RALP on Thursday 5/22

Best of luck John. Recovering from prostate cancer surgery is pretty easy at your age. I had the surgery at 62. I was doing limited work within four days, and fully back working after 6 days. I couldn’t lift weights, but I could sit down at a computer and work on problems with a network or a system. Most of the pain/discomfort from the operation was gone after three days and Tylenol took care of whatever pain I had.

Some people have some issues that caused them discomfort for weeks after the surgery, But that is not the norm.

I was 70 last 06/2024 when I had NS RARP. I'm not a medical professional so what follows is just my layman thoughts and experience. I strictly followed all the instructions I had received from my care team regarding pre and post surgery diet, walking, etc. The week of the catheter was the worst time for me as the catheter is really uncomfortable, but my pain never got above a 2 on a scale of 10 except for brief stabs of pain if I wasn't careful getting up or moving. I was able to avoid constipation by (again) following the care teams instructions to drink plenty of water, use a non-stimulative laxative, and follow the diet they prescribed. Avoiding constipation is important as you really don't want to strain during bowel movements right after surgery. Your care team should discuss this with you before your surgery. The week of the catheter was unpleasant and (again) I strictly followed my care teams instructions for handling the catheter, but things got better fast after the catheter came out. Following the care teams instructions to use OTC pain meds for a few days, I never needed the stronger stuff. I was never incontinent other than some stress incontinence as I figured out the "new normal" during the first few months. I did need some pads for my underwear while I had the catheter as I'd occasionally have some leakage around it. I also used a big pad on the bed and that did save me from getting urine on the mattress when my catheter tubing pulled apart while sleeping one night. While not absolutely necessary, I found breakaway pants on Amazon was convenient for the week of the catheter as they let me adjust the tubing easily without dropping my pants while I lay around with my feet up. After the catheter came out, I did use pads for a week or so while I figured out what I needed going forward. Besides following all the normal instructions for the catheter, my catheter had elastic straps which tended to loosen a little and slide down my leg. I had to keep an eye on the straps or else as it slid down my leg over time it would start pulling on the catheter tubing. So keeping it adjusted was kind of important to prevent that. Regarding the day of surgery, I heard someone say it's a good idea to again remind your surgeon the day of the surgery that you want the nerve's spared if possible. After surgery he'll be able to tell you how the surgery went, whether he think he got all the cancer, and whether he was able to save 0, 1 or both sets of nerves. The surgeons notes and report were on the patient portal the day after my surgery. The pathology report on the prostate took a week for me and I first saw it on the patient portal. I'm at 11 months post surgery and at this point I'm fully continent and back to normal except for mild ED which is slowly getting better. I did need to ask my care team about penile rehab as they didn't mention it. But when I asked about penile rehab they put me on a nightly low dose Cialis and that seemed beneficial for me. In hindsight, I should have asked about penile rehab sooner (even before surgery and certainly immediately after surgery) rather than waiting a few months after surgery. I also did Kegels when my care team told me I could start them after the catheter came out. Even though I'm fully continent my surgeon recently recommended to me to continue to do some Kegels to maintain my pelvic floor strength. This response is already too long, so I'll stop now. But don't hesitate to ask about anything. It's just biology. Best wishes.

Thank you @retireditguy !
This is very helpful.

Thank you @jeffmarc !!

I wish you good luck this Thursday John
Let us know how things went sometime next week

lots of good wished

Ed

I which you all the best and a speedy recovery

Zzotte

good luck @johndavis60
follow your doctor's office instructions and take it easy.make sure you keep catheter clean.

sounds like your on your way to a successful recovery, check back with your experience with body changes

Two weeks or so post surgery penile injections should be started to maintain muscle tone. Some erectile disfunction rather than from nerve injury is from a type of shock which Dr. Time will resolve given some help.
On a pcri.org video on You Tube there was a rare expression of pique when the speaker said the failure to recommend and implement injections is unconscionable or words imparting a similar meaning.

@retireditguy has excellent points. i also bought breakaway pants to wear for surgery as it was easy to handle catheter on way back from hospital. Plus i also used breakaway shorts from amazon during the first 10 days of dealing with catheter as it was easy to handle. made my life a lot easier. Also, ask for lidocain at the hospital to apply at the tip where catheter comes out to handle any aches. You can take the tube back home and use it everyday. that helped me a lot plus the one they use at the hospital is easy to use unlike the store bought. i drank plenty of water during catheter days and kept a diary of any debris i saw in the output. more data means better decisions, in my opinion. Good luck with everything @johndavis60