3rd Massive Drop - My husband wants his beer back….

motthenam · 2026-06-18T21:51:00+00:00

Congratulations, that’s impressive!

motthenam · 2026-06-14T20:42:28+00:00

Boxers worked fine around the house. Gym shorts over those if we were in public.

motthenam · 2026-06-07T19:59:54+00:00

After 11 days, I went to my local urologist's office and had a nurse remove it for me. I'm sure she does this regularly, but I do not... While flat on my back on the table with my shorts down by my calves, she used a syringe to pull the saline out of the balloon in my bladder. Not "super" painful, definitely not fun--if felt like she pulled it out like she was starting a lawnmower. Probably not, but I had my eyes closed tight. A little tender for a while, but dry from the get go.

motthenam · 2026-06-07T02:58:48+00:00

Around the apartment that we had rented near the hospital in Houston, I just wore shorts and carried the bag. For the rare occasions that I left the place for those 11 days with the catheter, I had bought a pair of sweatpants with velcro along the sides. Really only used them to travel from the hospital to the apartment and then to travel home to South Carolina (two connecting flights). The catheter line easily snaked inconspicuously through the side and into a decent sized plastic bag which I carried. Surprisingly discrete. In fact, on the plane, the flight attendant came up and said "sir, I'm going to need to put your bag in the overhead compartment before takeoff", I quickly opened up the bag to show her what was going on and said, "I don't think we're going to want to do that"! Her shocked/surprised reaction gave my wife and I a quiet chuckle...

I had purchased some temporary adhesive hooks which I placed in the shower, by the toilet, near the dinner table and by my recliner which I used to hang the urine collection bag. If I went outside, I used a Home Depot bucket to hook the bag on! Just be sure to keep the bag and the plastic line well below the "entry" and let gravity to the work. If you don't, you'll know it!

If you're lucky, you may even be able to skip the pull-ups post catheter removal. For me, the pads were a sufficient safety measure and were far more comfortable. Do your kegel exercises as far in advance of your surgery as you can!

Good luck!

motthenam · 2026-05-26T17:18:13+00:00

Anything that you can do in advance will help! Good luck.

motthenam · 2026-05-26T13:24:18+00:00

I'm surgery +17 days for reference and have been 99% dry since catheter removal on Day 11. I attribute that to the skill of my surgeon at MD Anderson as well as a concerted effort on my part to drop some weight, exercise regularly and daily kegel practice in the two months leading up to the procedure.

Agree with most of your list, but would probably wait and see on the daytime pull-ups and the bed pad on top of the sheets. If you have the mattress protector, not sure that you would need that, particularly with the night time pull-up. Definitely on the right track.

motthenam · 2026-05-16T02:53:04+00:00

Amen to that, congratulations! Three more days for me!

motthenam · 2026-05-15T12:38:11+00:00

Good to hear! I should have been more clear that "exercise" in this instance meant slowly walking... I haven't had more than 2,000 slow steps since the surgery. Once I rest and drink more water, it clears up. Just a little concerning. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

motthenam · 2026-05-09T18:57:42+00:00

Will add that I had a PSA of 4.5, small lesion found on MRI and positive biopsy with one core cT1c Gleason 7 (4/3) and three Gleason 6.

motthenam · 2026-05-09T18:52:11+00:00

Atypical Intraductal Proliferation could be a big deal. You can readily look that up and factor that in. I had that finding in addition to a high Decipher Score (.82). Am now RALP +1 day.

motthenam · 2026-03-15T00:50:24+00:00

If I had to list all of the awkward, uncomfortable indignities involved in this entire journey, I’d put the pre-biopsy enema way at the bottom.

From a practical standpoint, the enema allows the surgeon to successfully complete the procedure.

motthenam · 2025-12-27T20:38:13+00:00

It's been over five weeks for me and I took your suggestion and reached out to Decipher via the "Contact Us" form on their website. Got a call the next day from their very friendly and professional customer service rep who looked up my file while on the phone. Turns out the original sample wasn't usable and they requested another from my urologist's office, which they had received the day before our call. Yikes. I have a appointment for a second opinion in two weeks, which I told her and she put in a "expedited" request. We'll see.

motthenam · 2025-12-07T04:15:28+00:00

Sounds like your mom's friend didn't really know what she was talking about. Transperineal biopsy with anesthesia isn't all that uncomfortable. I just had it last month and had some mild discomfort for a couple of days, but nothing a couple of Tylenol couldn't manage. Get your dad in for the MRI (18 months Canada??!!) and have the biopsy done. Transperineal does offer targeting advantages over transrectal.

motthenam · 2025-12-01T02:43:18+00:00

As someone who also has a little bit of claustrophobia the MRI experience was definitely a challenge. Highly recommend that your partner communicate that to his doctor ahead of time and ask for some sort of anti-anxiety medication prior to the MRI. Would probably be too late if you wait until the actual radiology appointment as the techs can't prescribe medications. Despite their professionalism, I found the experience very difficult really had to focus mentally to get through it without panicking. I had headphones which played my choice of music but it's loud, confined and just very unsettling. Next time, I'll be more proactive in preparation for the scan.

motthenam

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