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Caphiter Pain after Prostate Surgery

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Caphiter Pain after Prostate Surgery  
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Posted 4/17/2009 8:55 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 9:04 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
My PSA at diagnosis was 16.3
age 47 (current)
My gleason score from prostate was 4+5=9 and from the lymph nodes (3 positive) was 4+4=8
I had 44 IMRT's
Casodex
Currently on Lupron
I go to The Cancer Treatment Center of America
Married with two kids
latest PSA 5-27-08 0.11
PSA July 24th, 2008 is 0.04
PSA Dec 16th, 2008 is .016
PSA Mar 30th, 2009 is .02
Testosterone keeps rising, the current number is 156, up from 57 in May
T level dropped to 37 Mar 30th, 2009
cancer in 4 of 6 cores
92%
80%
37%
28%
 

Posted 4/17/2009 9:12 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
Age 55
Diagnosed Dec 2007 during annual routine physical
PSA doubled from previous year from 1.5 to 3.2
12 biopsies - 2 positive with 2 marginal
Gleason 3 + 3 = 6
RRP 4 Feb 08
Both nerves spared
Good pathology - no margins - all encapsulated - Gleason 4 + 3 = 7
Catheter out Feb 13 - wore pad for couple of days - pad free Feb 16
Great wife and family who take very good care of me

Posted 4/17/2009 9:20 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
Age 56, 56 at DX, PSA 7/7 5.8, 7/8 12.3,9/8 14.5
3rd Biopsy Sept 08: Positive 7 of 7 cores, 40-90%, Gleason 7, 4+3
Open RP surgery 11/14/8, Right nerves spared, 4 days hospital, staples out 11/24/8, 5th cath out on 1/19/9
Post-surgery Pathlogy Report:Gleason 3+4=7, pT2c, 42 grm, tumor 20%, Contained in capsular, clear margins, clear lymph nodes 
First PSA Post Surgery   2/9 .05, 6 month on 5/9
 
 

Posted 4/18/2009 5:09 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.
Age 54   - 5'11"   205lbs
Overall Heath Condition - Good
PSA - July 2007 & Jan 2008 -> 1.3
Biopsy - 03/04/08 -> Gleason 6 
 
06/25/08 - Da Vinci robotic laparoscopy
Catheter in for five weeks.
Dry after 3 months.
 
10/03/08 - 1st Quarter PSA -> less then .01
01/16/09 - 2nd Quarter PSA -> less then .01
Surgeon - Keith A. Waguespack, M.D.
 

Posted 4/18/2009 2:04 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 4:07 AM (GMT -6)
Bladder infections are pretty common with or without what you've been through...Glad you're headed in the right direction.
Age 54   - 5'11"   205lbs
Overall Heath Condition - Good
PSA - July 2007 & Jan 2008 -> 1.3
Biopsy - 03/04/08 -> Gleason 6 
 
06/25/08 - Da Vinci robotic laparoscopy
Catheter in for five weeks.
Dry after 3 months.
 
10/03/08 - 1st Quarter PSA -> less then .01
01/16/09 - 2nd Quarter PSA -> less then .01
Surgeon - Keith A. Waguespack, M.D.
 

Posted 4/19/2009 4:37 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
1/05 PSA----2.9 3/06-----3.2 3/07-------4.1 5/07------3.9 All negative DREs
Aged 59 when diagnosed
Biopsy 6/07
4 of 10 cores positive for Adenocarcinoma-------bummer!
Core 1 <5%, core 2----50%, core 3----60%, core 4----50%
Biopsy Pathologist's comment:
Gleason 4+3=7 (80% grade 4) Stage T2c
Neither extracapsular nor perineural invasion is identified
CT scan and Bone scan show no evidence of metastases
Da Vinci RP Aug 10th 2007
Post-op pathology:
Positive for perineural invasion and 1 small focal extension
Negative at surgical margins, negative node and negative vesicle involvement
Some 4+4=8 identified ........upgraded to Gleason 8
PSA Oct 07 <0.1 undetectable
PSA Jan 08 <0.1 undetectable
PSA April 08 <0.001 undetectable (disregarded due to lab "misreporting")
PSA August 08 <0.001 undetectable (disregarded due to lab "misreporting")
Post-op pathology rechecked by new lab:
Gleason downgraded to 4+3=7
Focal extension comprised of grade 3 cells
PSA September 08 <0.01 (new lab)
PSA February 09 <0.01

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