Da Vince scheduled. Drain or no drain.

Well, here I go. Robotic surgery scheduled for January 15th. I thought I had researched everything, even watched several procedures on YouTube. But then got blindsided by the Urologist when he said he won't be inserting a post-op drain. So blindsided I didn't even ask him why. So, anybody know why some surgeons do and don't use one for a prostatectomy?

Thanks psa3dot7. I'm sure there are good chiropractors out there, but this guy is a nut. He thinks anything can be solved, even cancer, with the supplements he sells and spinal adjustments. Again, I'm not knocking all chiropractors.

I had a drain, six incisions, surgery done in Sweden. Removal of the drain was the most painful process of the whole hospital stay. Unfortunately the young lady forgot to remove the stich holding the tube in place and tugged on it. Once I pointed the stich out she removed it and started pulling again slowly. I thought I would go through the ceiling, told her to stop. We discussed the removal process and I was informed that sometimes a vacuum formed causing pain on removal, no kidding. I asked her to stand back, took the tube and pulled it out in one quick fluid motion. It was extremely painful for a sec or two.
So... If there is a safe "no drain" option I certainly would have gone for it, in hindsight only.

Cheers, Doug

I was walking up and down the 100-yard long hallway the day after my surgery when I suddenly had fluid running down my legs. Fortunately, my wife (who happens to be an R. N.), came out of the elevator just as this was happening and hustled me into a nearby men's room, where she re-did the dressing on the JP Drain as best she could. The nursing staff was pretty useless, and if I didn't have the good fortune to be married to an R. N., the drain would have continued to leak.

On the morning I was to be discharged, I had again walked to the far end of the corridor and returned to find my bed made up. My CPAP mask was gone. The surgical kit my uro had placed on the bedside stand the night before that he intended to use to remove the JP drain was also gone, as was a card my grandchildren had hand-made for me. When I asked what was going on, I was informed that the patient (me) had been discharged and was no longer in the room. Well, that was a surprise.

After I re-established the fact that I was still present, my wife and my uro came in, and together they removed the JP drain (a weird feeling, but certainly not painful).

All that aside, I can't imagine how I could have gotten by without the drain. It removed a lot of fluid. That incision continued to ooze fluid for several days after I was discharged.

Hi All,

T+12 days since RALP. I had a drain that was removed about 24 hours after surgery when I was discharged. A total of 30cc of blood/fluid came out of the drain. My surgeon's Physicians Assistant removed the drain tube. He just pulled it out in one big sweeping motion. It did hurt some as I had a tender belly, but mostly it was a wierd feeling. The thing felt like it was a meter long. No issues after drain removed.

And, 22 hours after the catheter was removed, I have only leaked a small spurt of urine on getting out of my low slung sports car on the way home from getting the catheter removed!!!

All of you men and your loved ones are in my prayers daily. This forum has been a big help to me and has armed me with the information that I needed to know.

Best Regards, ScientificLifestyle (Pat)

--------------------------------------------------
Pre-op T1c, PSA=1, negative DRE, Gleason 6 (3+3) 3 cores of 14 positive,super strong family history of early onset aggressive PC.
RALP in Kaiser San Francisco 18 Dec 2014 Nerve sparing Dr A. Martinez
One positive margin, but additional tissue taken with no cancer in that area.
PNI inside capsule, no extra capsule cancer found
5% of post surgical prostate examined has G6 (3+3), No Upgrading!! Post surgery T2c
Almost completely dry <24 hours post catheter removal
Willy works

I didn't have a drain, no issues.

I read that my surgeon uses a drain, in the "what to expect" material his office gave me.After reading this thread, I'm expecting removal to be disturbing, at best.

Pratoman, you're funny! Clocknut, I hope I never end up in your hospital.

Well, it looks 50/50 with this drain thing, so I'm not going to sweat it. Good to hear that those that didn't have it, did fine.

I had a drain too. A little pain. The drain was actually removed by a "rookie" nurse. I was her first and she was so scared she was going to hurt me. But she passed with flying colors. The most unusual part of the whole procedure was seeing her pull from the incision and feeling movement about six inches away.

I had a drain after surgery. I dimly remember waking up and having to pee, so I wanted to get up to pee and was fighting the nurses, they would not let me get up and darn it I was going to get up. During the battle I pulled my drain a little or opened the valve, it was messy. They told me I was out of surgery, and I asked them "I already had the surgery?" Yes. "Oh"... That ended the battle. My wife came in and saw the blood and mess I created and I remember the nurse pointing at me saying "He did that" Oops! I apologized the next day

Getting the drain removed is no big deal