Post radical prostatectomy (RP) Challenges

My surgeon works for Aurora in Grafton. None better.

Might want to try magnesium to help with constipation.

It took me 7 days in the hospital and 2 weeks at home with my wife doing everything for me. It tore me up good so one night and a recliner. That is going to be very, very hard on him.

yikes - sorry to hear it was so rough!

So, I guess the take-away is to expect the unexpected? That 'maybe' a drive home is possible but just as likely not?

I have 6 friends who have gone through it. They all were in the hospital for some time and it
was very hard after the surgery and I am still recovering from Aug. 3rd. It is not like a tooth being pulled. You have 5 incisions on the outside but they cut and cut more inside. The pain was excruciating for over a week. I had a blood bag for 6 days and that is normal. I could not roll over on my left side until a few weeks ago at all. I was and am in tip top shape too working out 2 hours a day hard.

Hmm, sounds fishy to me as well. I can understand your reluctance to do radiation without a clear objective. You are your best advocate, do what you feel is right in your heart and get another option. Best to you!

Because of COVID, they had moved to get people out of the hospital sooner. When I had RALP in 2/2021 I was actually released that day, leaving about 5 after a late morning surgery. When I was being wheeled out, though, the orderly was a bit fast?! and suddenly I had more vomit. He kept wheeling me out and I went home while he cleaned up.... Probably not the perfect protocol! Still I was glad to be recovering at home. My recliner was my best friend for quite a while.

Thank you all for your candid comments and for sharing your experiences. I go in on May 7, robotic with multiple ports. Hoping for short and few pain complaints, no hernia or positive margins.

@drcopp - good luck with your upcoming surgery. I had multiport RP at the start of the year.

Very little in the way of pain - just managed with Tylenol and Gabapentin for several days. General soreness in the abdomen that subsided to nothing more than an annoyance after a few days.

I do have a little bump, about the size of a skin tag, at the end of my main incision, just above my bellybutton. It’s not painful or an irritant, but I plan on asking about it at my next appointment, just in case.

I had to laugh - I was convinced last week that I was developing an incisional hernia just above my bellybutton, but on the other side - dull pain that bothered me with movement, progressively worse throughout the day, I was resolved to call my doc’s office the following workday.

Did all the Google research, all that, then went and had a good bowel movement…and it all went away - my wife has a lot of digestive issues, so she’s pretty well-schooled in that stuff and said, “Yeah, I get those. That’s where your ‘hook’ is, where your intestines take a hard turn, and gas or solids can cause discomfort when it sort of gets stuck there, while it’s passing through.”

Sounds good to me, but I’ll still mention it.

Thank you, Mr. Bean! I read about hernias but forgot to ask the surgeon during the initial visit, so I'll ask him the day of the surgery.