This is my first post on here, I am 75 years old and had a quadruple heart by pass on Christmas Eve 2019, I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer about 3 months ago, Gleason 3+4 PSA 8ng/l. Faced with the choice of radiotherapy or surgery I had decided on radiotherapy but on meeting with my consultant on decision day he told me that as a fit person (I walked most days) a non smoker and not overweight he had every confidence that surgery would be fine so at that moment I changed my mind…so surgery it was to be at Southend… a robotic prostatectomy
I went into Southend Hospital at 7am 11 days ago and found that I was first on the list so in theatre about 9am and woke up in ICU a few hours later minus my prostate but fitted with a suprapubic catheter…this is where the catheter goes into your bladder via a small incision under the navel.
After a hour or so I was off to the ward for an overnight stay and sent home mid morning the day after.
After 9 days with the catheter I was shown via a video how to remove the bag from my catheter and spigot the tube from by bladder (seal it)…I then had weekend to make sure that I could wee naturally and this morning, August 1st 2022, I went to Colchester Hospital to have the catheter tube removed, I was a little worried about this but I didn’t realise that it had been taken out until they were putting a dressing on.
Since I removed the bag and “went” naturally I had one little leak on the first day and not even a dribble since.
The point of this message is that its not all doom & gloom, maybe I’m just lucky as I’ve not needed any painkillers and feel almost as if I’d had nothing done.
I do have to say that I have been doing pelvic floor exercises for a couple of months.
All the best,
Terry
