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I guess my story began when I was around 6 years old, that’s when I was first diagnosed with a stricture. The urologist at the time did some sort of procedure, which I now know didn’t last for very long. I’m now 40, and I’m just beginning to realize that what I thought was normal, wasn’t normal to others. Last year I was diagnosed with a very rare, but treatable form of cancer on the calf of my leg. They removed the skin and fat from about half of the calf, then placed a flap from my thigh over it, then a skin graft from my other thigh to cover that. The surgery took over 18 hours. On top of that, they found a stricture when they tried to place a catheter. I ended up with a suprapubic for the last 4+ months while the scar fully forms. The urethrogram showed a 3.5cm complete obstruction of the bulbar area, which will require a graft from my left cheek to repair. My surgeon, from the University of Washington in Seattle, told me I was actually fortunate that they found it. My bladder was becoming so muscle bound from squeezing so hard that eventually it might not function anymore. So, I’m planning on updating this throughout my recovery, to add to the stories already here.
Clayton
I am right behind you. I go 8/2. To say I am nervous is an understatement. I hope to post here to and detail how I do also. Like you they are doing a graft for a 3cm stricture. Everyone at the Cleveland Clinic (where I am doing my surgery) has been great. My Dr has explained everything to me and yet I still have questions. This site has been very helpful and I look forward to being one of the Post Surgery cheerleaders for those getting ready.
greg
Well, I got a phone call from my surgeon, and she told me that there’s a 20% chance I might have to have a staged urethroplasty. The distal part of the stricture is completely closed off, which means there’s no possible way to utilize it. Even with a graft it’s basically worthless. That means cutting it out, and that’s where the possible problem comes in. The urethrogram showed the stricture at 3.5 cm, which is probably too much to simply cut out. They’ll do a scope from both ends before cutting anything, just to make sure. Hopefully part of the strictured urethra has some lumen left, so they can removed the severely scarred part and then graft the rest. I’ll know what they find after I wake up.
Clayton
good luck brother! Hey sounds like there is an 80% chance they won’t right?
I am really starting to be nervous. Been a long weekend and my family is starting to show some nerves too. I leave tomorrow for cleveland and tests and surgery sometime weds.
Best of luck and I will see you on the other side of the surgery!
greg
Hey guys my name is Adam and i was operated june 21st 2017. I had a buccal graft done in the bulbar region to treat a 3 cm stricture. I should add that 8 yrs ago i had urethroplasty using foreskin. 9cm repair went well but in simple terms the parts that were attached to the new urethra had since scarred hence the new surgery. I still have a small stricture near the tip of my penis. I dont know what will happen yet. I will say this. Recovery varies from one to another. I had zero pain from my cheek. My scrotum was the problem. A lot of pain the first 72 hrs after that it was tolerable. You may feel like its the end of the world but remember that you will heal and you will get back to your regular life. I coudnt even hold my baby which was tough. But day by day uts a little better. Being home unable to do much is tough so binge tv shows on netflix, read books keep your mind busy and eat healthy.
Thanks Adam.
I did all my tests yesterday and sometime tomorrow I go for surgery. I’m not looking forward to the next couple days, but your comments about not having any mouth pain is heartening.. for some reason that is the most concerning thing for me. I’ve had a Supra pubic catheter in place since may, so that is not a big deal. The regular catheter and night erections are worrisome too.
I hope to report back in a few days as to how I did.
Greg
Hi greg, the catheter is not really a big issue. I beleive it to be more psychological as it wont look preety. Ill admit the erections are painful. They will wake you up night.i would just stand up for a few minutes to change my thoughts. For me it was every hour but the pain made it go down lol within 5 minutes. You will also notice that your length and girth is smaller but it is temporary. It will not be fully erect and may even pojnt downwards but again temporary. Im 6 weeks post op and its already much better very little pain but still not 100% id say 70% but ive been down this road before so i just give it time.
Oh i forgot to mention to apply a generous amout of polisporin ointment to the tip of your penis and on he catheter. This way if you do get erections it will slide better reducing friction and thus pain.
My surgery yesterday didn’t happen. They put me under and explored with a couple of cystoscopes and an x-ray machine before cutting me, and it turns out that I have a very unusual, incredibly scarred section that has virtually no lumen left. The entire section that needs repaired is 6.2 cm long. They woke me up and told me that they would need more surgeons on hand to possibly assist, including a plastic surgeon in case of a forearm free flap, and a colorectal surgeon in case of an intestinal graft.
She also gave me the option of a urethrostomy, which is where they cut the urethra at the proximal bulbar and route it to the perinium. I would have to sit to urinate, and ejaculate also comes out there. Other than that everything works normally. There’s a very high success rate and it’s a short surgery with a short recovery. I’m definitely leaning toward that option.
Clayton
Hi again. I would like you to be very cautious about the second option. I have done a lot of research and urethrotomy as a very high reccurence rate unless the stricture is less than 1cm. Look it up on the internet. Many specialists are actually considering not offering it. Just to be clear we are speak of the same thing, its a small surgery where they make a cut at 12 oclock to expand the urethra and u wear a catheter for 3days. My dr initially suggested it but when he saw it was 3.5cm he told me to proceed with a bmg. However i have not heard the technique from the first option so i could not give you advice. I wish you good luck.
It’s not urethrotomy, it’s urethrostomy. Easy to confuse, they should have named one of them differently.
The urethrostomy procedure is where they shorten the urethra and route it to the perinium, bypassing the stricture completely. The success rate in modern times is around 98%, with a much shorter recovery and no risk for erectile dysfunction or loss of bladder control.
No, the penis isn’t affected at all, since the urethra is only worked on just after the external sphincter. That leaves the nerves and blood vessels to the penis intact. Sex is exactly the same, except that you ejaculate through the new urethra opening in the perinium. That means you can’t impregnate someone naturally, but it also means you can’t accidentally impregnate, which might be a plus for some people.
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