healing from open prostatectomy?

I woke up with five tiny bandages across my abdomen, & NO PAIN. Walked that night in the hospital, & the next morning the nurse told me I could get dressed & leave (meaning walk out of the hospital). I resumed driving the next day, & did my two-mile walk the day after that. All with no pain.

The bandages fell off in a few days, leaving tiny scars. That was 5 years ago; I can't find the scars today.

I did no prep (other than bathe), & there was nothing to do post-op.

same here. started walking right away.

@readandlearn Was yours an Open prostatectomy or was your surgery a robotic-assisted prostatectomy? I had the robotic-assisted and my experience was mostly similar to what you described. I am thinking the Open prostatectomy is very different, but maybe I am wrong.

Should also do kegel exercises before open surgery I believe, but not immediately after until advised as ok by the doc. This helps incontinence response.

I haven’t heard of anybody having an open prostatectomy, A non-robot assisted prostatectomy, in many years.

Do you not live in the United States or Canada? Is there some reason they’re doing an open prostatectomy instead of a robot assisted one?.

You can be sure it will take at least six weeks to recover from the damage to your stomach muscles from opening you up that much. They probably already told you that.

I don’t think anybody can give you firsthand experience about this. It is not normally done these days.

@jeff1963 Mine was a laparoscopic robot assisted radical prostatectomy.

I have a friend who had an open prostatectomy 20 years ago, but they went in behind the scrotal sac rather than the front of the abdomen. He didn't report any issues or anything about recovery.

After a radical prostatectomy, I think everyone has a catheter for ten days or so, for the internal urethra surgery to heal. I did have an antibiotic salve to apply locally to the head of the penis to keep any catheter chafing from creating an infection site.

Urinating was in some ways easier. Rather than unzipping, I just put my foot on the toilet seat & opened the catheter bag valve. Nice & quick.

I did have one long-term side effect: constipation. I tend to eat constipating foods anyway, & after the surgery it was worse, perhaps due to the intestines being relocated. My doctor suggested Miralax, which I now take daily.

Thank you for your post. I really appreciate your specific sharing.

@jeffmarc - It was 2014 but mine was "open" scar from just below navel to just above top of shaft. A week in bed, catheter for 10 days or so, slowed me down for a few months. It sucked, but that's life.

What part of the world are you in? When you say open, are you meaning they are going to open you up to take the prostate out? Have you gone for a second opinion from a center of excellence like the Mayo, MD Anderson, Sloan Kettering or other cancer specialist centers?
As other have said, the new procedures are so much better for you and less chance for complications.

@briang1958

Thank you for your response. Much appreciated.