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Hello forum members, my name is Nick and I am a 23 year old male from Pennsylvania and was hit by a car while walking in downtown Harrisburg April 20 2014, the night before Easter. In addition to many other severe injuries, I am currently suffering from a torn urethra, and am under the care of a doctor based at Hershey Medical Center. I found this forum to reach out to other men you have dealt with urethral strictures and other injuries.
My injuries include a broken leg, torn ACL/MCL/meniscus in my left knee, fractured lower back, bruised lung, a severely fractured pelvis being held together with a hip fixator, and my urethra was completely severed as a result of breaking my pelvis. The severed urethra required immediate surgery to drain my bladder. The urologist handling my case placed a suprapubic catheter in as well as a foley catheter and temporary stitched the urethra back together.
During the last 4 weeks, I’ve had to make several trips to the ER because of both of my catheters clogged from what the urologists think was excess crystals building up in my bladder. This required me to be re-cathed 2 times from each catheter. I had to irrigate every day to keep the catheters from blocking. At 8 weeks, I got an x-ray of my urethra to see if the urethra was fully healed. The x-ray showed there was still a part that was not healed as the contrast fluid leaked into my tissue. I had another x-ray 10 days later and the x-ray showed the same result.
Following this 9 week post-op x-ray, the urologist told me that he was going to remove the foley catheter and have me urinate on my own with the small tear still in my urethra because there was nothing he could do. I am currently draining from the suprapubic catheter because urinating is extremely painful (even with pyridium) and a good amount of blood is present. The urologist also said that an end to end urethroplasty will be performed most likely in 2-3 months from now to remove the stricture completely.
This is a simplified version of my story but just want to reach out to you guys. I have a urethroplasty with my current urologist scheduled for August 26th. I am seeking out a second opinion to Dr Michael Metro in Philadelphia because I have read great things about him in this area. My questions are basically is there anything that I should do prior/after surgery that will make my recovery process less stressful. Any things that you would have done differently? I just want to reach out and educate myself as much as I can before the surgery is performed because I am aware of the complications that could possibly occur. Thanks guys for your time and hope to hear from you soon!Sincerely,
NIckI’m so sorry to hear of your struggles Nick. Life can be very tough at times. You’re very young so keep your head up. I know you’ll get better. I have done my fair amount of research on Reconstructive Urologists all over the country, as I may need the services of one soon. There are two surgeons that I know of in Pennsylvania: Dr. Michael Metro, and Dr. Mang Chen. I think if you’re having any reconstructive surgery you may want to see a specialist that does these type of surgeries on a consistent basis. You’re already on the right track, as you mentioned Dr. Metro. I think you’d be wise to see him. I wish you a speedy recovery. Other guys on this forum have had reconstructive surgery and can definitely offer you sound advice, as they have gone through the whole process. They’ll let you know what to expect.
Neil
I am 5 weeks out from surgery with Dr. Chen. He operates out of UPMC Mercy hospital in pittsburgh. Philly is closer to you, but I would keep Dr. Chen in mind. Very easy to talk to. Surgery was quick and easy. He does urethroplasty as an outpatient procedure. I would highly recommend. The longest I have waited to see him is 2 weeks. He operates 2 to 3 times a week so the waiting period for surgery can be short.
Good luck in your recovery.
Nick,
So sorry to hear about your accident. It’s good that you’re seeing Dr. Metro. I have been under his care since December, and he performed my urethroplasty in February at Einstein Montgomery (a super nice facility). I can recommend him without hesitation. You can read the thread I started to see more.
Given all that you’ve gone through already, my guess is that with a qualified subspecialist like Dr. Metro who gives you confidence, your recovery from urethroplasty will be a breeze, relatively speaking. I can say that my recovery went better than I had hoped, though of course every situation is different.
I guess I could advise you to get a few jock straps for the recovery period, and keep ’em clean so your incision doesn’t get infected. Get one of those shower massage wands with the hose, so you can easily spray-wash your perineum.
Good luck!
Thank you everyone for your kind words! These past 3 months have been pretty rough but I am confident I will get back to normal one day. It feels nice to know other people have had the same problem I am dealing with now. A little update on my story, I went and saw Dr. Metro and he will be performing my surgery now. Just talking with him for an hour or so already made me more confident about the procedure and complications. I will be going back on Sept. 3 to get the pre-op x-ray on my urethra to locate the stricture and the surgery will be soon after. I will be getting the surgery done at Einstein Medical Center in Montgomery also and will be staying there overnight. He also said that my stricture is one of the less complicated ones because he stated that it was already in line with the other healthy part of the urethra. He said it will most likely be easier since all he needs to do is stitch the two healthy ends together rather than re-aligning them first. I’m hoping everything goes well at the next meeting. Thanks again guys! I will update my situation as it progresses.
Nick
UPDATE: Just went to my Dr. and got the x-ray to locate the stricture. End to end urethroplasty is scheduled for October 7. Wish it was a little sooner but since he is a specialist he is booked till then. Here is a picture of the x-ray, wondering if anyone’s looked similar?
Just had my end to end urethroplasty done this past friday 10/3. The procedure took 7 hours because the Dr. had to remove two handfuls of stones from my bladder. These came about when I was inactive and unable to move when I was in the hospital for two months after the accident. He said the urethra repair was successful and he removed all of the stones from my bladder. As for the sides effects, I have been having fevers on and off for the past two days since I have been home but they seem to be finally coming to an end today. I still have both supra and foley catheters. Dr. was planning on removing supra but he is taking it out in 10 days because of the bladder stones he had to remove. The foley will come out 2 weeks after that for a total of 5 4 weeks. My penis is still bleeding a little and am cleaning in twice a day. Scrotum is pretty swollen and incision site is pretty sore still. My legs have had some damage to them since I was in the stirrups for so long (almost like permanent charlie horses in my upper thighs) but movement is slowly coming back with some ice and rest. Penis is a little numb and it feels like I lost some sensitivity especially in the tip, was wondering if anyone experienced any of this? it seems to be getting a little better since the operation but its still early and my dr. told me that is is normal for my side effects so im not real worried. anyone have similar side effects after their procedure? Just trying to take it one day at a time and do everything I can to get back to being healthy.
Glad you made it through the surgery. I had numbness and loss of sensitivity, and it improved over the course of a few months and is completely gone now after 8 months. Keep resting, icing, and taking those meds on schedule. Hopefully those 4 weeks will fly by and you’ll be catheter free and peeing like a champ.
Hang in there!
UPDATE:
Its 13 days after my urethroplasty. Just saw my dr. and had my sp catheter removed and bandaged up with dressings and am told not remove them for 48 hours. As an update on my sides, swelling has gone down a lot but still have some minor swelling in the scrotum area. Still producing so drops of blood at the urethra opening around the foley. It is less red colored than at first but still is present. Still haven’t had an erection, not sure if its mental or what. Sensitivity is still lost in some of the penis but it seems to be getting a little better and hoping it will come back over the next few months. The only part that is really numb is the right side of the tip of my penis which I thought was strange. My legs still have damage to the upper outer thigh from the stirrups. Dr. said to use heat compress and a muscle massage to help. It seems to be getting better just really slow. The incision site is still a little sore but nothing I cant handle. My main concern in the erections/sensitivity lost but after reading around it seems it can take months to re-grow the nerves. Im fine with waiting just hoping it isn’t permanent. Other than that the recovery seems to be getting better each day. Foley is set to come out november 5th in two weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed everything goes well.UPDATE: Tomorrow is the day I go to get my catheter removed and see if the surgery was successful.It will be a little under 4 weeks since the urethroplasty. A little nervious since I haven’t went to the bathroom on my own in about 6 months. Any advice on what to expect who has gone through it? The other two times I had my catheter replaced hurt like hell when they took it out but I am thinking that was because I still had a partially torn urethra. Did it hurt when they removed the catheter after your urethroplasty? Any tips to make it go smoother? Also, did anyone experience any burning or soreness when they urinated the first few times after the cath was removed? First time ive been anxious/little nervous but I am optimistic everything will be fine. Thanks!
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