they are "high" or "maximum" absorbancy.

Jacq,

Here is a video that talks about some of the ED issues after surgery.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie8NkOu2VNA

It is by doctor John Mulhall who treats a number of men on this forum for the sexual side-effects of prostate cancer treatments.

The video is a few years old but holds up well. Since he made it some new results have come in and he might say different things to day about a few subjects. (Vacuum devices have proven rather more helpful than he suggests, for instance).

Jac50,

I had removal in Early May. Had some leakage with cath. I am 6'4" and my gland was large. At my second Post op Uro visit I was using approx 5 pads a day. I work in the construction industry so I was leaking every time I strained or lifted heavy objects. At last visit, Dr suggested I should be seeing some progress in countenance. He must have great power of suggestion because it was not long after I was staying dry. I still wear the Depends Briefs with a pad while working but 99% time I am dry. When not working I wear a pad. The pads doesn't always catch the occasional squirt but overall I am very pleased where I am at this time. It will take some time for your Hubby to get comfortable with the new him. It was a a mystery each time I went to the bathroom. Didn't know which direction the stream would be going. Many messes to clean up but know it is much better. It gets better for most. Let it take its course and follow Dr's directions.