Update: Five days post surgery and few product recommendations.

I had radical prostatectomy surgery five days ago at Northwestern. They tell me my surgery went well and the first few days were very tough. But, doing so much better now.

I'm sharing just a few observations I haven't seen discussed as much, plus some products that have helped me out. Please add if you've got more tips.

• Finally doing more with the Incentive Spirometer just because my rehab doc son says restoring full strength deep breathing post surgery is important. It was really hard to do deep breaths at the hospital because of the intense abdomen pain I had.

Candidly, I haven't see much posted about rebuilding deep breathing strength post surgery, but it seems like a big deal. I had good lung capacity and strength before, so working on that now. I can tell I did take a hit in deep breathing and strength post surgery.

• Pain level is SO MUCH better. That intense abdomen pain that I had post surgery has passed. For the first two days, the abdomen pain was so intense that it made it hard to walk and the car ride home was rough anytime we hit a bump. The pain came in waves. This is a totally different pain than the bloating pain from the CO2 from surgery or bladder spasms. (sounds like some have this, but a lot don't). So, that glad that is gone.

• I'm back to trusting gas. But, I know if there's gas, I need to visit the bathroom soon after to be safe. Doing my daily stool softener morning and night, and that seems to be keeping things soft enough.

• Also, for prep the day before surgery, they are going to have you clean out your bowels. They had me drink magnesium citrate. I got the flavored and that wasn't too bad. But, to make it easier, make sure it's cold and drink it with a straw so you can sip it down faster. Then, drink with some gatorade or other clear liquids that you actually like the taste of. Also, I skipped eating solid food that day. What goes in is going to come out.

• Pain that didn't used to be as noticeable is now apparent. Now do feel lower back pain when I try to bend at the waist. Nothing dramatic, so not worried about it.

• Do have some annoying penis tip pain when I walk due to the catheter tube area rubbing my pants as I do my walking. I've ben doing the bacitracin on the tip and tube end as directed multiple times a day. Not sure if wearing a tighter brief would help?

• Super glad that I did a bunch of treadmill walking at a fast pace and incline with a weight vest in the month before surgery because I've definitely been using my leg strength to power up standing rather than stressing my ab muscles. I'm sure the exercise before surgery has helped make my current walking much easier too. I've been aiming for at least a couple of good 30 minutes walks the past few days, plus a few shorter walks. Before surgery, I dropped about 12 pounds in weight and super glad I did. I’m not in a place to work on that kind of stuff now. My approach was just to eat smaller meals and make better food choices. I knew my diet was going to be different post surgery, so I just jumped the gun.

Some random products that I found helpful:

• Doing my early homework on treatment options, this book helped in a big way, “Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer” I read the chapters that applied to me. I’ve also found it helpful to do a quick review post surgery. Lots of solid info that you can trust.

You can spend days and days hunting info on the web, but this book gives you so much fundamental info that is medically verified. I ended up changing my surgery center after just reading a few chapters.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1538726866
• For putting on walking shoes post surgery, I set up a pair of tennis shoes with elastic shoelaces and got a long handle metal shoehorn so I didn’t have to bend over as much. I had tried slip-on shoes before surgery, but didn’t like how loose they felt. So, I converted a pair of tennis shoes into slip-ons. The elastic laces make it so that you don’t have to tie or loosen the laces. If I pull the shoe tongue back a bit before putting on the shoes and then position the shoehorn, I can slip the shoes on and still have a good fit while walking. It’s worked well for me…and cheaper than the slip-ons.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C3BYJM8
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYFQ1V42
• For clear liquids on the day before surgery, I picked up some bone broth that I could drink and then use for healthier recipes during the post-cath phase. This organic brand was actually drinkable heated up and is low salt and organic.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EWRHKAY
• As others have mentioned, side-velcro pants have been good for both leg bag and overnight cath clothing. This pair is super comfy.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC5HFDB5
• These are probably overkill, but I had a couple of rubber bungee cords that I hung off a shower hook to hold the overnight catheter bag while I take showers.

Something like this, but I just used a 36” and an 24” version.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DLNY7RQY/
Those were just a few things that might be out of the norm now that I've used them I've found helpful.