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Its too bad you have to wait that long, but it sounds like great news otherwise. The success rate for a short end-to-end is extremely high.
Clayton
My stricture was congenital, but it was made worse by a traumatic catheter placement as well.
Where they enter your body for the surgery all depends on where the stricture is. Apparently yours was in the proximal penile if they went through the scrotum. Most of us have perineal incisions because ours was in the bulbar area.
I wouldn’t worry about the discharge. Its just a mixture of blood, urine and other normal bodily fluids caused by the healing process and the irritation from the catheter. It should go away soon.
I had to sleep without a blanket on me for a while because my erections were painful against the covers. Coating the part of the catheter tube that your erection covers with Vaseline can help too.
Clayton
It sounds like you might have a UTI. You should definitely contact your doctor to get tested. It could be prostatitis too. Both are fairly common after operations like this.
Prostatitis is basically an inflamed prostate, which can be triggered by both stress and nerve problems in the pelvic area. It usually goes away on it’s own once the underlying cause is gone.
Only your doctor will be able to figure out what it really is.
Clayton
As far as I know, the main sign of re-stricture is a limited stream, the same as the original stricture. The stream is always weaker when your bladder isn’t full, and there can be some mild discomfort if you’re even slightly dehydrated.
At three months you’re also bound to still have some weird nerve things going on. I’m at 6 months, and I still have spells where it feels like something is wrong, and then it passes.
If your stream at times is still strong, my guess is that you’re probably fine. If you’re unsure, or it gets worse, you should contact your surgeon’s office and ask them about it.
Clayton
With the high success rates of today’s procedures, there really is no good reason not to get treated.
Keep us all updated on how you’re doing. The more people that contribute, the more helpful this forum is to everyone.
Clayton
Its impossible to avoid damaging nerves during any surgery, and especially in the perinium, which is attached to a very sensitive and widespread network. Wherever you cut through the skin, you have to cut through nerves. The urethra is also surrounded by muscle, so damaging the muscle and the nerves attached to it is unavoidable when performing any surgery on it.
The area can experience nerve issues for at least a year to some extent, and minor twinges and sensations can often last even longer. The incision site itself will probably never return to normal completely, with numbness being the most common lasting effect. Everything else attached to the pelvic nerve will return to normal over time.
Doctors really should be more clear about these things before the surgery, so people at least know what to expect. I’m fortunate that my doctor at UW was very open about possible after-effects.
Clayton
Congrats on getting through the surgery, and especially getting past the catheter.
Its mostly two things that affect your bladder and cause it to become more sensitive after surgery…
1. Bladder shrinkage. It is true that the bladder does shrink somewhat after having no expansion and contraction for weeks or months due to the catheter, but it goes away rather quickly. Usually by six weeks or so.
2. Bladder spasms. These cause the majority of the urgency problems, since they often feel exactly like you really have to go. They subside over time, but if you had a suprapubic catheter they might persist for a while. Having an artificial hole in your bladder wall comes with consequences. Your doctor can prescribe medications to help with the spasms, like oxybutynin.
If you’re going after only seconds or minutes, my guess is that you’re having spasms. Are you emptying much when you go again right away?
Clayton
I didn’t have any buccal tissue harvested, so I can’t speak from personal experience, but my surgeon very thoroughly explained a lot of it, and I’ve talked to people that have dealt with it.
Did they put stitches in your mouth? When they do it tends to stay tight a bit longer. Regardless of whether they did or not, it’s usually recommended that you work on stretching your cheek out, and over time it should regain much of its elasticity. The numbness should also go away in time, but both of them can take several months in some cases.
There very well could be some permanent damage as well. Its not uncommon for some tightness and numbness to remain indefinitely, but most of it should go away. Although it probably doesn’t feel like it, you’re still early in the recovery phase. A lot of tissue takes over a year to fully heal, and nerves can take even longer. Just hang in there.
Clayton
I’m only 5 months post-op from my urethral surgery, but I have a lot of experience with nerves healing from other surgeries.
It’s probably just nerves coming back. Sometimes the brain will shut off “noisy” nerves after they’ve been injured, essentially ignoring them. Eventually it will sometimes listen again, once they’ve healed somewhat. The other possibility, and the most likely one, is that one of the nerves that was cut during surgery has reconnected to another nerve, and is back online again. They grow incredibly slow, and can take up to 2 years to finally find each other.
They’ll settle down eventually, it just takes time.
Clayton
That’s interesting to hear.
I had bruising in a couple of other places,but my surgeon said that it was “positional” bruising that usually shows up a little later. Its basically from either the staff handling you or from being in an awkward position for too long on the operating table.
I had a bruise show up on my leg after another surgery that was a handprint, which the surgeon admitted was from him resting his other hand there while working on me. That surgery lasted 18 hours, so I gave him a break.
Clayton
Glad to hear things are going well.
The time really varies a lot from person to person, and how many fluids you’re taking in. Right after my surgery I was going about every hour or two if I held it longer than comfortable, which my surgeon encouraged me to do for a while. Now I go all night without going, and it’s never a problem. If I had to give an average during the day, I’d probably say I go every five hours or so, unless I drink a lot or eat a big meal.
It does get better with time. Our bladder has to heal, and it can take several weeks or even months for things to return to normal.
How often are you going?
Clayton
Greg,
One of my doctors said that it sometimes takes 9 to 12 months for all of the discomfort to go away, although in some cases it can be as long as 18 months. She assured me that it will eventually subside though.My suprapubic stopped weeping the same day they took it out, but my surgeon was really surprised that it did. She said it usually takes several days to stop completely.
I remember how weird it was not to be attached to a tube after so many months. For the first week, every time I would get up in the morning I would reach for the night bag.
I have an appointment with my oncologist on February 20th, which he said will be my last since the scans this last year have been completely clear. Now I can run my checkups through my PCP. To say I’m relieved is a massive understatement. Four surgeries and 25 radiation treatments in one year has been enough excitement.
Clayton
Greg, that’s really great to hear. I was just wondering how things were going. Thinking back on it now, I can’t believe I had my suprapubic for as long as I did. It’s a nightmare I’m glad is over.
Do you still have lingering soreness in your scrotum and perinium? I still do, but it’s lessening. The suprapubic site is kind of the same way. Sometimes my pants still cause some tenderness, since it was right on the belt line.
Have fun celebrating!
Clayton
My scrotum was really swollen and bruised too, but it went away fairly quickly, within a couple of weeks if I remember right. From my understanding, some surgeons always act surprised when it happens, but my team told me it happens every time, and sometimes to a degree that looks alarming. It’s all harmless though, and eventually goes away.
The soreness in the scrotum is something that disappears very slowly in some cases. It’s not at all unusual to still have some weird aching feelings even nine to twelve months later. I’m five months past my surgery today, and there’s still some lingering pain. It does go away though, it just takes time for the nerves to heal. I should point out that the really bad pain from the surgery is gone rather quickly, and the lingering pain that I’m talking about is minor, but definitely annoying.
Clayton
It’s good to hear you’re on the road to recovery.
Although it’s not usually what we want to hear after surgery, the best tools we have for complete healing are patience and time. Our bodies know what they’re doing, and all we can really do is take it easy and not cause any setbacks.
Having said that, there are some things that can make us more comfortable in the meantime. One is making sure that the catheter, and your penis, are aimed in the right direction. During the day it doesn’t really matter, but at night when the erections happen it’s usually best if it’s aimed toward your stomach. Another thing is lubricating both the tip of your penis and the catheter tube as far up as your erection will travel, which can help a lot.
As for constipation, it’s not unusual to go several days after a surgery. Take some docusate twice a day, and if that doesn’t work try Miralax once a day.
Clayton
