Depressed

Hello Barry and welcome to the site.

I do understand your depression but as far as your bladder is concerned, it is very very early days. Not much comfort at present, but it will hopefully improve for you as time goes on.

Your body has been mauled around inside and still needs time to heal itself so you will have to be a patient patient for a little while longer. Yes, some men are fortunate in that they are dry almost straight away, but as I say, they are the lucky ones.

As for nobody contacting you, didn't the hospital give you a specialist nurse's number when you a were discharged? What were you told to do in case of problems (ie infections etc) ?

Of course there is hope. What you are currently feeling is isolated but you aren't alone anymore are you, because you joined this site.
By the way, do you have anyone at home you can talk to or are you on your own?

Any questions please ask, and hopefully somebody will come along and answer them

There are also specialist nurses on this site who can advise you. While you are waiting for a reply on here, why not go to the phone number given on here and speak to one of them.  (found it for you 0800 074 8383) .

They will be able to reassure you that you need to give yourself time. They may also be able to point you in the direction of further help from the hospital.

When is your hospital follow up appointment?

Edited by member 07 Feb 2018 at 13:55  | Reason: Not specified

Sorry that you are feeling a bit down at the moment but these are still early days. Your insides have been subject to a fair bit of trauma and it takes time for things to settle down. The hospital didn't chase after me once the catheter was taken out and I didn't expect them to but with the paperwork I was given on discharge was a contact number to ring if I had a problem.

I guess the big question is whether you have a problem.

I was told that following the catheter removal I could be dry straight away, I might never be totally dry or recovery could take 12 months or so. The truth is that nobody can tell you. It's a nuisance having to keep changing pads but you need to stay positive and try to get on with things but wearing pads. In my case I found that the night times gradually improved until although I was wearing heavy duty pads they were dry in the morning. During this time I was experimenting with different ways of standing up as the auction of bending and using stomach muscles also emptied my bladder. Bit by bit things improved but it took me about 5 months until I was almost back to normal. There might be a continence unit in your area that might give you additional advice but if you are really concerned then ring the contact number you were given.

I'm sure that it will improve but even if it takes longer than you would like take comfort from the fact that the operation is now over and hopefully you may be on the road to recovery from the cancer.

You can always post updates on this site as your news will always be helpful to someone else and we everyone likes to know how you are doing.

All the best

Kevan

When we got home it took us a couple of days to regroup and I got him to ring hospital for an appointment with a continence nurse which helped so you may wish to do this for a bit of support. He/she will assure you that most likely your situation will improve significantly in time although as folk have already said no one can give any guarantees or time scale for recovery.

At first we were just relieved the cancer seems to be gone ( no guarantees there also however) but he is being pro active and seeing a specialist physiotherapist to help him work at strengthening his pelvic floor muscles. Don't get downhearted Barry.

You will find that you will manage better as time goes on and remember it will most likely be a temporary situation. There is always the conveen sheath system ( husband got these on NHS prescription) or dribble stop type clamp(s) to consider if you want a break from the pads.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Ann