Scared about post-TURP bladder recheck tomororw

Yes Bob, it has happened to me many times. Not sure why they have put a smaller catheter in as anything smaller than a 16 caused me to bypass it.  Just try and relax and forget about it, and preferably drink plenty before you go to the appointment. There is a lot of pressure when they take it out and tell you to go to the waiting room and drink a jug of water, maybe ask if you can go to the cafe for a while to relax and have a glass or two of squash, or take a bottle of water with you and sit quietly somewhere.  There will be plenty of opportunities for you to try before they say you have to self catheterize and that is not hard to do either, and can be useful to learn if you have other problems later.

David

Hi Bob,

A few years ago I had a hernia operation and was unable to pee following the surgery for a few hours. The doctor gave me a very good trick. He told me to think about/day dream about having sex with an old girlfriend or my wife. So I went to the toilet, started thinking about a girl I used to know and voila! I think the key is to relax when the time comes. Maybe some meditation between now and your doctor visit. 

Good luck. 

Ginger ale makes me pee better than water

Good morning Bob.  First of all I want to say i'm sorry for what you are going through.  Next I want to know why you picked a TURP.....Turp is the last resort surgery.  Were you not offered anything else.  Some men have no problem heal from any procedure. But others on here that have had Turp have had many problems with the Turp procedure and ended up having a catheter for month's.  Listen to the other men and just relax.  When I had my Urolift done I had a catheter for 3 day.  That was the first time I ever had one.  I did get the clots and the bladder spasm which were something else.  I know how you feel.  I had a catheter after mine because I do not pee on demand.  When I do go to my Urologist I take mine with me.  He gives me the little jars.Do the little tricks the others are telling you but just relax.  When you take a shower unplug the catheter and let it just hang. Let the water hit your stomach and let it run down you private area.  That should help you pee.  My urologist told me that.  But most of all drink lots of water and relax.....Ken 

Hi Bob,

I understand your fear and concern.  I had a bipolar TURP in mid-August 2017 and stayed the night in the hospital.  The next day my bleeding was pretty light and the Dr. told me if I could pass a couple of samples of urine and they became increasingly less pink, he would take the catheter out and I could go home.  He took the catheter out and for the next 4 hours I tried to pee.  I got absolutely nothing and I felt like I needed to pee.  He came back at noon and I managed to squirt a few drops of blood out.  He said he would be back at 4:00.  By 2:00 I was in so much pain from retention that I couldn't sit still or think a complete thought.  The nurse put a catheter in and I drained 900ml of urine.  At that point, there was nothing I wanted more than the catheter.  I kept if for 5 more days and then had it out.  I was still having trouble urinating - weak stream, incomplete emptying, some blood.  I went back in and they put the Foley back in.  I kept that for two more weeks using the night time bag and the leg strap bag during the day.  They finally took the Foley out and taught me to self-catheterize.  Not as horrid as I imagined but definitely not something I wanted to continue.  It took a few more weeks for my body (specifically, my bladder) to learn to pee again.  The Dr. explained that in a TURP, as in other surgeries, tissue is burned on the inside of the prostate.  Just as it takes your skin several days to build a new dermal layer for protection, the bladder does the same thing and in a moist environment. 

It takes time to heal.  It was about 2 months out from surgery before my body started to normalize.  During that time, I was in Depends diapers 24/7.  I couldn't get up from a chair without my bladder just releasing tens of ml's of urine.  Coughing?  Same thing.  I had literally no control.  It was very depressing as I wondered if this was going to be my new normal.  It eventually subsided and life got back to more normal.  I still have to get up at night and I know I'm retaining urine after I pee.  Your bladder is a muscular organ and once its stretched out, it is difficult for it to return to it's normal size.  It might but it's not guaranteed.

Try to be patient with your recovery.  It's difficult but you will get better.  It's only been less than 2 weeks since your surgery.  It is going to take some time so don't let yourself get down yet.  Your body is working hard to recover.

Doug

I meant to say the "prostate" builds a new dermal layer - not the bladder.  The bladder is definitely affected by the prostate's healing.  Your body is "confused" about it's signals.

If you're not OK tomorrow, have them show you how to self cath. Its WAY better than a foley, isn't painful and will allow you to live a normal life. There are all sorts of variables on TURP (and other procedures) recovery. You should be fine, but if you aren't tomorrow, self cathing will allow you normalcy and jump start your system's recovery. Nothing really starts to work while you have the foley in.

Yes, the foley is the pits. Refuse to have it in and tell them you want to self-cath. If the problem goes away, you simply stop self-cathing. At least until then you don't have something permanently attached to you.  Best.  Paul

It may not help you now but I agree TURP is often not the best procedure with so many newer options. I had HoLEP with no problems apart from expected RE. I had a Foley catheter in for 1 day and fully expelling immediately after. Three years later and I'm still 100%. It may not help you but as others have said newbies need to explore all options. I hope your problems get resolved. Personally I hated self-inserts and much preferred my Supra-Pubic catheter I had for 3 months before my Op.

Thanks for all your comments. It was not a problem after all.  To answer a few questions, meds along, Finasteride, Talsulosin, and an herbal mix for prostate health helped somewhat but had a diminishing benefit over time. I was examined for a Urolift but the opening of my bladder is too high for a Urolift to be a useful approach. I was retaining a  lot of urine and my urologist was concerned about the risk of kidney disease. So the only alternative was a TURP. I an having pain afterwards of course but I was able to empty my bladder, wich they filled before removing the catheter and it was easy, though, painful, to empty my bladder. I was warned that if I could not urinate before late afternoon, I should return to the doctor but that is not necessary. So thanks for all the input but it has turned out alright.