Recovery timeline following AUS

Thanks Peterj and SMC for your replies. They are very helpful. In terms of pressure from the bladder if full can cause some squirts for example when bending over, the urodynamics test on Monday indicated that after nearly a year of either catheterization of stress incontinence into Depends, the bladder seems to be very small. I guess I'll need to go frequently. From what I've read it won't really be possible to use urinals going forward because it will take two hands to handle the device (one hand above on the tubes and one hand to push the pump) and that would involve dropping your shorts. I'm happy to hear they use surgical glue for the incision since changing dressings/bandages strikes me as being very difficult. SMC, do they shave the pubic hair off prior to the procedure. It wasn't addressed in the handouts they gave me Monday.

Thanks,

Brian

There always seems to be surprises they don't tell you ahead of time. For me, using a urinal does take two hand, but it has become second nature and fast. I do need to unbuckle and pull my pants down just an unnoticeable little to free everything up. Again, it's easy. Sitting on the toilet is easiest and it's a one hander. You will figure it out and be thankful you didn't pee on the floor on the way to the bathroom.

Hi Peter and SMC,

I had the AUS surgery on Monday 2/10 and everything went pretty well. The incision that I thought would be the most painful, the perineal incision, was only 4 cm long according to the operative report but it has not been at all painful. They didn't use surgical glue, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. The incision for the balloon resevoir was higher on the abdomen than I expected, no shaving, but getting up from lying down or sitting is the only thing that causes some soreness in the abdominal muscles. The scrotum has not been painful, maybe because of how sedentary I have been. The scrotum is quite swollen so my penis looks uncircumcised and at times the penis goes turtle altogether in the swelling. I have heavy duty antibiotics 2x per day for 7 days, phone appointment in 2 weeks, and activation is set for 6 weeks. As one of you noted, and as my surgeon also noted, the urethra gets inflamed temporarily even though the device is not yet activated so I am soaking maybe one pad a day and have to really push to urinate. That is supposed to end when the inflammation goes down.

Thanks again for your responses.

BWJB

Thankyou for that.
Good to know I may have abdominal pain getting up.
I'll take it slowly & annoy the wife for help every time I want to get up.

We're men - we'll milk it for all it's worth, like man-flu.

I had the artificial urinary sphincter surgery Monday 2/10. As of Tuesday 2/18 my scrotum is still quite swollen and doesn't really seem to have gotten less swollen over that week. Does anyone know how long the swelling typically takes to go down?

I had softballs until about 2 weeks. Tennis balls until about 4 weeks. Really cool color of dark purple for about 3 weeks. Slowly got better. My incision opened up a couple of times but did heal finally. Very sore for weeks but got better. Good luck.

For you recent AUS patients and those soon to have one:
I'll suggest hope for the best and plan for the worst.
I had be best possible outcome.
Yes, I use a thin pad daily. Maybe 30% of time I change it and it's dry after 24-hours. Hooray!
Post op, minimal pain, no swelling, no limitations on activities. Another WOOT.
Probably the thing that helped me the most was my surgeon (suggested by my Urologist/oncologist) is a regional expert in 'gender affirming' surgery. His superb skill and expertise surely was a huge benefit for me and his other AUS patients. I was just lucky my U/O doc knew him. I pray his future, potential patients don't loose him due to narrow-minded politicians.
Best of luck to you all.
The AUS Life is good.

Glad to hear your AUS results are so good. I'm hoping mine are as good when mine gets activated next month. When you had your AUS done, how long did it take for the scrotal selling to go down?

Thanks

This was another benefit (IMHO) of having such a great surgeon.
I didn't have any swelling.
Post op pain was minimal at most.
I was just careful when showering/washing and all went well.
Again, hope (and work) for the best but prepare (protect) for the worst.
May your procedure work out as well or better than mine!

Brian. Yes it is possible to use a urinal and pee one handed. After all that I have been through, I enjoy it. I drop my pants and underwear about halfway to my knees. If someone looks at me I say, after 2 1/2 years with a foley catheter, and the last 13 months with a suprapubic catheter coming out of my stomach, I am so happy to be able to pee, especially standing up and not into a leg bag. So much fun. Someday you will also enjoy the freedom. Happy peeing and let the butt show. We deserve it.