How to deal with cathether while recovering after porstate surgery

You are overthinking this. The bag is attached to a long tube. You shut it off and just pour out the urine. It’s simple.. There’s no real risk of infection I don’t know where you got the idea about that happening, A real first. It’s a one way tube.

You will find it is not difficult to walk around the second day after surgery and change the bag. It might be a little painful, but you can do it. I never used a night bag. The regular bag was always enough. I guess it Depends on how much you drink at night.

I ran a computer consulting company. Four days after surgery I went to three offices, sat down at Computers and worked on something.. I had to go in the bathroom once and empty the bag I had attached to my ankle. No one ever knew I had surgery or a catheter with a bag. The following days I went to many more offices,

I had my catheter in for two weeks. No major problems. Very easy to empty and to change between bags.

I was 70 last year when I had NS RARP. I'm not a medical professional nor an expert in this stuff, so take the following as just my layman opinion based on my personal experience. That said, changing the bag, emptying it, etc wasn't really a big deal and other than the first time right after surgery when my wife helped me, I pretty much did all that stuff myself. While my wife insisted I use disposable gloves and antiseptic wipes to prevent infection, changing the bag couldn't have been much easier. But I should mention I had a very easy recovery with minimal pain and was walking around the day after surgery. Some guys certainly do have a tougher recovery. You didn't mention your age or overall fitness/health, but if you're in good shape before surgery hopefully you'll have a good recovery and will be able to easily take care of the catheter and bag by yourself within a day or so. That said, it is good to have a "plan B" in case your recovery doesn't go well and you need more help. You'll know pretty quickly how much help you'll need. Also, you asked about the bag (which really was easy to take care of as long as you can get up and walk around easily), but with the restrictions on not lifting (for me it was not more than 10 lbs for 6 weeks) makes many daily household chores (grocery shopping, taking out the trash, cooking, cleaning, etc) problematic and may well require some help (again especially if you have a tough or long recovery). You really want to follow your doctors instructions and not stress those stitches during recovery. As a practical matter, here's 3 tips: 1) the biggest "mess" I made the 7 days I had a catheter was one night I turned over in bed while asleep and the catheter tubing pulled apart and spilled some urine. Fortunately I had a disposable absorbent bed mat down so cleanup was as simple as just throwing it in the trash and putting another one down. But without that pad, I would have had wet sheets and a wet mattress. 2) I used the elastic leg straps for the catheter tubing. But during the day it'd slowly slide down my leg and end up putting tension on the catheter tubing. Keep an eye on it. 3) my care team recommended lubing the catheter tubing right at the tip of the penis with antibiotic ointment to prevent irritation. I used what they recommended and it did help. Best wishes.

Thanks.
It is reassuring.

Extremely helpful tips. Thank you.

I am 72 but in good condition. I walk at least 7,000 steps every day, have a home gym where I do various exercises, and I started Yoga about 4 months ago. My surgery is not yet scheduled, but I have already started Kaegel exercise even before my uroligist suggested it.

I am pro-active, but also tend to overthink matters,

Didn't have surgery but had a blockage due to enlarged prostate that caused renal failure back in March. (that's where this PCa journey started) Anyway, after a few hospital days, I was sent home with a foley. Emptying and/or changing bags is no big deal at all. The system is designed for that. What's not designed for that is the tip of your penis. The tube will rub you raw if you don't keep it clean and lubed. I used Ready Cleanse cloths, that the hospital used, for cleaning followed by Bactine Max ointment (bacitracin, polymyxin B, & lidocaine.) I came to greatly appreciate the lidocaine. Best wishes.

Thanks for sharing. Given that, I plan to use neoprene or whatever my urologists give me to minimize the irritation. I also believe it is important to keep the area clean every day to avoid urinary tract infection. So, I will need to work on that as well.

Your very fast recovery to almost normality is very impressive! I am hoping mine will go just as well and as fast.

It’s interesting to hear people talk about this being rubbed raw because of the catheter. I was never aware of such a thing, I never had any problems never had any soreness and I had that catheter in for two weeks, Longer than they have it in today.

Your side effects may vary!!!!

One bit of Advice dealing with the "leg Bag" and the "night Bag". My "night bag" came with two chambers one soft plastic and one hard. I had to get up during the night at least once and transfer pee from the soft plastic to the hard plastic. Also the leg Bag has a tip at the end which can lock and has a tip to place over it. Make sure the tip is locked. Once you get the steps in your head it's fairly easy to manage on your own. Since you are hiring someone you might want to get them to help you get in and out of the shower while you have a cath.