Treatment Options

Surgery

What to Expect After Surgery

Here's what to expect after your prostate surgery:

Recovery
Your body needs time to recover. A prostatectomy is major surgery. Expect to stay in the hospital (for SCCA patients, this is the University of Washington Medical Center) for two days after surgery, and then to recuperate at home for at least three to four weeks. It usually takes about six weeks, however, for most men to feel "back to normal," although many men go back to work in three to four weeks.

You can usually start to drive about a week after surgery. Your doctor will probably recommend that you wait three weeks or more before you have sex, and you should avoid heavy lifting—no more than 20 pounds—for about six weeks after surgery.

Pain control
While you are in the hospital, you will probably be given pain medication by IV, through a tube into your hand or arm. You will be able to control the pain medication with a special pump that releases the drug into your IV when you press a button. Patients recover faster when their pain is under control, so don't hesitate to use the pump when you need it.

Your doctor also will probably give you a prescription for a pain killer that you can take at home once you are released from the hospital.

Catheters, support socks and blood clots
You will wake up after surgery to find that you have a catheter in place. This is a tube that is inserted into your bladder through the urethra to drain the urine. The catheter will be connected to a bag that is taped to your leg.

Your nurse will show you how to handle the catheter before you leave the hospital. You will probably need to keep it for a week or two, and then your doctor will remove it during a visit to the clinic.

In addition to the catheter, you will have an abdominal drain, which will stay in place for a couple of days while you are in the hospital. This tube drains away any lymph fluid or urine that may temporarily leak into your pelvis. Usually your doctor will remove this drain before you leave the hospital. But some men will leave the hospital with the drain and have it removed about a week later.

You will wear support stockings for at least a few days after surgery to help prevent blood clots. Ask your doctor how long he expects you to continue to wear these.

You need to do everything you can after surgery to help prevent blood clots—which can be fatal—from forming in your legs and pelvic veins. These clots can form because you are not moving around much right after surgery. The answer is to keep your legs moving, walk as much as you can, sit with your feet elevated for at least a week after surgery, and wear your support stockings. Tell your doctor if you have a tendency to form blood clots. He may want to put you on blood thinners before surgery.

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October 2004


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