Catheter Removal Day is World Cancer Day And So Far So Good!

Well done. Enjoy the freedom - especially when you're trying to sleep.

Congrats! The only element of the catheter I enjoyed was telling my college kid I was urinating while we visited...

Haha, I did that too. I mean, I don't know your nephew so that would have been super odd if I told him that, but I would look my wife dead in the eye with the most serious expression and say "I just need to tell you that I'm peeing right now" and she would die laughing.

The wife asks before we go anywhere "Do you need to go to the toilet?" "No.. I'm wearing one".

I'm now a dozen or more full bladder empty sessions in today and not a single drop in the drawers so I'm pretty upbeat at the moment, this is what I busted my a$$ on for the past several months to avoid. I go back to the doc in a little while to do a final bladder scan after a day of hydrating but I feel very optimistic that I'm good for day-to-day, and with the special procedure done during the prostatectomy I should be safe from stress incontinence as well. So I'm hopeful!

I don't miss the catheter one single bit. I didn't sleep more than an hour or two a night with that in.

congrats @survivor5280 !
how are the pain levels. hopefully it is not an issue anymore?

The pain is manageable. I've had a lifetime prescription to Oxy and never took more than one or two a year, so I cut the Oxy after surgery after the second day and relied on Tylenol. Mostly because not only do I respect the addictive nature of them but also the constipation issues, which in this case are very undesirable!

Pain is manageable. Abs hurt, perineum is super sore and I got a gel horseshoe "donut" to sit on for a while but otherwise nothing terrible. I've had fairly chronic pain for decades so I'm used to every day being at least 7 out of 10, this feels like 4 out of 10 comparatively.

Final bladder scan was done, everything is working perfectly and I'm having twins 👯😂

Doc wants me to stick to the tadalafil and l-citruline for now just to be sure but says I'll likely stop using those in a month or so.

Overall, if I had to rate this surgery, it is currently no different than the kidney cancer. Same robot, same doctor, same incisions (literally, he re-used them), same pain (but with added perineal pain) and same relatively fast recovery time. No side effects to speak of.

I know not all guys have the same experience, but for me it was a lot of dread for very little reality. I'll be happy to engage in sexual activity in a few weeks (less one obvious result), back to working out in a month and hopefully chugging along as if nothing happened.

What I really wish I had were more stories like mine turned out to be. I'm working on a site for this to document my experiences so other guys can find nuggets of good inside this whirlwind of crap that we all experience dealing with this thing.

Sounds like you're doing great. I also was continent after surgery (maybe a drop or 2 for a couple weeks). Still continent 2 and a half years after surgery so you look to be in good shape .

Go out and buy a Lotto ticket, pal, cause you definitely are one LUCKY SOB!!🤣

I can't buy lottery tickets anymore because I'm pretty sure I used all my luck up during this surgery - between that and no recurrence of a fairly rare kidney cancer I'd say my luck is running thin!