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Walking the dog

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User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 10:32

My RP (Keyhole ) surgery may clash with my wife's knee surgery, if all goes well how soon will it be before I am able to walk my elderly dog around the local park ? or do other low impact practical tasks ?

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 11:31

I had laparoscopic surgery on 4th June, and have a young German Shepherd who pulls on the lead. I was OK to walk him about a week after.

My only discomfort now is that some of the sutures to the keyholes did not dissolve as they are supposed to, and my skin was being pinched. The nurse at my GP removed them this morning. I amazed at the rate of my recuperation.

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 12:30

Thanks for the reply and excellent news regarding the speed of your recuperation, may I ask how old you are ?

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 13:04

Hi Andy,

I am an unathletic 62. You can check on peoples’ profiles if you click on their ”nom de plume“ on the left hand side. I have kept a diary since the 4th June with all the gory details of my surgery and recovery and will upload it here, but at the moment it says “Access Denied”, and I am waiting for a solution from this website’s admin.

Regarding the procedure and afterwards, I can honestly say I have had worse pain from a sore throat and a broken rib!

Good luck with yours!

Cheers, John.

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 14:06

There is deep healing to take place well within and this takes longer than what is evident on the surface. I would be very careful not to put much strain or lift much weight too quickly. I would have thought your clinicians would have advised on this.

Barry

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 14:15

Thanks for the profile tip John,

All the Best.

Andy

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 14:24

I was able to do a one hour walk two weeks post op. Not sure it was a good idea though. Barry is very right - there is a lot more healing going on beneath the surface that needs a lot more consideration than you might imagine.

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 15:56

I was told I could potter round the garden - unfortunately I live on a farm, 1 week later I was back in hospital fighting for my life with organ failure from sepsis! Take it really easy until your first follow up and DON'T strain on the loo I am convinced my obsessive toilet habits and determination to carry on regardless nearly cost me my life !!!

User

Posted 15 Jun 2018 at 20:28

John couldn't have walked the dog for a few weeks but our dog was a strong staffy and John had open RP - if your dog doesn't pull on the lead and shuffles rather than gallops you may be okay after a couple of weeks.

The main things to be cautious of are actions that pull on the stomach muscles - these are cut and if you do too much too soon, you increase your risk of a hernia down the line and / or slowing the recovery of continence.

Edited by member 15 Jun 2018 at 20:30 | Reason: typo

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 16 Jun 2018 at 15:09

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

You are quite right Barry, and of course I have not been doing anything too strenuous, but doggy just pulls until I get him in the car and then we go off to the field, where he runs round off the lead.

The blurb from the hospital said I might bleed via my urethra for up to two weeks - I stopped after two days - do not drive for ten days until you can do an emergency stop - I drove the day of my discharge for a short distance.

I think you are as well as you feel, and on day 12 post-op, I feel 100%. I wondered if my euphoria regarding my recovery is related to post-operative morphine consumption, but then I recall I only ever had paracetamol.

If this is a dream, don’t let me wake up!

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 16 Jun 2018 at 15:10 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 16 Jun 2018 at 17:58

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Excellent- so you are happy to drive without insurance as well.

Just a note to other readers - this is actually illegal and if you were caught in a road accident, you would not be covered even if the accident was caused by someone else. It is also the driver's responsibility to notify their insurer of a change in medical circumstances - the general rule for open RP is 6 weeks but John's insurer would not cover him until 12 weeks post-op unless he had a letter from the surgeon confirming he was safe to drive.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 16 Jun 2018 at 18:54

I am so happy Lyn, and I am euphoric as to my recovery.

The blurb from the hospital where it was suggested “no driving for 10 days” was clearly a generic publication to cover every eventuality from open surgery to mine which amounted to day-case surgery.

I have been driving for for 48 years and am a former test driver for Jaguar, so I think I know when I am fit to drive, and would be happy to argue as such in court.

I am also very happy that I did not heed your siren voice when you suggested that my chosen surgeon was a “rogue”, and that I would be inundated with private messages saying what a cowboy he is.

In contrast, I have received no such communications, instead I have had several private messages saying how impressed men were with his surgical skills and from others enquiring how to get in touch with him on a private and NHS basis.

I may be a an ignorant “newbie” and a “know it all”, but at least I knew that modern Retzius-sparing procedures take place through the abdomen and not the perineum. I could send you pix of my punctured belly by way of evidence, but I guess you would prefer not.

”If I don’t know, I don’t say”.

Edited by member 16 Jun 2018 at 19:04 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 16 Jun 2018 at 19:56

That's not a reasonable response but Andy doesn't really need his thread messed up with bickering.

As far as I know, insurance is not required for dog walking so it should be fine.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 16 Jun 2018 at 20:13

I'd be very cagey about doing much at all for 3 weeks. It might be my imagination but the sphincter re-attachment appears quite an achievement and I've read of people getting scarring and other problems that develop after a few months and give long term problems. I wouldn't do anything to upset it. So I didn't go out for several days but kept moving. In my diary it says I walked 3 miles after 2 weeks then another 3 miles a few days later. On the first walk I started off well but felt dampness after a mile and realised my pad was full and I'd no spare. Walking brought on leakage without me realising it, but it got better and better each week. I once got some pain in my stomach by trying to lift something after a few weeks. That big hole in the middle is on the main muscle route and goes straight through.

I should add my wife drove me round a lot in the early days and I did small walks in shops and library and things as if nothing had happened, but walking more casually than usual.

Edited by member 16 Jun 2018 at 20:21 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 17 Jun 2018 at 13:48

PeteOct16 offers very good advice. My own experience relates to having my bladder and prostate removed six years ago. I was told two weeks in hospital. I was out, fit for discharge in five days. On that fifth day, I accompanied my wife dog walking. On the next day, I held him for a while (mostly, as a Pointer, he runs madly around fields while I gently walk through them). On the seventh day, I went solo but carefully and things became better and easier for me day by day. Obviously, a cautious approach is wise, be guided by how well you feel and if you can, as I was lucky enough to be able to do, prove the surgeon wrong! In a way it was easier for me. No leakages to worry about having been equipped with a urostomy bag, but the healing was just as important, important not to compromise this.

User

Posted 18 Jun 2018 at 12:10

My Retzius-sparing procedure (two weeks ago today) is somewhat different from what most men here will have experienced. Maybe recuperation rates are different with that technique. I have to say I am thrilled with the outcome, as I have had no abdominal pain whatsoever, save for my first bowel movement on day 4. I think that was down to constipation.

I had instant continence once the supra-pubic catheter was removed on day 10, as that catheter goes direct into the bladder, not down the penis. Obviously my operation was via minimally invasive laparoscopy, and thus not leaving a gaping whole in my abdomen which would have been the result of open surgery in years gone by and requiring a long stay in hospital.

Whilst I am completely dry during the day, there has been some occasional leakage at night, but last night I was completely dry. Apart from one keyhole perforation irritating me as the sutures did not dissolve as they should have and they were pinching my skin, (they had to be removed by the practice nurse last Friday), I feel fit as a fiddle. And am I particularly elated as my PCa has gone.....hopefully forever. Fingers crossed.

Barry is always wise with his comments; “be guided by how you feel”, which is exactly what I have done.

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