Surgery Scheduled 9/15...

Hello Charles (Charles5b7e42)

Welcome to the group - i am sure you will find it beneficial to your journey.

There are plenty of Community members here at various stages of their surgery journey and if you look through the various threads and click on people's name or avatar you can read their personal journey.

I wish you well on 15 September - any questions prior to that date please feel free to ask them - someone will have an answer.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Charles

I had my surgery in January this year.  It was nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be and I recovered fairly quickly.  I would advise you to do as much exercise as you can in the lead up to the operation and particularly to do the pelvic floor exercises as these really will minimise your risk of incontinence and speed up your recovery.

Hope all goes well

All the best 

Dave

Hi Charles5b7e42,

I am so sorry to hear that you are headed for surgery.  I am 14 months post op and about as recovered as I am likely to get.  I agree with DAR55 and can't stress enough that the pelvic floor exercises are a must.  I was told to do four sessions of 10 long and short exercises per day and did that most days.  In my case incontinence was a problem for five months but I have good control now.  There are still the odd accident but those tend to be hidden and just involve a swift change of underwear on the rare time they happen.  Sadly, there are a lot of other side effects of this operation, but you are on the right forum to find it all out.  I recommend doing the research as being prepared is better than being caught out!

Wishing you the very best for your operation and I so hope you have a quick recovery.

I total agree with you, there are so many side effects with this surgery. My husband had surgery in February and he regrets it every day. He’s a changed man, very withdrawn. Finally has got in top of his continence, ED has been a serious problem for him mentally. I really don’t think he will ever recover to the man he was in so many ways.  If potency is important to a man, surgery is a bad choice of treatment!

Charles I am 56 and am having surgery next week , there will be good a bad stories out there as everyone is different , I explored every option , I can’t say I am happy with my choice as seriously who would be it’s not choice I really want to make but I am content that it is the best option for me , good luck 

Thanks and same to you, I am also confident in my choice, the waiting game is ...well you know what i mean. Stay strong.

Thanks Dave, the fog is wearing off and I am educating for the fight ahead. Good advice.

Paul, thanks for the honesty...You are correct, I also have a need to know before entering the fight.

Thank You for the reachout... Thanks for your time.

Hi Charles5b7e42 ,

there aren’t any “really good” stories. We have all struggled with choices and tests and above all waiting and waiting. But I can hopefully be a positive side of the surgery route.

I 100% agree with the pelvic floor exercises. They got me dry during the night pretty much straight after catheter removal. And completely pad free after just over 9 weeks.

General fitness came back pretty fast. I had to consciously slow down at times as I was being too eager.

ED is an issue. Even with nerve sparing on one side, spontaneous reactions for me are very minimal. BUT. Vacuum pumps are Bloomin’ amazing. Very happy with mine. My desire and physical feeling didn’t go away, and now with a bit of manual faffing with a pump, things are almost of back to normal .

It’s not a walk in the park, but getting fit before hand, strict pelvic floor and most importantly an “I’m not giving in to this <CENSORED> disease” attitude can make it work well.

wishing you all the best with the surgery and hope you have a speedy recovery like mine!!