Urethroplasty surgery - feedback

The other post I found from Google was locked, so I wanted to share my experience here as I found tremendous comfort in hearing a non-medical summary of what to expect and input of others that have been in the same position.

I have had this surgery twice about 9 years apart (stricture reoccured), and my second procedure was 8 days ago. Before I go further, if you're undecided if you want to pursue this or not - just do it! Granted I had a recurrence after round 1, but the relief is overwhelming in a way that's tough to imagine unless you've lived it.

My first urethroplasty was in the summer of 2009 and I was 18 at the time about to go to college. My flow was always minimal but it started to get worse which is when I sought help. My recent surgery was a much better experience so I'll briefly recap the initial surgery since a lot of procedural progress has been made since then.

In 2009, I was in the hospital for 4 nights and was bedridden until the last day since there was substantial scrotal swelling and pain from the incisions. I was able to walk maybe 30 feet at a time. I had a penile catheter to hold the urethra in place for healing and also had a superpubic catheter which came out of my lower abdomen. I probably spent 4-5 weeks on couch recovery, and the whole process was a nightmare. However, as soon as the catheter was out my life was instantly better from not having to worry about every time I had to pee in public.

I had a good 2 years of freedom before the stricture recurrence started to slowly show itself again. I put off getting it checked out again because of my previous experience and my flow returned to its pre-surgery level after roughly 2.5-3 years.

Fast forward to 2018 and I'm now 27. I've mentioned my age twice because I used to think it's not just old men with prostate problems that have trouble emptying and was embarrassed on some level. There is 0 shame in getting this done, but I digress.

I was discharged the day following surgery and was immediately able to navigate my house including stairs, but I didn't push the amount of walking around even though I felt like I could have walked a mile. This time around they used a buccal mucosa graft from my cheek. The first couple of days it hurt to smile, talk, etc, but it's returned to about 90% in a week (no pain but can feel the stitches).

I returned to work (I work from home) 3 days after the surgery even though I worked from my bed. Not much was needed in terms of pain meds after that time once my cheek healed a bit. The incisions were never an issue from the pain or irritation side and the only real discomfort was from the graft (which I thought was awesome!).

For anyone who's never worn a Foley catheter, the thought of it is worse than actually wearing one. You get used to it quickly and even the relief from not having to push during urination or spend several minutes emptying is worth it. The only discomfort is from erections which seem to increase in frequency the further you get from your last ejaculation, but your mileage may vary.

Long story short, it's only been a week but I don't have ANY pain (no meds), I've gone shopping / walking around the neighborhood, and am working full days. At this point I'm mentally past the surgery and am eagerly awaiting being catheter free to begin my life anew (again). 

Fingers crossed for a more permanent result this time around. If you're coming up on a urethroplasty or are thinking about getting it done - embrace it and get excited about a future without a stricture. Medical procedures have come so far in recent years as I've found out first hand. I would have never delayed this long to get my second surgery done if I knew how relatively painless the recovery now is.

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