Hi Gary
I am 66 and had surgery on 25th Jan 2025.
I found the catheter a bit awkward but you do get used to it ,the main thing is to make sure the pipe isn’t kinked and the bag is filling up ,I was amazed at how full the bag gets .Make sure you drink plenty of water to keep flushing you out (leave the alcohol until later).
I had it removed after 1 week ,amazed at how simple and painless the process was .Take all the freebies that the Hospital provides (I live in Birmingham and got lots of pads plus a very nice ED pump)
The incontinence was the main thing that hit me once the catheter was removed ,initially it is a relief to pee again without the catheter,but that soon wears off when you don’t have full control of your bladder .I initially wore incontinence pads from Lidl (£5 for 14 medium strength) ,I kept these on at night ,most people find that we leak a lot less when we sleep ,during the day when we move around we leak more ,I used to put another pad inside the pants and change when it got wet .I find that I have used between 4 to 6 pads per day.
It is important to drink plenty of water ,despite the fact that what goes in will inevitably come out !
I find it better to drink less and often ,but not too late in the evening .
At week 6 post operation I changed to snug y front pants with a Tenna type pad works best for me,change my pad every 3 to 4 hours .I had a consult with my surgeon at 6 weeks ,he told me I should be using about 3 pads per day at this stage .I had downloaded the Squeezy app to help with my Pelvic floor exercises .I was doing 3 sets of 10 ,long and short reps per day but the surgeon suggested I do 5 sets per day .
On the subject of pads I tried the different varieties supplied by my Hospital and a few other varieties off Amazon.
i have for now settled on the v shaped variety (Tenna style),but found some on amazon that we £20 for 100.
There are lots of threads on here about incontinence,it is something we have to manage and will take some months usually before we regain control.
Do not overdo things ,don’t carry heavy shopping bags ,I let my wife carry the load for a while ð
At 6 weeks my surgeon told me I could start to play golf again ,I played 9 holes that day and felt great ,we are all different so listen to your body and err on the cautious side.
My wound started to itch like mad after 4 weeks and so I had a Drs appointment and was prescribed antibiotics so keep an eye on these ,they seem to put a gauze on post op which is hard to see and should come off eventually.The nurse at the surgery removed the piece from my main wound which was the main source of infection ,I immediately felt better.
At 6 weeks post op I decided to start my Penile rehabilitation,up until then it had laid low in my pubes and was almost invisible.The vacuum pump does take some getting used to ,but I find the key is to put plenty of lubricant on the end of the tube that sits up against your skin.It is amazing how the vacuum increases your blood flow and your “Old Man” will grow in stature and you will look like a man again.It is important that you do this process regularly and correctly .There is stuff on this site and you tube that will give you advice.I now look forward to doing the exercise and actually was so stimulated the other day I had my first dry orgasm ,which was just as good as the old ones ,without the mess ð
I hope that you progress well ,my advice would be to use this site for information and advice from some great people who are or have gone through the same experience as you.Refer to your Urology team for any medical concerns and most of all stay Positive and listen to your Body ð