Regaining continence after surgery

Hi John, unfortunately everyone is different, im not sure if age and pre-op fitness levels are a factor or if its just pot luck. My story is, I was fully dry at night from catheter removal but still wore pads in bed for a 8 week period just in case. Then during the day I was fully dry from 15 weeks post surgery (so 13 weeks post catheter removal). So basically been dry for the last week now. I continue to do pelvic floor exercises each day. I don't feel like I need to make a conscious effort to hold anything in when lifting, walking, playing golf etc however my brain may have now been programmed to do that automatically. Continence was one of my big pre surgery worries, and to be honest it was really bad the first couple of days after catheter removal, I was using 8 or 9 pads for those first couple of days. Since surgery I've been on decaffeinated tea and coffee and 0% alcohol beers, ie a couple of bottles after golf. Best of luck with your treatment, remember celebrate your  achievements along the way in your recovery. I bought a new set of golf clubs last week in 'Continence celebration' they may be wrapped around my neck when my wife finds out 🤣🤣.

Hi John,

My op was November 2021 and I think I am about as continent as I am going to get.  In my case, that means I may go a few days without any leak and have the odd day when I may drip once or twice. No major leaks at all. On those days, a drip may occur when I am just standing still (perhaps for too long?) or bending/stretching etc. To address your specific question, if you walk around all day tensing your PF muscle it will probably get over tired and eventually fail to do its job of supporting your sphincter. It is just a muscle, like any other. Train it to be strong but don't overdo it. I think that when you reach my stage, I call it 95-98% continent, you get so confident that you forget to tense the PF when it may be advantageous to do so. The sitting to standing example I can see as becoming automatic, but lifting a heavy shopping bag may not trigger such a reflex, especially  if you have been OK for a while. That said, every now and then my wife has a 25kg sack of epsom salts delivered and I carry that upstairs without any thought of tensing my PF (too busy keeping my balance on the stairs) and (to date!) have never leaked doing it. When I feel my bladder is full and need a pee that is no different to pre op times when I didn't realise I was using my PF to hold it up. I think that just goes to show that regular exercise of the muscle really works . To sum up, the odd leak occurs when I am not expecting it, but I am not going to spend my day with it constantly on my mind. For confidence, I wear a Tena level zero when gardening or doing housework etc. Also if I am out for the day or evening. Otherwise, at home, I do not bother and rarely get caught out but if I do, the drip is just the size of a sixpence in my underpants. Probably less than when I put little Peter away too quickly in early days. 

Good luck, Peter