pre-surgery, Greatest concern is about the Cath, not surgery- Kurt

My wife has been posting in here for the 2 of us, however, this is my first solo attempt.  I am more worried about the cath than the surgery.  I just looks painful.  Am I going to be as sore after that comes out as I was after my biopsy? 

Kurt,

Based on my personal experience, here's my .02:

- it is inserted during surgery, so no pain there at all

- while I was in the hospital, I was concerned about people kicking the bag and tearing something. Bag as gently kicked a few times, no real pain, lttle irritation, perhaps. Keeping the tip of the penis well lubricated is best, but the body will lubricate it too.

- I used a leg bag most of the time after I left the hospital... only used the bigger bag for sleeping. Wore sweats a lot, and no one was the wiser about the bag if I didn't tell them. No leakage problems to speak of.

- Catheter removal scared the hell out of me before hand, but it wasn't painful... felt weird more than anything else. Kind of scary when the nurse rears back to give the thing a yank and pull it out quickly, but it wasn't a problem.

Overall, I know how one can be afraid of the catheter, but really, it is nothing, most of the time.

Hey Kurt:

I never thought much about the catheter.  I used the big bag the entire time.  No pain...no discomfort.  Took my walks every day and carried the bag's holder in my hand (this was in August and I wore shorts).  Out in ten days for me.  No big deal.  "Don't worry about it" is my advice.

I too was more afraid of the catheder than anything else.  I echo some of the advice given, with a couple of more ideas:

I had a large master bathroom with a long counter that helped.  I set things up on the counter - you have to rinse the bags with a bleach solution after changing.  I quickly got into a routine for this.  Also, I had a chair next to the toilet which helped in emptying and changing bags.  Get some of those baby wipes for cleaning around the cath.  I also used my wife's old walker next to the bed to hold the night bag.  My only problem was I didn't have enough adhessive strips to hold the tubing on my thigh - cathe secure.  Some use velcro straps for this.  Removing the cath was not painful at all, just weird.

I'm now three weeks post catheder, and am mostly dry.  For the last two days I have only used one of my wife's senitary napkins just in case of a drip.  Friday will be 5 weeks post surgery, and I'm feeling great - walking 2 miles a day and wanting to do more, but being careful to hold back.  Good luck!

Kziz,

Since you are comfortable with the surgery you will be pleasantly surprised with the catheter. The only pain I had with it is the pulling on the end of my penis because doing surgery they did not install the clamp on my thigh in the right place and every time I sat down it would pull. There appears to be a couple of different methods for attaching the clamp. Some use a velcro strap which I believe must be better. In my case it was an adhesive backed clamp that stuck on my thigh. This caused some skin irritation and did not allow as much freedom of movement. They gave me several of the clamps and I changed it every other day and relocated it to try and keep the irritation down. You might want to ask ahead of time what they will be using. I wore the leg bag during the day and went all over the place with it. I went to the grocery store, church and out to eat with friends. I used the large bag at night and placed it in a office type of plastic trash container. This worked perfectly as all I had to do was pick up the trash container when moving around. It also kept the bag out of sight which made things a little better around the house. As others have said there is no pain when it comes out. It just feels weird. The only real pain that I had was when the drain tube was pulled out. That lasted for about three seconds but it also was weird as it comes all the way across the abdomen. The nurse said the reason that it hurt me was because I tensed up but how do you keep from doing that when you see it being pulled out of you. I have had a lot more pain doing other things then I did with any aspect of the surgery or post surgery.

Tamu

Hi Kurt,
First...Courtney. She has been a great help for all of us here and is certainly asking the right questions for you. But, you are certainly welcome to write or call or chat with me. Courtney has my EM address and if you contact me through that means we can talk about it. I am wearing a leg bag right now. NO PAIN. My surgery was last Thursday and the catheter comes out this Thursday. It is awkward and while there are no pros other than necessity the cons are not that bad. A couple suggestions, mostly stated above:
> don't forget to get your sweats ready and bring them to the hospital.
> Once you find a position that does not stress your penile opening, after a day passes you will get used to the catheter, so just find a position for the tube that does not bend the tube or get pulled when you sit. (Tamu mentions the tape versus the velcro, I can only state that tape is rigid, and velcro can be maneuvered. Not sure if there is any advantage either way. I have tape, and a hairy body, so ladies I know how a good waxing feels.)
> Shorts. Have them ready for sleeping at night when you get home.
> If your bed is tall, put a chair or something next to it to hang the bag at night. I have slept ok but mostly on my back. Sleeping on my side causes me to experience discomfort, but it isn't painful.
> Xylocaine will be prescribed (or lydocaine) and works well to prevent stinging. I waited too long to start using it, but it helped right away.
> Small trash can is a good idea, but i really use it for trash now. Hooking that bag to my pants or leg strap isn't that inconvenient to do.

about the drain tube. Look away when it gets removed. And try to relax. I did not flinch and was an easy removal. IMPORTANT, watch the doctor as he applies tape on the dressing after the tube comes out. My surgical doctor did not do the removal but rather one of his interns. they applied the dressing tape across one of my sutures and that does not seem right as it pulls on the skin. In fact I cut the tape around the suture so that I did not reopen the incision. That piece is still over the incision and will show it to my surgeon on Thursday. Maybe it's just trivial but it would seem like good bedside manner to not cover wounds with tape?

Good luck, Kurt!

You are not alone and will be fine. Don't stress the catheter. I now consider my presurgical concern about it to be nothing more than overrated. The tabloid coverage of Anna Nicole Smith is more annoying.

Tony & Ruth

Kurt

I can't add much more that what everyone else has already said. You will find what works best with you with a little trial and error but no major pain just some uncomfortable feelings at the tube entry site on the penis but you find the correct position and angle and it's not bad. The first two days I just left the big bag on because I just didn't feel all that great and sat in the recliner, but after those first two days and got my first shower I felt much better and used the leg bag a lot during the day. I had to get up and empty it pretty often but when positioned right didn't bother me much at all, plus it made me get up and move around which I was supposed to do. You will find out what works best for you and the time will go by quickly and before you know it the day comes for the removal and it didn't hurt it was just a funny feeling and a little uncomfortable, least of the worries and you soon forgot all about that as you will begin concentrating on the next steps again and passing the first urine test. You will do just fine but you will be glad to have it off. Now I did run into a little problem that I am told only 5% of patients do and had to have the catheter put back in. I was experiencing bladder spasms after the first removal, guess I wasn't quite ready yet, now that I will admit was not fun but you should not run into that problem and based on the whole experience I made it through that too. Good luck we are all thier with you.

norskie

Am I a weenie or what. I actually yelled and experienced some pain when it was taken out. But it was quick and then all over.

Looking back, overall it was a nuisance more than anything else. As was said, you will be sleeping when they put it in, so no problem there. And in the big scheme of things, two weeks of a nuisance really is not all that muchy.

Hi Kziz -- Like you, I was really concerned about the catheter -- the idea of having something up my urethra didn't sound like my idea of a good time at all. You have received excellent advice here. The cath. should be no big deal for you. In my case, I also had to watch the amount of slack I had between the insertion point and where the tube was attached to my leg. it was really just an annoyance -- not painful. And they give you a topical for any irritation you may have. They will tell you you may see a very small bit of blood or green-looking stuff come out of your penis while the cath is in, but don't let it freak you out. The nice thing about Da Vinci is you'll get that sucker out in a week. You will sleep fine and believe it or not, that first week will go by rather quickly -- at least, in retrospect, it did for me. Also, the removal was not painful to me, just had an odd feeling down there for about a second or two. And as someone stated above, the removal of your drainage tube after surgery is no big deal either. Kind of like someone tickling you from within for second or so. Again, I was freaky about the catheter, but I was fine and like so many others, you will be too. Best to ya!

You're very welcome Kurt.
Just go at your pace with the discussion, but as you see, we all have or are getting experience with this stupid disease and are willing to share our experience if it helps others. For me it's just good to have someone to talk to. This site is really great! Good therapy...

Tony

Hi there Dave!

Thanks for the reply! Yes 5 months - second PSA has been taken and we go to the urologist on the 27th for that reading . . .hoping once again for that undetectible.

Bob is down to drips that he uses one pad per day for. I keep telling him if he'd do his kegals again it would stop but he "forgets" . . . . so the drips are not bothering him I guess.

As for ED, it is still almost a "flat tire" (to quote biker90) . . . .dr. has him on Cialis twice weekly and we try to get things going . . . .will be moving into next phase of the erectile rehab after next Tuesday. Imagine after 37 years of marriage we too have found it's possible to have orgasms without erections . . . .and I'm not sure we would have known that was possible without the "frank" posts of those before us in this very forum.

So, although things are not the same in that department, there is at least satisfaction on both party's part along with hoping for better days ahead. And, the MOST important thing to us is that the cancer is GONE.

;o) Linda & Bob