Count Down till surgery

 

Hi Sid,

Welcome to our fraternity that no man rushes to join. You found the right place to be for your questions and you will find some great guys and gals in here who are going to walk you through what you are facing. The following is a post I just left for Boggerma5o who has his date with the scalpel in a couple of weeks and it applies to you as well.

I am 3 months past my robot date and as I reflect back it really wasn't that big a deal. I had not been in a hospital since I was 8 years old until I was struck with PC and didn't know what to expect and I hadn't found this forum until after my surgery. So you are already ahead of me in that aspect. Prior to surgery other than reading about it from some books I had no idea what I would need afterwards or how long it would take to recuperate. The only person I knew about who had PC had open surgery back in 2000 and his experience was not relevant to mine.

On the morning you go into surgery the only thing you will feel is the prick of the IV needle and then when they put you under you will totally unaware of what going on until you wake up in your hospital room. The hardest part of the day will be you family having to wait for hours for you to finish the surgery. I had some complication with scar tissue from my appendectomy in 1958 that added 2 hours to my operation and my wife had to wait on me for over 5 hours in the waiting room. I didn't come out of recovery until 2pm. The first night I was given solid food and was very hungry. The next morning I was told to get up and walk if I wanted to go home and the first time out of bed was miserable but I immediately felt better after walking several rounds in the hospital floor. I was discharges at 1pm and the ride home with my wife of 4 miles was not pleasant as I felt every bump in the road. But after the second day I took nor needed any more of the prescription meds and found Tylenol worked just fine for the surprising little amount of pain. By the 4th or 5 day I was only taking Tylenol at night and after that there really wasn't any sharp pain just some minor pain and stiffness (the stiffness wasn't in the private part area fortunately). Everyday I was feeling better than the day before and the 7th day was heaver when the rubber snake came out for good. I was 100% continent on July 1, 2 1/2 weeks after the snake was removed and am today except when I fart I still dribble a drop or two. I never used more than 2 pads a day in those 2 1/2 weeks and was dry at night.

Today I can honestly say I feel better overall, except for my ED which is getting better, than before surgery. I think a lot of this has to do with knowing that for now the cancer is out of my body. My favorite thing is I can now empty my bladder in 10 to 15 seconds and pee like a teenager. I just wish I could have an erection like one too, but I know that will never happen again. But I happy with the progress in that area that my URO has done so far. One other plus of the surgery, my wife did not want me to do yard work this summer so she hired a lawn service for me and I do not miss mowing my lawn in 100 degree heat

The best thing you can do is not to worry for the next 2 weeks and get done anything that needs done with a smile.

If you want to talk on the phone about this further send me an email with your phone number and I will be more than happy to call you.

Terry the Water Guy

My surgery was a little over a month ago. I know individual circumstances vary, but I found the whole experience to be far less painful than I imagined. The best way to describe my experience was occasionally "uncomfortable" immediately after surgery.

Here's the scale they asked me to use to describe pain:

VIEW IMAGE

I was generally a 2 or three, with the occasional 4. Of course the morphine may have had something to do with that.

After surgery, I believe the next morning, I was encouraged to start walking. Went from one lap around the floor to 3 then 5 and then 9. I wasn't allowed to leave until I passed gas (something about the bowels need to be awakened before you could be released).

I read about the catheter (never had one before) and sort of imagined what it would look like, and actually became more accustomed to the thought of it before I even went to the hospital. Turned out it was no big deal - just inconvenient.

Once home it took a little while to get used to managing with the cath, and sleeping for me was most comfortable on my back or laying in the direction of the bag hanging on the sideboard of the bed. I was given a large one and a smaller leg bag that I used for walking.

After a few days I had an "urgency" to pee, and felt as though something was preventing the urine from flowing out. I checked the bag, it seemed OK, then a little later I would see the bag filling with no problem. Turned out (in my case) to be a Bladder Spasm. Called the docs office and they prescribed Vesicare, which worked well.

Catheter was removed during my first follow up visit. At that point I wanted it out, but wasn't anxious to actually have it removed. Turns out that wasn't a big deal either. Two or three seconds of "ooh, that feels a little creepy" to "Hallelujah" I'm a free man again!

Since then, walking and daily kegels as I work on the incontinence and ED. Started at about 7 pads per day and am now averaging about 3 per day - only about 5 weeks after surgery. Don't know if that's considered normal, but if it keeps going in the same direction I hope to be dry in 3 months or less. We'll see.

So hang in there, think positive thoughts and take comfort from all the folks here who have already had the experience.

Sid,

Sorry you have to be here, but if you have to be here, it is a great place to be. My surgery experience was very close to amick (post before me). Only differences - other than gas pain/uncomfortableness, I reported "0" pain level. I was allowed to go home the next morning prior to passing gas, but I was able to let one go on my way out of the hospital. The first night i took a pain med and then only used ibuprophen when needed thereafter. No bladder spasms, however my scrotum swelled to the size of a grapefruit for about a week, but no pain (not unusual with surgery). I walked daily and drank plenty of fluids. Stool softener was an excellent recommendation from doc. I took extra time for recovery (returned to work at five weeks) but worked at home sporadically. Catheter far better than I imagined.

No pads around five weeks and ED is less than 20%, but it is early (now seven weeks out). At my first post-op PSA test my Uro was estatic about the progress on continence and ED.

The experience was much better than I anticipated. I now feel great. My energy level is better than it has been in years.

I wish you well in your journey and hope it goes as well as mine, if not better.

Sid

Welcome to HW. I can only echo what has already been said by our colleagues. Best wishes for your future surgery. it's not that bad and before you know it you will be out the other side.

Stay active before surgery and enjoy life. I played 72 holes of golf the four days before with family and friends. The day before after the last round, my son, brother and nephew ended the day with massages and time in the steam room. I was relaxed and slept like a baby the night before.