AMS 800

I joined the AUS AMS 800 club after surgery on September 4th. After having my prostate removed for a full year, the leakage never really improved. My Urologist recommended the AUS, and I took the plunge. Surgery took 2 hours. I spent the night in the hospital, with a catheter installed. Within a couple hours I was walking the hallway with my bag. I wasn’t than, or now in any pain. Getting up and down aches just a bit. I’m taking Tylenol, but even that doesn’t seem necessary. I binge watched 7 hours of Forged in Fire. At 6am the catheter came out. It took a lot of effort, but I was able to pee. My Doc arrived after breakfast to check his work, and tell me all went well. Warned me about lifting, and told me I could shower in 2days. Last night I still couldn’t sleep well. Up every couple of hours to pee, which was still a strain. So its even 48 since the surgery, and no issues getting around. I’m getting familiar with the pump. Making an effort tug on it, in order to keep it low. Very black and blue down there. Some swelling. Taking the Cipro to prevent infection, and the stool softener, hoping to make that process easier. I have an appointment in two weeks, and activation in four. I guess it used to be six or seven weeks, but now four is ok. So far so good. I’m posting my experience to reciprocate for all the good information I’ve received on this forum. Especially VinceMT. I would encourage anyone looking for more info on the procedure to search AMS 800 on YouTube. I will update as the days go by.

For the constipation maybe think about something that softens and is a stimulus as well ?
I get constipation regularly following my various ops and find lactulose based stuff works very good. I was on movicol a softener - but sometimes it just refuses to get me going. I went to a lactulose based preparation and it's works really good. Someone at ER at a hospital here in Oz recommended it. It's 'over the counter' so not overly potent.

Almost a week since surgery. I stopped taking Tylenol yesterday, and I never did use the OxyContin. All is well except for the difficulty with urination. No leakage at all, which I expected after the catheter came out. Hardly need a pad, since it takes such effort. I called Boston Scientific yesterday, and spoke to a very nice representative. I asked if it was possible to deactivate the AMS 800 while it is still partially closed. The answer is yes. When deactivated, the pump should have a recess or dimple. Mine doesn’t, as it’s fairly hard. My Urologist’s office never contacted me after the surgery, which seems like poor care to me. So, it was Monday before I was able to get an appointment for today, Tuesday. I’m hoping to get a good flow back before the gadget gets activated. That moment is still 22 days away.

It's two weeks since surgery. Incisions are pretty much healed. The silicon glue on the upper incision is slowly coming loose. I started using hydrocortisone 1% for the scrotum irritation. I wish I had tried using it sooner, as it really helped. That inflammation , swelling, and tenderness has been the worse part of this surgery for me. I think the hospital should have provided or suggested something for this. The incontinence is back to what it was before AUS. Ok sitting and sleeping, but leaking when vertical. Back to several pads a day. Urination flow is better, but still takes some effort to get it started. The pump seems to have found it's home, as tugging on it doesn't seem to make a difference. I keep checking it to feel for the dimples, which lets me know the state of de-activation hasn't changed. It's important that when you leave the hospital, the pump has some dimple to it. Otherwise, like me, you will be wondering what state the pump is in when urination is difficult. Sleeping still takes place in 2 hour increments. I'm up several times a night. Not because of the urge to go, as much as the irritation down there. I'm back to taking long and fast walks, up to 4 miles a day. Same as before the AUS surgery. Running, rowing and weight lifting are still out. I think it would be safe to try the rowing machine next week. Two weeks from today I will have the AUS activated.

The life of incontinence continues. I'm using up my last bundle of maxipads. Just two more days until activation of the AUS. After a month, I'm pretty much back to where I was before the AUS surgery Sept.4th. I'm happy that my surgeon does the activation after 4 weeks. I'm excited and have great expectations. Still a little tender at the pump site, but I have no problem doing a practice locate and squeeze.

OK. It's been 4 days. Pad and leak free. Not even a drip. It takes a pretty good squeeze to activate the cuff. about 5 to 10 seconds to empty. Not much drippage, and the cuff closes quickly. Waiting for the urge every 3-4 hours. Had a pretty good workout, with rowing and weights, that was leak free. Very happy!