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holep surgery recovery
I had holep surgery in march of 2025. Three months later and I still leak constantly during the day. Night time in bed I can sleep all night and wake up pretty much dry, but on my feet, especially with activity I leak almost constantly, 6-7 depends guards a day. Very frustrating. Three month follow up the Dr. did not have much to say. Started myrbetrique and said keep doing kegels. Called a place to start pelvic floor PT. Very trying time. Can't really go anywhere or do anything. My prostate size was in the 90's and I am a 67 year old in good health.
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78yrs. old. Post-holep 7 months. Unable to empty bladder until doing 10-15 kegals. Does this mean that pelvic floor too weak or too tight? I want to make sure that exercise is doing any good.
Hi @mac17,
I combined your discussion with an existing discussion titled:
"holep surgery recovery"
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/holep-surgery-recovery
@rwinpa started this discussion when he was still experiencing some recovery issues three months after his procedure. I'd like to also invite @elcorbs, @lrp1 and @spi9959 who also shared their recovery as well. @mac17, have you noticed any improvement slowly over time with your kegal exercises or has it been consistent in the number needed?
It's been pretty consistent throughout recovery.
@mac17
Had Holep on 19 June 2026. Today is the 9 July, 20 days post Holep. I have been on TWO "Level 3" Depends every day, except a couple of days when I used 3. By day 20, it has significantly reduced, and hopefully by day 28, I can reduce to just 1 Depend daily, or even better, NONE at all!
Were you on catheter before the Holep procedure? A patient who has had to use a catheter for a long time, before they have Holep (or any of the other procedures) will likely take much longer to gain bladder control. WHY? Because long term catheter use weakens the bladder muscles, so it takes a longer time for these muscles to get back to proper working order, after the "prostate blockage" has been removed.
@heath2026 What do you regard as “long time” catheter use? I ask because I recently had a very unusual experience.
After a minor outpatient surgery, I had “post-operative urinary retention.” I’ll skip some of the details, but I had a catheter for more than two months, with repeated unsuccessful voiding trials.
So, after cystoscopy, my urologist recommended HoLEP surgery. As I started researching surgeons, I asked him to perform a “last chance” voiding test. You guessed it: suddenly, I was voiding with strong stream, good emptying, etc.
So while I’m sure you're right about most who experience long-time catheter use, I just thought I’d share my unusual experience.