Recovery from radical prostatectomy

Hi buddy I had radical prostatectomy about 8 weeks ago and am now back too work I was told that the leakage when moving around can take 6-12 months before it improves some people can be longer as foED I got a phone call from the andrology department about 5 weeks post op and they started me on 100mg sildenfil to be honest doesn’t seem to help but he also prescribed a vacuum pump and this seemso have done the trick

I had radical prostatectomy September 22, so now coming up to 9 months post.

I was realy surprised at how little pain I suffered from the op. The previous biopsy was by far the worst and really I didn't find that too bad. The embarrassment I felt was worse than the pain. The catheter caused quite severe soreness rather than pain and also consequently limited me to doing nothing during the week which it was implanted in me. A week after it was removed I was walking a couple of miles a day and also driving (in an automatic) to my place of walking. My mobility and ability to do light manual tasks (gardening, DIY, etc) improved what I thought was rapidly. By 6 weeks I felt absolutely fine and felt I could do anything I was doing pre-op, although I hadn't done anything too strenuous at the fear of doing myself harm. From then I started to increase strenuous activities and I would think at about 2 or 3 months I was doing absolutely anything I needed to do. That remains up to now.

Severe incontinence caused me problems up to the fifth month and I thought I was going to be one of the unlucky ones who didn't benefit from improvement. However that changed within a couple of weeks period and improved very rapidly and gave me a greater feeling of freedom. I went from 3 pads to 1 pad a day. It has improved since then quite slowly with good days and bad days. Yesterday I decided it was time I tried to get by without a pad and I have been using Tena washable incontinence pants and they have remained dry. I envisage I will put a pad on if I am doing anything realyy strenuous or if I am going out for the day or to special functions. I did have a couple of disasters in the early days. I did buy a plastic urine bottle and found that a Godsend up to a couple on months ago for when I stood up or was about to get out of the car. Psychologically - it was a real problem initially but became much less of an issue when I started to experience improvements. Now I don't have a psychological problem with it.

My cancer nurse gave me, prior to my op, a letter to my doctor for him to prescribe 5 mg of Tadalafil daily. I also got a prescription for a penile pump 5 months post op from a specialist ED nurse who contacted me. I suffered from ED prior to my op due to diabetes. The ED, although still eveident, is not as bad now as it was pre-op and does still seem to be improving. I assume that is due to the Tadalafil. I am due to have Tadalafil for 2 years. Due to the extent and type of agressive cancer I did not benefit from nerve sparing surgery. The pump is very good as well and also serves the purpose of excercising the little man. I would suggest you raise the matter with Urology and press them for action in this respect.

Bare in mind that we are all different and side effects and improvements very from person to person. Keep a positive mind, push yourself within reason and seek help if you are not coping. You have Urology and also your GP who should be able to provide assistance. Oveall - be patient, you are in very early days.

Thanks for that response. I’m sure it’s been said before, but to know what I’m going through is “normal” hells you see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks. 

I had my cath out Thu. and well it's very annoying how much you do leak.

Ministry of transport can to inspect my MOT site (I'm the site manager) had my boss on the phone as we were leaving the hospital. Couldn't get to the site in time,(Southend to Chelmsford) plus well leaked past my pampers.so had to go back home.

Be interesting to read the report.

Fortunately I had back up all the calibration and training records on line so they could easily view it..

Hi there. Im exactly like u. Had my op 2 weeks ago, catheter out last week & its been awful. It is quite shocking suddenly feeling like ur 2 yrs old wearing pampers. Day zero was awful. Day 1 better. Night time is better than day time. And people say the key is pelvic floor exercises so doing those now 3 times a day with the help of the squeezy app on my phone. My new normsl is rushing to the loo when i feel an initial warning spurt. And a bigger problem is an existing double hernia above my groin which ill need to now get sorted as a matter of urgency as its been made worse. However reading others responses theres clearly hope. 3 months & 1 year seem to be the key milestones. And people seem on the whole to graduate over that time from pampers to varying thickness of pads to even simply liners.  So like u im very saddened & confused but keep the faith. Its early days.