reality of post op surgery ?

Denis:

My surgery was on a Tuesday--walked into the hospital that morning, I was in the OR about noon, and in post-anesthesia by 4 pm. That night in the hospital, I had one shot of pain meds by IV, and I think I had one percoset that morning, and the second as they were getting me in the wheelchair to head down for discharge.

At home, I recall taking 1 percoset that night, and one next morning. After that, it was an occasional naproxen for the next couple of days. The most painful thing was the foley, and a dab of lidocaine gel from time to time took care of that.

Denis,
Everyone has a someowhat different experience. In my case...

The first two days were very tough getting in and out of bed (sore stomach muscles). Luckily i rented a recliner - highly recommended.
By day 3 that issue was immensely improved.

The other pain issue i had was not related to the incisions (robotic) but to the gas that they pump into your abdomen to blow it up, so they have a bigger area to work in. That was exruciating at times. It traveled into my shoulders and chest, and if i hadnt been warned about this by some of the guys here, i would have thought i was having a heart attack. (partly because thats how i think :-( ).

Aside from that, i did take a pain pill the first night, but after that, nada, didnt need it. I took GasX OTC pills to relieve the gas, and walked alot. You will want to walk ALOT.

Other than that, i had no pain. Cath was not a big deal, it was very annoying, but not painful.
My surgery was on a Tuesday, i was his 3rd surgery of the day, so i didnt get back to my room until about 6 pm. By midnight i was doing slow laps around the hospital ward, a little bent over, but moving under my own power, with the aid of the IV pole.

On Wednesday, i had some issues with the drain, it was still draining alot. But by 7 pm it was much better, and by 9pm, i was in the car on the way home. Bring an inflatable donut to sit on. You'll need it, especially if you are going
over bumpy roads.

On Friday, i was walking about 1 mile a day, on my treadmill and i slowly increased that, to about a mile and a half a day.

It was amazing how quickly things improved from day to day.

On day 10, i went to the doctors office and had the nurse pull the catheter, Glory Hallelujah!!!. I felt like a new man, and healing really sped up.

Bring some pads with you to the doctor, not everyone needs them, but most do at first. I soaked through the pads while in the doctors office waiting for them to clear me (they make you drink a ton of water, then test to see if you are emptying your bladder without the catheter). But i was fully continent at the end of week 5. So if you soak through like i did, dont let it bother you.

My brother is a sportswriter and one week after his RP he was covering a hockey match in the arena (home game) and going to the locker room for interviews while he still had his catheter in.

Dennis,

You are worrying about the wrong thing.

Post-op pain can be annoying -- while she was waiting for them to wheel me to my room my wife reported that she could hear me swearing in the elevator three floors below -- but it doesn't last forever and it won't blight your life. What you should be worrying about is potency and continence. Those are the gifts that keep on giving.

Denis - 6 weeks post op here and virtually no pain at all. The first night int the hospital I needed medication and I took one for the ride home because I had a 2 1/2 hour ride. I didn't need it, but took it just because I felt i should. Once I got home I took nothing more than aspirin for a few days and then was fine. Again I don't think I needed the aspirin, but took it just to be sure. In those 6 weeks I only had one other time I took a purcocet and that was because I was having severe lower right abdomen pain that extended into my groin and buttocks. One day, one pill done.

Toughest part for me was getting to a point where I had consistent bowel movements. That took about a week and then I've been good since.

Some pain in recovery until they got meds adjusted. Only Tylenol after release from hospital. Some discomfort from catheter until it was removed 8 days following surgery. I had two complete knee replacements in the previous 12 months. If the pain from these surgeries were in the 4-5 range, the prostate surgery was in the 2 range.

Thanks, everyone, my approach to be knowledgeable and hopefully not too surprised. I cannot take pain meds unless in very extreme cases, so I need to be prepared and will discuss with my doc. I get everyone has a different experience and pain tolerance. I am not worried about the pain just need to get my head settled after reading this one book. Your shared experience seems to be manageable.

I am a mover, I seldom sit for very long so I am sure the walking will be a gift for me. Be well everyone. One more step in the journey! Denis

Denis,
After my surgery I was sore - like after doing a lot of sit-ups. You and I have similar thinking about pain meds. I still have some of the meds left over, and that was 8 years ago.
As you know from the gathering I am very active. I don't sit still. My biggest "pain" was forgetting about my catheter and overnight bag and getting it caught on things. I'd be sitting at the kitchen table and get up to do something and - Yank!
My solution was to put the bag in a 2 gallon plastic bucket that I suspended from a camera strap over my shoulder. I then put another strap around my waist to keep the assembly close to my body. It looked ridiculous, but worked.
I was miserable the first two nights and found the pain meds helped falling asleep. I was done with them after a few days.
I also walked a lot, maybe too much the first day or two. I recall immediately walking to the park across the street with my bucket and belt assembly and getting woozy from too much activity. I backed off after that.
After a couple of days I figured out that i should be drinking a lot of water. With the 2 liter catheter bag I didn't have to get up to pee! It was wonderful!
I made a loop in the catheter line to act like a bacteria trap and taped it to my thigh, I imagined bugs getting into the line every time I changed the bag. It also acted like a quick release when, not if, I forgot about the bag.
Honestly, you will do fine with this part. The side effects will be your big worry. Mine were worse because I elected surgery when I was so far along, (PSA 23). The surgeon told me he "had to cut wide" to get it all. That SE caused problems, but on the other hand, my PSA has been <0.02 for 8 years so odds are very good (97%) he really did get it all.
I'll take it.

Jeff

The surgery itself was a piece of cake, easiest surgery I ever had, except for the post op catheter and hemorrhoids which popped up. Those 2 surgery related problems made the recovery pretty stressful. But as far as the recovery from the cutting itself, and post op pain/nausea etc, piece of cake.

Now when it comes to the year or so to regain enough continence to go without pads, and the total loss of sex life, IOW some of the longer lasting or even permanent SEs/results of the surgery, that is a different story. If that is counted, then the worst surgery I ever had. But if you don't mind the possible perm. SEs, then I'd say go for the surgery- easy peasy. For me anyway.

I do remember I was really, really sore on 1 side, like someone had hit me with a baseball bat. But I was just very careful with that side for a week or so, and took very few pain pills. Just not a big deal. If it had not been for the roids and catheter, I probably would have been back hiking rough trails in the woods within a few days. Even with those problems, I was walking my neighborhood as soon as I got home from Nashville, 4 hours away. We stayed up there for a couple of days just in case, and I was walking laps around the halls of the hotel multiple times a day, the day after surgery, with very little pain as long as I was careful with my side and catheter. Easy!

Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 10/27/2017 10:20:42 AM (GMT-6)

After about 1- or 2-days have gone by back at home, you will find yourself saying, "That wasn't so bad."

The physical pain will diminish very quickly.

-Norm

Post Edited (NKinney) : 10/26/2017 1:45:43 PM (GMT-6)

I talked about the physical aspect in a reply, above. Physical will seem easy. It's rare that someone asks about the psychological aspects after surgery. You didn't specify, so I'll fill you in on both.

A report titled "Quality of Life after Radical Prostatectomy" helps give appropriate insight. Data was collected a minimum of 12-months post-surgery. You already know the stats of the functional aspects of post-RP (incontinence, ED, etc.) which were re-reported in this study...but what was more interesting were the psychological aspects.

In summary, after at least 1-year, between 1/3 and 1/2 of RP patients experienced these issues:
* Low or moderate subjective quality of life
* Low or moderate psychological well-being
* Moderate or high depression
* Moderate or high worry
* Low or moderate physical well-being
* Decreased general physical capacity (> 1/2 of respondents)
* Moderate or great distress from compromised sexuality (> 1/2 of respondents)

Treatment regret (I think I'd call that another post-RP psychological aspect) was not discussed in this report, but has been discussed from published reports in other recent threads.

Great question. Better for men to be fully prepared for all aspects, and to make sure their aggressive treatment is really needed. Hopefully, other newcomers will also benefit from your thread...

Post Edited (NKinney) : 10/26/2017 1:48:31 PM (GMT-6)

See my summary link in signature below. I was 41 and in otherwise excellent health when I had my surgery, if that matters.

Gedman