Perineal urethrostomy

[wentzel]

Steve

I meant to answer your question too. Driving is tolerable. I have a newer vehicle and the seats are fairly soft. I still have some soreness but it is improving. I will be back to work tomorrow and will be driving some fairly soon.

I plan to ask about a cat scan and also ask about if the suprapubic could be blocking things too?

I will certainly be posting more and hopefully your surgery goes as well as clayton’s and mine. Looking back it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined.

[Clayton]

Greg,
I had mine for almost six months, but it never weeped urine when they pulled it. My doctor did warn me that it might for the first day or two. I had a fair amount of proud flesh around mine. They’d burn it off with silver nitrate at every catheter change, but it would come back in a couple of weeks.

I don’t blame you for keeping the suprapubic. As much as I hated having it, I felt secure knowing it was there.

Clayton

[wentzel]

Clayton

you are closing in on a week after surgery. I know I really started to notice a difference with how I felt. I had a Dr. appointment with my GP the week after, so it was a good excuse to get up and moving for me.

I agree the suprapubic is a security blanket for now. I hope to get my tests scheduled this week and hopefully even completed. I really think that Steve is on to something with me. I have noticed that I have the urge as I fill up, but there is just nothing to come out. I have had a few dribbles, but I think something is not right in the bladder. It doesn’t feel like when I had the stricture. Then I felt the urine move a little and it was if there was a stopper on the end of my penis. This feels very different.

Today is my first day back at work officially and since I work from home, I plan to ease back into it. Next week I have to actually visit some customers and the following two weeks I am teaching and traveling.

Hope this week is a great improvement for you.

[Steve]

Greg,

I am glad to hear that you can go back to work. I am sure that they will find what is blocking you. Happy to hear you are back to work this soon.

Clayton,

It sounds that you are really doing well. I would say as long as the pee comes out all is well. The pain of not being able to relieve yourself is horrible.

I live in Naples Florida, a possible path for hurricane Irma. My flight is Saturday morning at 10:30. Saturday is the beginning of the winds from the storm. I am hoping my flight will depart. If not, then I will have to postpone the surgery. I have been in touch with my Doctor and Hospital. They are very understanding.

Thank you for all your support,
Steve

[Clayton]

Greg,
I’m sure they’ll figure it out soon. At least at this point your graft has had plenty of time to heal. Good luck going back to work. That’s something I’m hoping to do before long.

Steve,
I hope everything goes okay with your surgery, and the hurricane for that matter. Out west we’re dealing with horrible wildfires. As I type this it looks like it’s snowing outside, but it’s actually ash and chunks of dirt from the fires in the mountains. The sun and moon have been red for days, and the smoke is so thick that it makes your eyes hurt just walking outside.

As far as my recovery goes, it hasn’t been all that bad. Sore to walk, and even worse to sit up straight, but those are avoidable. Three days of narcotics before switching to acetaminophen is a pretty good indication that it could be a lot worse. I go Friday morning for my checkup, which she said is basically urinating and then doing a bladder scan to see how much urine is still in there. Finally, a visit I don’t have to dread.

Clayton

[wentzel]

Clayton

hopefully you are progressing along well? I find that every day is a little improvement and as I look back 5 weeks now, it amazes me how much better I feel. Hopefully you get the all clear tomorrow!

I found out today it will be a couple more weeks before i can be tested. I get to go to my local urologist and have my catheter changed yet again. I plan on asking that Urologist (not my surgeon but a local one I use here) if he could maybe do some non invasive test to see if maybe like steve mentioned I have a bladder stone or the SP is causing the issue. Can’t hurt while I wait for the other tests.

I am hoping Steve manages well with the hurricane. I hope it doesn’t delay his surgery. I know how frustrating it is to wait. I am 1/2 Puerto Rican and we spoke with family there today and all is as good as can be expected with Irma passing the island.

greg

[Clayton]

I had my post-op appointment today, and everything went great. My flow was 17 ml/sec with no straining, and I had 14ml left in my bladder afterward, which is basically nothing. She said the fact that my bladder went from needing to be emptied every 1-2 hours, to now being 4-5 hours means that it’s nearly recovered from the suprapubic already.

The incisions looked good too, no sign of infection. There’s still a small amount of drainage, but she said that’s normal, and should disappear soon.

Greg, I hope you get some answers from the urologist when you see them. You wouldn’t think it would be difficult to see if there’s something in the way. One way of seeing if it’s the catheter is to gently pull on the tube until it won’t move anymore. If the balloon is against the bladder wall that means it’s not at the bottom where the urethral opening is.

Clayton

[Clayton]

It’s been just over three weeks, and things continue to improve. The sutures are now mostly gone, and so is the weeping from the incisions. There’s still some swelling in the perinium right where they were working, but it’s going down, and my scrotum is nearly normal aside from an aching feeling that seems very common with surgeries to this area.

Walking is still somewhat uncomfortable. It’s partly due to the swelling and incisions, and partly because of pre-existing problems with my legs from a surgery in March. I’m taking short walks a few times a day though.

Urinating is still fine. My bladder seems to completely empty every time, and the capacity has already returned to normal. Most nights I sleep without ever needing to get up.

Clayton

[wentzel]

Clayton

that is awesome. I am close to 6 weeks out and there is some tenderness in my scrotum still as well. I think it will take some time for that to pass. I have been back to work full time and taught class ( I do industrial training and field service) two days in a row this week. I was on my feet for around 10 hours both days and I was beat, but made it through.

I think the walking and standing are a gradual improvement also. I am planning on tackling the years tomorrow.

glad you are doing well. I go back on 10/6 to see what the heck is going on with me. I did an x-ray and it showed no stones.

when do you plan on going back to work?

greg

[Clayton]

I do construction work, both new and remodel, so it’s hard telling when I’ll be able to go back to it. Hopefully in another month or two my legs will be stretched out and healed enough to tackle it. I do a bit of everything depending on the job — framing, electrical, plumbing, tile work, you name it. Most of it is fairly labor intensive though, so I just have to see how it goes. My last job was this past winter.

I’m also writing a novel, which might suit me better until the weather improves next spring.

Right now I’m more limited by my legs than anything. They tightened back up while resting after this surgery, so now I’m trying to get them back into shape by walking as much as I can, which isn’t very far unfortunately. I used to walk several miles everyday and think nothing of it. Now I’ll walk a few hundred feet and my muscles are screaming at me.

Clayton

[Clayton]

Tomorrow will be five weeks since the surgery, and things continue to improve. The swelling lessens every day, and the incisions are really starting to fade, with only one suture still in place.

The aching feeling in my scrotum is still there, and according to my doctor I can expect it to last for another few months. She said by nine months post-op is should be completely gone.

For those of you considering a urethrostomy, or just had one, the messiness of urinating does go away. Right after the surgery the urine kind of goes everywhere, but somehow always manages to end up in the toilet. That’s only after running onto your legs and butt first. As the swelling goes down that goes away though. At five weeks I don’t have any of that now, and the only thing different from normal is that I sit to go instead of being able to stand.

Clayton

[wentzel]

clayton

I will be 8 weeks weds and as you said the pain slowly has gone away. I still notice a little ache when I sit on a hard chair. My scrotum is still sensitive and doesn’t feel like it did pre-surgery. Not bad, but just sensitive and different. I know you had no Buccal graft, but I can say 8 weeks in it is mostly healed but I still can’t whistle. In all I am almost back to normal. My strength is mostly back, but I still notice I am a little more easily fatigued. My brother tells me it is old age! 🙂

Glad you are doing well. I hope Steve is too? Has he posted here recently?

greg

[Clayton]

No, I haven’t seen anything from Steve in a while. Hopefully they can get him scheduled soon.

Because of my other surgery that kept me pretty much in bed for six months, I’m horribly out of shape. It’s coming back noticeably everyday, but something as simple as moving laundry from the washer to the dryer wears me out. I’m a long way from framing houses or installing roofing again. I turned 40 this year, only a few days after finishing radiation treatment. So far my 40s suck, lol

Clayton

[wentzel]

Clayton

today I got some good news and ??? news. I went for my tests (Urodynamics and Cystoscopy) and the good news is that the Urethroplasty worked and is healing nicely. I was unable to urinate still during the Urodynamics. The test did show all is well with my bladder neurologically. My surgeon then suggested we do a scope to see what the heck was going on. It appears that I also have an enlarged prostate that was masked by the stricture. Long and short is, 11/10 I have to go for a smaller surgery to decrease the enlarged prostate. She is going to use a laser to basically make the hole larger in the prostate. It’s a day surgery and I can stay overnight at a local hotel and then go back the following morning for catheter removal. Not what I wanted to hear, but it is a plan and she is certain now that is the issue causing my inability to urinate post surgery.
It has been a long day with lots of invasive things. I am glad I have an answer, but I am also very glad today is over.

If anyone wants to know the gory details on the cystoscopy or urodynamics, let me know. I can elaborate. Not terrible but not something I would want to do very often either.

greg

[Clayton]

Greg,
It’s good to hear they’re getting somewhere, and great news that the repair still looks good.

Sorry to hear that you have to have another procedure. At least it’s not an overly invasive one. They looked over my prostate really closely while they were in there with the scope, since I guess problems with the prostate aren’t unusual with long-term strictures. From what I’ve heard, the pressure against the prostate is increased, and it can sometimes cause urine to actually flow into the channels inside of it. That can cause inflammation and swelling.

I know what you mean about the cystoscopy. I’ve had it done four times this year, but thankfully only once while I was awake. It’s not as bad as it sounds, mostly because it sounds like the worst thing imaginable, but it’s by no means fun.

I’m really glad to hear that the nerves are all still working okay. If those are still functioning, it’s fixable.

Clayton

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