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Caphiter Pain after Prostate Surgery

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Posted 4/17/2009 7:55 PM (GMT -6)

Hi,

My name is Dave, I'am 56 years old and I just had my prostate removed on April 7, 10 days ago.  After staying in the hospital for 4 days I came home last Saturday.  I just had the staples removed from the 8-9" incision on my stomach today.  I feel that I am recovering fairly well as I was in pretty good physical shape before the operation.

The thing that is bugging me the most is the caphiter, it is hurting quite a bit, and is quite painful.  I have wait for 3 more days until next Tuesday to get it removed.  I wish there was something else I could do to lessen the pain.  If there is anyone that has gone through the same experience and has any suggestions to lessen the caphiter from rubbing etc. any help will be appreciated.

I sympathise to anyone that is going through a similiar experience.

Dave S..

Posted 4/17/2009 8:04 PM (GMT -6)
Welcome to the sight Dave and glad to hear you are in the recovery phase. I am sure you will be getting many responses to your question. Since my surgery was aborted I only had a catheter for two days so I can not relate to your concern. Stay with us and keep us updated as to how you are doing. I will be watching this thread so I to can learn from your question.

peace and love
dale
Posted 4/17/2009 8:12 PM (GMT -6)
Greetings, Dave.  The catheter is the worst part of the whole thing.  I was fortunate that when I had my staples removed at the 10 day point they also removed my catheter.  One thing I would suggest is to make sure you are keeping the tube lubed really well where it enters you.  My wife is a nurse and she put that ointment on there several times a day. I can only tell you that it will be such a relief in 3 days when you get it out that you will be overjoyed.  Trust you will also get a great pathology report.  Keep us posted.  Best wishes and Lord bless!  David

Posted 4/17/2009 8:20 PM (GMT -6)
Hello Dave S and welcome. We are getting a lot of Daves and Davids in here. I am a David, I am 56 also, and I had open surgery and stayed in the hospital 4 days, but back in November of last year. Yes, there is nothing good to say about having a catheter. My 63 days on a total of 5 of them after my surgery have the makings of a legend, lol. If it is rubbing type pain, then make sure the tip is well lubicrated, and make sure you stay clean down there of course. If you get spasms in your bladder, ditropan will resolve that, you could ask your doctor for some. And it rarely if ever hurts when they take it out, many of us feared that, but in most cases, it just kinds of slips out and its all over in a couple of seconds or so. Thinking about it is worse than having it removed. Once it is out, then you will see how you will do in the next stage of your recovery, the incontinence issue. Hopefully, you will be dry early. Please keep us posted.

David in SC
Posted 4/18/2009 4:09 AM (GMT -6)

Where does it hurt? Tip of the penis or at the base?

On the ol scale of 1 to 10 -> how would you rate the pain?

If the pain is at the base-> I forget the numbers, but they file the ballon with like 15ml of fluid...My surgeon reduced the fluid by 5ml which made a lot of difference when sitting...Had my cath in for five weeks...If your paid level is at the high end of the scale - call your surgeo this weeked and discuss it with him/her.

Posted 4/18/2009 1:04 PM (GMT -6)
Thanks for all of your replies to my questions.

I ended up going to the emergency at hospital last night at 11:00 PM and found out that I was feeling so much more pain from the catheter because I had a bladder/urinary track infection. After taking some antibiotics and other meds for a bladder infecftion I feel back where I was before. The catheter is still real irritating but will be able to handle for a few more days until it is removed.

I tried real hard to keep it clean but still ended up getting a bladder infection.

Dave S..
Vancouver, BC Canada
Posted 4/19/2009 3:07 AM (GMT -6)
Bladder infections are pretty common with or without what you've been through...Glad you're headed in the right direction.
Posted 4/19/2009 3:37 AM (GMT -6)
DSVAN, welcome to the forum where information is abundant and freely given. Unfortunately when the catheter is in place there is a direct route from the outside to your bladder so a bladder infection is always a real possibility........ couple this with having a foreign object of a fair size jostling around inside and irritating your bladder and it is a wonder it does not happen more often. I found that gently pulling the penis back and exposing more of the catheter tube and applying a liberal quantity of baby oil (recommended by a very experienced nurse) to lubricate the tube saved a lot of "end" irritation and soreness. A good fluid intake (and output) is recommended to flush the bladder. One thing that I remember caused me problems was drinking orange juice.....it seemed to cause quite a bit of discomfort. For me substituting apple juice eliminated this problem. Good luck with the recovery........hard as it is to imagine at present that bag will soon become a distant memory.
Bill
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