Cincinnatus went bionic Jan 6. Here's my journal

[cincinnatus1951]

Fellow Franktalkers:
Here is my Journal for going bionic on Jan 6.

Cincinnatus’ Implant Journal

Jan 6/7/8, 2016

Jan 6
Reported to the surgical center at 11:00. Did the usual, checked in, vitals, medical history, met anesthesiologist, uro/surgeon and OR team. Went into surgery about 1400 was in the recovery room by 1630. Dr. Khera (uro) said everything went fine. He was initially undecided on where to place the reservoir as I had an RPP. Occasionally there is scar tissue or mesh supporting the bladder that occupies the space. The alternative was to place it in the abdomen outside the muscle wall. He was able to place it internally on the right side.
Medicare requires an overnight stay for IPPs. The night at the hospital was the usual – vials every two hours, pain meds every four , but, not at the same time. I didn’t get any real sleep, just dozing between staff visits. About 0530 a nurse came in and removed the catheter (but not the bandages “Mummy Wrap” as Dr, Khera calls it).

Jan 7
The resident came in about 0630, removed the drain and bandages, inspected the incision and said I was good to go as soon as I voided on my own. That took about another hour and a half until the duty nurse proclaimed that I had peed enough.

Got home about noon on the 7th. Felt pretty good. Figured I did not need the Tylenol with Codine and used Tylenol only. Bad move!! Pain started getting worse. The penis was fully erect, and ached like a four hour erection on tri-mix. Additionally, my abs started to ache and I could see swelling on my belly where the reservoir is. My scrotum was swollen, I could feel it rubbing against my thighs when I walked.

Interesting set of emotions were involved. C-Lab and I had surgery on the same day. He was having some pain issues when we talked about noon on the 7th. I thought I was home free. By about 4pm, I was taking my temp hourly (normal), wondering about the abdominal swelling and about to curse the doc for leaving the penis so erect. I could relate to the members who have gotten discouraged in the couple of days after surgery and wondered what they have done to themselves. Thanks to their experiences and willingness to share, I was able to rationalize and realize I was over-tired, achy discouraged. A good night’s sleep is called for. Had a light dinner, and went to bed with an ice pack, Tylenol and a urinal.

Jan 8
Slept pretty well. Was awake pretty often to drain all the IV fluids, refill the ice pack and take pain pills. Penis pain is much more tolerable. Am able to sit up (gingerly) in bed due to ab discomfort. Can sleep on both sides. Got up at about 0800 and felt a lot better. Washed the incision and inspected the “goods”. Penis girth looks good, length is about 5 inches (about an inch shorter than pre-op). I’m not worried about that, as it should restore once I start cycling. The erection that I have now has more longitudinal stability than I have had since my prostatectomy. Scrotum is swollen and has a couple of hematomas (black and blue bruises). I can feel the pump, it is high in the scrotum. I’ve not tried to move it. The resident said it is not sutured to the scrotum, it floats and is basically held in place by the tubing. She said swelling will keep it fixed for a week to 10 days. The incision is horizontal on the scrotum, right at the line where it joins the penis. Got an appointment to see the doc for follow up and cycling instructions in two weeks. Am not sure what prosthesis he used. The resident said it was a Coloplast and thought it was a Titan, but she was out of the OR prepping another patient towards the end of my surgery. I’ll find that out from the doc when I go in for follow up.
Sitting here with a ice pack as I’m writing this and have no regrets. Wife and I are going out for a short walk in a while.
I’m minimizing activity, but can move around, go up and down stairs with just a little abdominal discomfort.

Cincinnatus

[Anonymous 3]

Congrats on you new implant. It sounds like you are making a great recovery!

[merrix]

Congrats!

First the side note: great to have another detailed log book of an implant process.
I'll be following it with great interest!

Seems you are doing very well. Taking a walk two days after surgery was totally ou5 of the question for me. Two weeks was tough walking due to the pulsating pain when standing upright.

As you have read a hundred times already, and already written above, the ever so valid advice here is to shut down the feelings the first few days.
There will be pain, there will be dozens of questions running through the mind about all sorts of suspiciouns that this or that must be wrong.
In almost all cases it turns out those issues were nothing. It is most of the time simply too early to see. Things change dramatically over the first weeks. More than one can see right after surgery.

You're doing great.

[cincinnatus1951]

Cincinnatus Day 3 post op:
Well another two steps forward and one step back. Pain is generally lessening and is little more than an annoyance now. Was able to get a shower and wash my hair. Feel like a new person.
The negatives... the codiene has me constipated despite stool softeners and prunes. My sister in law is a retired ICU nurse and she told me to get off the codiene. When she had hip surgery, she used a combination of advil (anti inflamatory) and Tylenol (Pain). I'm going to try that. Have more swelling today than yesterday. It shows up as stiffness when sitting in a hard chair or bending. Am keeping the ice packs going. Scrotum is more swollen today too. Based on experience of others, this seems pretty normal. Lots of guys have reported increased swelling for about a week after surgery. Have taken my temp a couple of times a day and it is normal, so likely not an infection. Interesting reaction to hanging around the house, I get bored and decide I want to do something, start doing it and realize I have no real interest in doing it.
Am trying to decide whether to play cards on Monday with my regular group. No reason I can't, except I am pretty tender walking and sitting. It will be obvious I've had something done. Three of the six are prostate cancer survivors and have given up sex. I am concerned that talking about my implant will be like rubbing their noses in it. A couple are older than I and have not had sex in years, so an implant is probably not practical, even if they wanted to do one. Thoughts would be welcome.
Still keeping a positive attitude -- am thinking I'm on track.
BTW wife did write down some details the Doc told her,. I did have the Coloplast Titan, 18cm. I don't know about RTEs. Will find out when I go for my activation appointment.
Cincinnatus

[C_lab34]

Good to read your post. I know exactly what you mean when you say two steps forward and one step back. I underestimated how much swelling I had yesterday, thinking it had gone down considerably. In reality, I just wasn't looking too closely because of how sore everything was. I still have pretty good swelling both on the penis and the scrotum. It is a little better today. By this point in the evening, I can say that at least it is starting to feel like a scrotum again, not just an aching mass. It will probably take awhile to totally resolve itself. Also I hadn't taken any pain pills since yesterday morning, got a little too confident, and then stayed on my feet for too long, and cooked a meal. Some pain returned, so I took an ibuprofen. As for constipation, I was feeling very uncomfortable and unable to pass anything until just a little earlier today. I drank some coffee, which maybe wasn't the best idea but it did help me have a bowel movement.

As far as what you tell your friends on monday, would a hernia surgery work as an excuse?

[JDavid]

Being honest with your friends regarding the implant might be doing them a favor. To me getting an implant seemed really drastic and alien until I had been reading this forum for a while.

[cincinnatus1951]

Journal Continued:
Sunday, January 10, Day 5

Dawn broke bright and chilly in Houston this morning. Had a good night and hopefully a better day.
Went to bed Sat night, took 2 advil and 2 tylenol and a huge ice bag between my legs. Slept well and was up twice to pee. This morning, no pain, the ab discomfort is minimal, had a good BM first thing and can sit/walk like normal.
Scrotum and penis are still swollen. Scrotum swelling has decreased some, it is palpable and does not feel as stretched as yesterday. No real additional bruising.
Plan for the day is to take advil only for its anti inflammatory properties and continue to ice. Need to send message to self, just because I’m feeling more normal, let’s not overdo it.
While C_lab and I have been talking by phone, we have not been coordinating our posts. I had not read his Saturday post before I wrote mind. Looks like very parallel experiences and reactions.
I plan to play cards tomorrow. If I feel like I do today, they probably won’t realize that I had surgery. Thanks for the advice on communicating. I will tell the guys about my surgery one on one, not as a group, that way they can discuss as much or as little as they like.
Thanks for all the encouraging comments.
Cincinnatus

[cincinnatus1951]

Day6 Monday, Jan 11.
Another day moving forward, used big ice pack last night, still staying with advil only. No pain, a little discomfort, but nothing to be concerned about. Bruising is starting to fade. Penis and scrotum are still swollen,m but swelling is going down. Still icing. Can feel the pump, it is in the bottom to the rear of the scrotum. Scrotum is still pretty firm, so I have not attempted to move it around or try a tentative pump. Penis now about 2:30 elevation. Went to my card game today, noone noticed me moving slowly, so did not have to discuss it. Will do so one on one when the opportunity presents. Used underarmor compression shorts. They held my penis up and to the side which was reasonably comfortable. Glad it was only for a few hours tho. Currently icing.
Cincinnatus

[David_R]

As far as what you tell your friends on monday, would a hernia surgery work as an excuse?

I just told my friends I had had urological surgery, and no one wanted to know any more details.

[cincinnatus1951]

Day 8 Jan 13
Things still going well. Have been icing aggressively. Swelling is dissapating as are bruises. Penis almost back to normal (as to swelling). Scrotum is becoming more pliable. I can feel differentiation in the pump. Erection is down from 3 o'clock to about 2. Found the bulb on the pump, tried to give it a couple of squeezes, but, it was very hard, almost felt like an almond in there. Decided to take the doc's advice and not fool with it until my activation appointment. Incision site is looking good. Looks like some sutures have dissolved. the surgical glue is sluffing off. Wife and I went for a walk went out computer shopping for about an hour. Only meds are advil for inflamation. Am trying to get an appointment next week for activation.
This will probably be my last post, either until something happens or I get an activation appointment.
Thanks for all the interest. Hope Alibaba is doing well.
Cincinnatus