u/Healthy_Cloud_326

this is an update to my original post (https://www.reddit.com/r/ProstateCancer/comments/1tmisj6/ralp\_i\_left\_my\_prostate\_in\_nyc/)

I had my surgery on 5/21 and I am feeling pretty good.

The biggest milestone was taking out the catheter yesterday morning. The darn thing has been annoying me all week. I woke up yesterday with some anxiety about the potential pain and what I would experience after removing it. Instead of switching from the night bag to the day bag we just removed it as soon as I woke up. I am kind of squeemish so I was expecting that my wife should do it and I would look the other way. She deflated the balloon with the syringe and then I started pulling very slowly. It was very sensitive but did not really hurt or sting. I was free! Now I can comfortably hit my week-2 walking goals of 4-5 miles per day.

OK now what? There were no leaks. But I put on some briefs and a pretty thick maximum absorbency guy-pad. I didn't really have any sensation to pee for a couple of hours which made me think something was wrong. Then I started to feel like I needed to pee and I went. Here again I was afraid the first time would sting but everything was fine. I Kegel squeezed at the end and used a square to dry the tip. Success! The rest of the day was good. I think I peed more frequently (maybe the bladder muscle is not used to being stretched). There was one time when I felt maybe a couple of drops escaped when I prolonged. I went to bed with briefs and the guy-pad but switched to boxes in the middle of the night to be more comfortable. Maybe I will need something thin in the future but these were not for me. Goodbye max guy-pad. The sensations of needing to pee, peeing and stopping are a little different but nothing major. I expect it will feel more normal as my insides continue to heal.

OK what about Mr Happy? I didn't expect to try this soon but I wanted to know if there was anything. So this morning, I motivated a 4 out of 10 erection. Then I tested the next part which also worked. It was slightly different from normal but felt great. I am happy for the early signs of life.

I am thankful for my progress and the MSK team that took good care of me.

I was diagnosed with Gleason 8 in early Feb. Took my time to explore options and decided on top surgeon at MSK. PSMA PET scan confirmed the bad stuff was limited to the anterior portion of the left side.

I definitely experienced a lot of nervousness in the last few months. But my comfort increased in the last couple of weeks leading up to the procedure. I had trust in my decision, my doctor and God. Things were going to be OK.

My prep was Kegels, lots of walking and daily 5mg Cialis (starting 2 wks prior).

The surgery was on Thu 5/21. The people at MSK were great and made sure I could say my name and birthdate at every opportunity 😉. Got into the gown and kissed my wife. The nurse took me up to the surgery floor and handed me off to an OR nurse. The OR doors opened and I was introduced to and greeted by an 8 person team. I was a little emotional. The amount of tech in the room was impressive (Davinci 5). Up on the table and the team sprang into action.

While in surgery, a nurse gave my wife hourly updates. I woke 3 or 4 hours later. Groggy and a little uncomfortable which was quickly solved via something IV. Then to my room and my wife joined an hour later and there was a pull-out bed in the room for her. The night seemed like I was on an overnight flight to Europe with short periods of sleep. The nurse was awesome and had me doing laps in the hallway at 3am. I slept another bit and then walked again at 6am.

The surgeon met me on my walk and said everything went well including nerve sparing. They would analyze the prostate and lymph nodes but the key is that the PSA remains undetectable.

I have 6 incisions on my belly. 3 on the left (1cm), 1 on my bellybutton top and 2 (2cm) on my right. It hurt to use my stomach muscles and I felt uncomfortable from the carbon dioxide used to inflate my abdomen. Walking is the best medicine to relieve the gas pains.

We left the hospital at 11:30a after getting instructions and a goody bag of supplies to manage the catheter.

I woke up at 2am on the first night home with a feeling like I had to pee. We checked the 'overnight' 2000ml catheter bag was full and backing up. Next night was not a problem.

Today is the third day. I used Advil for the first couple of days but tapering off now. Colace with every meal to get the bowels moving. Stomach is still a little bloated and stomach muscles are sensitive. It hurts to cough. I have been using the incentive spirometer to breathe deeply and that seems to have mostly solved the cough. I have had a good appetite and no restrictions except to avoid gassy foods.

I take out the catheter on day 8 (Friday)... counting the days. Hoping for nice weather and more walking outside.

Overall, the surgery was easier than I expected. Hoping the recovery is as good!

How this started: 59, PSA changed from 2.1 to 3.6 in 1 year, urologist, MRI, biopsy...my only symnptoms were sometimes slow-ish urine flow and getting up once every night.