Proactive Post-Op Shopping List

When I had my catheter, I was daily going to clients offices and working on their computers. I had black jeans on and a catheter bag strap to my leg. Nobody had any idea I was doing this, Or I just had major surgery. A regular pair of sweatpants was fine during the evening.

I didn’t need any pads after my catheter was removed. I guess in some cases people don’t have any leakage after the removal. Don’t go overboard you never know.

Depends has shield pads that work quite well, better than the generic, i’ve tried generics…ugh. They come in different thicknesses.

My insurance company mailed me a penis pump. You might check with your insurance and find out if you can get one for free. They are medically Approved If you get it through insurance,, so it’s somewhat Better quality than the lower price ones you can buy.

I mostly work from home and will be totally working from home during that time, I'll be in sweats all day, I figure the breakaway would just make it simpler and less likely to snag - or at least from what I have read. $30 was a cheap insurance policy.

I think @jeffmarc is right that regular sweatpants are fine with the leg bag. I did find the breakaway pants useful since I drank a lot of fluids and tended to fill up the leg bag rather quickly (especially if I took a nap), so I preferred the larger "night bag" for sitting around the house. With the larger bag, the breakaway pants let me easily adjust the tubing since the tubing wasn't confined to the pant leg. Again, for sitting around the house with the larger night bag, I liked keeping it off the floor so I used a cheap plastic bucket from the dollar store. Not required, but I found it handy. Don't overbuy the pads and underwear. You'll need some to get started, but you'll have time to get more once you figure out what you need. Like @jeffmarc, I found the Depends worked pretty good. After the surgery they gave me the leg bag and night bag with elastic straps. I guess some places use tape. The elastic was good since it didn't pull my leg hair but I did need to keep an eye on it as during the day as it'd slowly slide down my leg and start letting the tube pull on the catheter (which is not good). You need to keep an eye on it. Also, my wife insisted we use disposable gloves and alcohol wipes when switching bags, etc to prevent infection. And antibiotic gel to lube the catheter where it enters the penis. I did have a disposable waterproof pad on the bed and one night I must have moved in my sleep and pulled catheter out of the tubing. The tubing fell in the bucket beside the bed but the pad did it's job and kept urine off the mattress. Best wishes.

About two weeks after my surgery the Urology Group that I was treated by invited me to a free post-surgery workshop at their clinic at which a presenter did a great job of going over a variety of products to ease the recovery process. In terms of vacuum devices, the presenter recommended a kit from Encore Medical called Revive Premium. I believe the kit cost about $250 and includes a manual vacuum pump as well as an electric pump. I have never used the electric pump - the manual pump is simple to use and offers complete control of the amount of vacuum applied. I think you can probably get a kit with the manual only pump for less than the $250 which I paid. The product has held up well and I would recommend it. The Encore Medical website for this product line is http://www.RevivePremium.com and customer support number is 1-800-475-3091.

Others have mentioned that insurance may cover this; it didn't in my case but I would definitely check that out before buying something in case the insurance only applies to a specific product.

I agree with the comment from retireditguy to not overbuy on continence products. We made that mistake and ended up with more than what I needed as the recovery of urinary control was quite fast.

I don't know about penis pumps but regarding pads, I found the Tena Mens pads worked best for me. I'm still using them.
Here is the link to my previous comment about my post surgery experience.
Best wishes for your successful surgery and recovery!
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/any-tips-for-the-first-few-days-immediately-following-surgery/?pg=3#parent-comment-1105654-146fa7

One other suggestion based on my experience: I found a simple front close and tie robe to be really helpful and comfortable for early mornings and late evenings when I didn't want to be fully dressed. This allowed for easy access to the catheter and collection bags and was very loose and comfortable as well. We picked up a very inexpensive one online which was perfectly adequate for the week or so of living with the catheter.

I'm now T minus 18 days and find myself getting more stressed and anxious - not for the surgery but for life afterwards. Despite all my preparations - the things that I can control that impact the outcome, like pelvic floor and general health & well being - I feel like I'm woefully unprepared.

It's funny I feel this way because every doctor/therapist/friend/family says that I'm doing far more in advance than the vast majority of guys do (my friends and family say "yea, that's typical you") but it never feels like enough. My pelvic floor therapist said in all her time doing this that only two other guys saw her before surgery to get ready and she wishes more would. I've now seen her 5 times and while she really digs into weird places I have to admit that the deep butt work is actually quite relaxing mostly, I find myself looking forward to it lol.

I think I've done "the" things. I'm pretty sure I can bend carbon steel with my pelvic floor, dropped 20 pounds, have been careful about consuming anything unhealthy and know I've done the things, but still.

I've started the 5mg Tadalafil daily to get it built up in my system along with 3g of L Citrulline daily (penile therapist said it can help but certainly doesn't hurt), which are a literal and figurative big pill to swallow for a guy who's never had even the slightest issue in that department, but whatever. It has an interesting side effect, that "morning wood" now keeps me awake once it starts and it keeps ebbing and flowing - not the one or two normal, but 10-15 times and I attribute this to taking an ED pill when everything is quite healthy down there already. Other than the normal use for it, I've thought of using it as a hammer and working on building a new cabinet or something.

I'm slightly less worried about incontinence because I have focused quite a lot on being prepared to use my pelvic floor since I'll lose that primary sphincter, but still worry about ED. I know half the nerves will go, I get really anxious when I consider waking up from surgery and being told the other half had to be taken.

I also worry about adjusting to the new continence control, like how I'll deal with spicy foods or alcohol or heavy lifting. With loss there is the "year of firsts" where you have to experience something for the first time since loss, I expect continence will be similar that I won't know how to deal with heavy lifting (etc) until I do it the first time.

I've saved some things to cheer me up after. I haven't had any of the Christmas baking my wife did because I'm laser focused on healthy habits right now, but I look forward to finally trying them after surgery. It's not much, but it's really the only thing to look forward to right now.

That's all, just a bit of a journal entry today.

I bought a pkg of pads and a bed/chair liner, had a preop PT session (very short time to surgery) and had a plastic bucket to carry my catheter urine bag.
You will do great 👍.

I have pads and bed/chair liners as well as diapers just to be safe. All reasonable quantities in case everything is good, but enough that if it's not good I have plenty of time to reorder. I also have a small bucket, mostly for around the house, in case of leakage. I'm hoping a leg strap will take care of me when I go for walks.

I only had the large or "night" urine bag. 2 liters I think.
And I was glad for the size.
I carried it in a 2 gallon bucket around the house and sat it on the floor next to the bed.
Some men have a smaller, maybe 1 liter "day" bag strapped to their leg.
My catheter was in for 10 days and I walked daily in the house. 20 mins to begin, in 5 min intervals; increasing to 30.
I usually walk daily for 45 - 50 mins outside, but chose to stay indoors those 1st 10 days.
My recovery from surgery was excellent, but it is a major operation, so my recommendation is to be kind to yourself in the recovery process.
I am sure that you will do well.