Pain after Radical Prostatic surgery

Hi - I had surgery back in January. I didn’t have major pain two weeks after surgery, but definitely had a very sore abdomen and a very sore perineum.

The abdominal pain lasted probably 4-6 weeks, getting a little better each week, but the perineal pain lasted a good bit longer, more like 12-16 weeks, but it got better as time went by as well.

Similar to TurtBean’s experience. I had surgery back in Oct of last year. No major pain. Some localized abdominal pain under the surgery incisions until about 6-8 weeks out and longer perineal pain. All helped by Ibuprofen or Tylenol. No pain now beyond an occasional pain in the ghost prostate/perineal area for no apparent reason. Asked the doc about that. He said it was normal, as long as it doesn't increase in intensity or frequency. Speedy recovery to you.

You are still in very early stage of recovery and recovery time varies significantly among patients. My husband recovered fast but there are members here who needed much more time - it is very individual.
Your pain should not be troubling unless it is not improving at all, is getting stronger or is accompanied with the feeling of chills, fever, swelling and is limiting normal movement. In any case, always ask your doctor if in any doubt !

Wishing you fast recovery and may your pain be gone very soon 🍀✨

@ddltc05, it's been a couple more weeks since you posted about the pain after surgery. Are things getting better? Did you report the pain to your surgeon? How are you doing?

@colleenyoung
We did , he just got back to us yesterday and said that to stop pelvic floor exercises for a couple days to see if that helps him with the pain.

@davederousseau
What is the perineal ghost pain? Is that the nerve pain?

Probably should have worded that a bit better. Just meant a dull sudden pain in the perineal area where my prostate used to be. I used to mention my ghost prostate to my wife from time to time when I had any sudden temporary pain there. Just another one of those now normal conversations one has with their spouse after surgery. Makes us laugh at times.

First thing is that every person's response is incredibly variable. Very few have the smae response.

There is a small group of us that had a lot of abdomen pain. I had surgery in April. Initially, it was two types of ab pain; waves that would come in like a cramp (first week mostly). Later, it was discomfort with any movement that involved using the ab muscles. Abdomen pain would also show up if I over exerted by too much activity that involved the waist or abs. We're talking very little activity on the abs...so I went easy.

The good news is that it has mostly subsided and my abdomen pain isn't triggered by exertion as much anymore.

I have had two major surgeries in my life, with each offering completely different types of massive pain:
1. Da Vinci Robotic-Assisted, single-incision radical prostatectomy. That left me feeling completely beat up, assaulted, pummeled, and with very "deep" pain in the lower abdomen where the Da Vinci apparatus was inserted into my body through the ~2.5-3" incision. I felt this pain for at least 4-6 weeks, likely a bit longer. You'd think I'd remember better since it was just 17 months ago, but I was shocked by the "depth" of the pain. It slowly subsided, but it completely altered everything I did and how, or if, I did it those first several weeks. Standing from a seated position, or seating myself from a standing position; getting in and out of my car after I was able to drive 3 weeks post-surgery, all took some getting used to. Twisting my upper torso...that was absolute killer pain at the surgical site.
2) Briefly, I had the most painful surgery a human...a "man"... can have back in 2011: The "trifecta" as my orthopedic surgeon called it. I had two torn rotator cuff muscles repaired, plus repair of a torn labrum, and impingement. The labrum is the Glenoid tissue that holds the ball-head of your upper arm (the humerus) in place in your shoulder where the scapula and collar bone meet to surround and support it. I had ripped my bicep out of the Glenoid. My bicep was hanging by a thread of Glenoid tissue that was barely holding onto it. I literally could not use or lift my left arm...it hung like my post-prostatectomy penis does now: USELESS, but with massive pain. "Impingement" is when the end of your collar bone (clavicle) is rubbing/scraping/grinding against the part of your shoulder blade (scapula) that forms the entire upper arm socket. I asked my doctor why he didn't tell me how badly it was going to hurt? He said that if he had, I would not have had the surgery ("this will be the worst pain of your entire life"). He added: "there is only one thing more painful for the human body than the type of surgery you had on your shoulder." I begged the answer: "what would that be?" He said: "childbirth...so you had the most painful surgery that a man can ever have, exceeded only by a woman delivery a baby." I believed him.
I nearly became addicted to Percocet (oxycodone) because I am a rapid metabolizer. I was "supposed" to take Percocet every 6 hours, but the pain was so bad, and my rapid metabolizing of the drug out my system, that I needed the "max" dose every 3-4 hours. It is combined with 325 mg of Tylenol, and my doctor was afraid I would have a heartattack from Tylenol toxcity. Recall around 2010 - 2012 the media coverage of people having heart attacks due to Tylenol, because it is in so many medicines that we take, that it can be easily taken to toxic levels in our bodies without us knowing it. Anyway...
I was off work 11 weeks recovering from the rotator cuff, torn labrum, and impingement surgery, and was not back to normal for 10 months with physical therapy 3-days per week. That kind of pain literally stops you in your tracks. The physical therapist wanted me to pick up and use a 2 pound weight for some simple exercises. I laughed...I scoffed..."are you kidding me?...give me at least 10 pounds." The physical therapist said, "let's start with the 2 pounder...if you can handle it." I couldn't lift it. He smiled saying" ya...I thought so...let's start with the 1 pounder." I had literally dropped the 2 pound weigh yelling in excruciating pain. I could only do a half-set of the reps he wanted me to do with the 1 pound weight. That doesn't do your manhood very much good.
So...sorry...that is all hardly "on-topic" for prostate cancer, but...the message is: "as bad as prostatectomy pain can be, there is even worse pain you can have with orthopedic surgery of the shoulder."