Worry about meeting the consultant on Monday

Hi,

I was in and out of hospital within a day, but the reason my OH did not visit, was that my surgery wasn't until the late afternoon, and by the time I was awake and out of recovery it was well past visiting hours. My surgeon was kind enough to call her after the surgery to say all had gone according to plan, which was appreciated. By the next afternoon I was home. 

P.

DW, I was in for two nights after my RARP, my surgery was in the morning and my wife visited in the late afternoon. I was given some tramadol which instantly disagreed with me , my wife grabbed a sick bowl and I managed to get the vomit in the bowl but it was going that fast it came out the other side all over my wife. I seem to recall falling asleep while she was there. My recovery seemed to involve alot of sleeping, perhaps because the wards are so noisy at night and the nurses disturb you to take BP etc. 

My ward was a 4 bed bay with a reasonably friendly bunch of people, to keep us all occupied.

I did go out of area for another op a few years ago and spent two days and nights in hospital without any visitors, again plenty of sleeping and some friendly inmates.

Make the most of a bit of You time, he shouldn't need much looking after when at home but make the most of the peace and quiet.

We are all told to do pelvic floor exercises, at one of Andy's zoom meetings Victoria the physio expert also suggested practicing tensing the pelvic muscles when standing up and lifting.

Hope all goes well. 

I had RARP in Guildford. My wife dropped me off in the car park at 11.00. The surgeon saw me and I signed the forms. He asked who he could ring afterwards - and he did, personally, which was very kind of him. I was in theatre at 12.00 having my spinal block and other attachments. I came to at 4.00 in recovery. I was just happy to be out of surgery. My wife knew everything had gone well, so wasn't worried and I received a text from her. To be honest, I did not want her there afterwards. I was processing everything. She had already been fantastic in keeping me cheerful in the run up to the operation and I felt we both needed a bit of space. The other guys in the ward (of six) were good company and although the night seemed to drag, you're so drugged up it doesn't seem a problem. At 11.30 the next day I was discharged. I walked with my bag to the car park and met my wife, who drove me the 1.5 hours home. Sometimes, you just need some space. I didn't want to see anyone from my family in the hospital environment because I would have felt responsible for their worry and concern and that would have been another pressure on me. Selfish or what... I don't know. But I was so pleased to see her when she came to pick me up. And she was pleased to see me!  Ian

Edited by member 13 May 2022 at 18:27  | Reason: Not specified

DW, don't be surprised if he bypasses a little urine and a trace of blood out of the the penis. It often happened to me when passing a motion, a bit of tissue under the penis while sat on the toilet helps save wet underwear.  I was told Rosé colour in the bag should be okay but red wine colour needs attention. Don't forget to adk for some instilagel in case the catheter makes the penis sore. 

Get a couple of extra thigh straps, use one around your ankle to secure the night bag tube when in bed, it saves putting any strain on the bag joint. Make sure the catheter joints are tight, and make sure the leg bag tap is shut before disconnecting the night bag and don't forget to open the leg bag tap when you attach the night bag.

The extra thigh straps are useful when showering. I empty my bag a let it hang on the thigh strap ,when i finish showering I put a dry strap on the other leg and transfer the catheter and bag to the dry strap. Some hospitals use adhesive catheter fixation devices so the strap idea would not apply , the statlock adhesive device id waterproof, they should be changed after 7 days but will last for 14 days.

Make sure you empty your day bag before it gets more than half full. 

Thanks Chris

Edited by member 20 May 2022 at 11:40  | Reason: Not specified

Glad the op is all over. Not too bad 3 months from diagnosis to treatment. I assume TWOC is about two weeks time. A catheter isn't much fun, though I found it quite useful when at the pub. Hope all goes well.