Quality of life, 2 years post RALP ?

@retireditguy
That sounds great. Have you ever been able to get pad free or go to shields? How many do you do in a set? I been doing 10 that I hold 10 seconds and 50 quick ones. And do 5 sets a day, sometimes just 4. I guess I just don't know what to expect. Maybe folks never get pad free?

I am one year out. Given that I still have ED, it is probably a 7. Without it, it would be a 9-10.

@brucerichardson - since you posted the original question, how would you say you’re doing, using your scale?

I’m only six months past surgery, so nowhere near two years, but I’d say I’m a 7/10. I do have some incontinence that I’m dealing with and ED, of course, but neither hold me back from day-to-day living. Leaving on a road trip tomorrow to celebrate my 60th birthday, as a matter of fact.

@turtbean
Hope you have a good trip!

@turtbean Trimix puts me at a high 8 or low 9.

@diverjer -- I'm not a medical professional, so take my laymans comment with a grain of salt. When I asked my doctor about incontinence and ED before surgery, he explicitly stated my odds at 1 year. I assumed from his response that it's pretty common to take a year to recover. So I suspect your doctor doesn't want to do a procedure to address your incontinence until a year has passed as you may well recover without the procedure. I certainly don't know, but I thought I'd share that thought. Best wishes.

@diverjer -- I was age 70 at surgery, so younger than you. Other than a few days after the catheter came out when I used a pad as I was figuring out the new normal, I never really needed a pad during the day. I did sleep with a pad under the sheet for a long time as I didn't have confidence I wouldn't have an accident at night. Although I never needed the bed pad post-catheter, its use let me relax and sleep better at night. Stress incontinence during the day did occur for me at times during the first year, but very light and very infrequent, so I didn't wear a pad during the day. That said, I did worry about it a bit and my confidence wasn't great. I compensated by urinating more frequently than before surgery. Over time (like 3 months or so) my confidence to control the "new normal" grew and as I started finding myself forgeting to worry about it I found I could successfully hold it longer. Hence my confidence grew as I became more sure of my ability to hold it, and life slowly went back to normal. Today I continue 1 set of Kegels a day where I do 10 holding for 10 seconds with a 10 second rest between each, and then 20 quick ones. I was 70 at the time of my surgery, and my doctor said I had a 90% chance of being continent at 1 year. I was lucky that I was ccontinent so quickly. I'm no expert on this and certainly not a medical professional, but I'd suggest keep doing your Kegels and get PT as soon as you're allowed. Hopefully you'll be one of the many that do regain continence over the 1st year. Best wishes.

Thanks for the info, I may be inpatient wanting over this incontinence. I got catheter out May 12 so only been about 2 month and I have improved. Especially at night whike sleeping. Pullup seems dry, but does weigh a bit more .1 to .5 oz more, but I believe that happens when getting out of bed 4 times and walking to bathroom. Also, I should mention they did nerves bearing on right side and partial nerve sparing on left side. So that might make a difference