Incontinence,
continued
I may have mentioned this in an
earlier posting, but I have had incontinence three times due to prostate related treatments.
The first time was 6 years ago
after my original prostate surgery. I was catheterized for 3 weeks due to
swelling, but after that subsided I learned how to do Kegel exercises and
regained continence on my own. I don't remember how long it took. I continued
to have a strong urge to pee but at least I wasn't leaking. I used the med
Oxybutynin for quite a while but I gradually learned when and where not to
drink lots of liquids, and only used Oxybutynin when we were on trips.
The second time was January of
2017. I had a procedure called a cystoscopy (no fun) where they stick a tube up
your penis to have a look at your bladder. You're awake and it is rather
unpleasant. That night I couldn't pee on my own so we went to the emergency
room and they catheterized me; I had the catheter in for a week, during which I
had a UTI.
We left for a month in South
Carolina shortly after and I was incontinent while we were down there. I
thought I could regain continence on my own but I was leaking the whole time we
were in S.C. (no fun!). When we got back I found out that there is physical
therapy for incontinence; by the time I started it was April, and continued it
until June. I think it took long because: 1) I was 6 years older 2) I had the UTI
complication.
The third time was after my spine
surgery on July 25th. The entire month of August was spent getting a catheter
put in, having spasms where I couldn't pee, and going to the ER to get
catheterized again. I got another UTI. At one point my pee looked like coca cola.
After three trips to the ER, the catheter was finally removed. They taught me
to self catheterize just in case.
While I was healing from the
surgery, my surgeon just wanted me to walk. I did the Kegels on my own. He
finally agreed (at my prodding) to physical therapy for my back which helped my
back a lot. I continued the Kegels. Finally I started PT for incontinence again
in November. That was four months after my surgery, but I am counting three
months since they stopped having to catheterize me.
My original therapist, a woman,
retired. My new therapist is a guy. I liked/like them both. I was a little
concerned that because of my spinal surgery, PT may not work as well now. My
new therapist says that if you can control the defecation muscles, you can
train the muscles that control urination.
He also says that continence is
regained in the following order: 1) sleeping, 2) sitting 3) standing 4) walking
5) lifting. I'm getting closer to controlling sleeping and sitting. I'm hoping
that these will be in good shape by the time we leave for S.C in late January.
I'll continue to work on it while we're in SC and most likely get another
course of physical therapy in March. Hopefully I'll be squared away by spring!
