Leakage after Prostate Cancer surgery: Concerned about travel and pads

Temporary incontinence is often present after prostatectomy and it slowly resolves over time. About 50% of men regain full continence by the end of 4th month and about 95% recovers by 12 mos. post surgery.

It is very good that you are doing Kegel exercises and perhaps you should add to that some pelvic floor exercises and some core exercises too.

You are really soooo early in your recovery that perhaps you should wait some time before you travel. If you decide to travel please make sure not to carry anything !!!! I can not stress this enough - your abdominal muscles are compromised and hernia can easily form if you do not take care of yourself. : (((

Regarding pads and diapers - use whatever is comfortable for you. My husband used both for the first 2-3 weeks (pads for day and diaper for night time) and his incontinence steadily improved until by month 4 he completely regained continence. Keep in mind that everybody is different and needs different time for recovery.

Wishing you all the best and very fast forward continence recovery .

@surftohealth88
Hi,
Did your husband joined pelvic floor physical therapy sessions or did he do anything else ?
I am using 4-5 pads everyday. My skin is sensitive, can't tolerate fabric of diapers so I have to use pads inside my underwear.
I am in 7 th week after the surgery. So far there is no improvement incontinence.
Thanks for your advice and support.

@eshan

My husband had one PT session before surgery and one after surgery but he did not find those essential, which does not mean that for others they do not offer great help.

He had easy time understanding muscle movements in pelvic floor and understood how to isolate and do correct Kegel immediately so he resorted on doing exercises at home. He started exercises 2 mos before surgery and continued them until he regained continence.

Honestly, he did very basic exercises, easy and boring stuff. Kegel's he did multiple times a day while doing other things - if he was sitting working at the computer or watching TV he would do them than, when he was taking shower in the morning and before sleep he would do them standing, if he was standing in line shopping he would do them there.

Kegel PLUS pelvic floor he did once a day after dinner - maybe 20 min total. He used online videos and books and phone app. "Easy Kegel" which was easy and fun.

His incontinence after catheter went out was moderate - about 75 ml in 24 hours and it was getting better and better every week with some big improvement jumps that were sudden and with no particular reason . For example - amount would be 35 to 40 ml a day for 2 weeks than literary over night it would be 20-25 ml a day, than that would stay for a week or 2 and than it went suddenly to 10-15 ml and so forth. The improvement is steady though , up and down but steady toward going down in amount.

I would strongly suggest that you buy small digital scale ( on Amazon, about $16) and place it on bathroom counter and start measuring exact amount in grams and record every pad. Weight pad before use and after use and the difference in weight is amount of urine (1 gram = 1 milliliter). That way you will clearly see a trend. Also, that will help your doctor know exact amount that you leak - pads are not good measuring method since one person can change pads more often than the other regardless of the amount of urine. I never understood doctors who ask : "how many pads", that is ridiculous IMHO.

Wishing you the best of luck and try to be patient with yourself < 3. Everybody is different and needs different amount of time to recover. In the meantime avoid alcohol, coffee and other caffeinated drinks, spicy food and drinking huge amount of any liquid all at once. No heavy lifting either !

Please feel free to ask if you have additional questions .