Hi koo

Welcome to Cancer Chat. Our patient information website CancerHelp UK has some information on incontinence following prostate cancer here.

I hope this is helpful to you and your dad.

Best wishes

Jane

Thank you for this. I have forwarded it to him. However I was specifically after the best products to manage the incontinence. He has been to an NHS district nurse and specialist, but neither suggested changing product, and I think this is where he is struggling.

Thank you for your response- much appreciated.

Hi Koo

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about the problems your Dad is having, but delighted to hear that the surgery was a success - that is the best news isn't it ?

A lot of the Guys that I know, swear by 'TENA' for Men Incontinence pads. they are widely available in most supermarkets, but Morrissons and Asda appear to have more offers on these products, more frequently than the other ones. Its a case of just looking around. They come in different absorbancies, so Dad will have to have a look and decide which is more suited for him.

The Guys have said they are more absobant than the ones supplied by the Ditrict Nurses, and not as bulky. However, the Tena pads you have to buy.

Has he been doing his KEGELS exercises ? These are really important, and the equivalent of ladies pelvic floor exercises. I know they are boring to do, but he must persevere with them, they will help him a lot.

There are also various medications that his GP can prescribe, which will help to improve the amount of urine he passes, and also work on the bladder neck muscles to allow a better flow. This in turn should mean that he would need to get up less during the night. Definitely one to discuss with the GP.

Also, I would ask Dad if he is reducing his fluid intake after 7pm, and avoiding Tea and Coffee and other caffeine drinks/products. All this will help to reduce his nightly visits to the toilet.

I hope this has been of help. If there is anything that you think I can help further with, please don't hesitate to post. Alternatively, you can always contact me via my profile page, as long as you have your private messaging facility activated via Moderator Sarah.

Take care, and best of luck to Dad. He is one of the lucky ones, and that is always great to hear

Regards

jadziadax

x

Hi sorry about your problems .

My mum has a non conected inco problem ( olde age0 and before we moved to Northumberland she was dispenced tena by the inco nurse, since moving she has tp have Molimed and they are no where as good a Tena, they dont hold the moisture so well and mum often had embarresing incidents when she has an accident but the pads are dry. or desspite proper undeware they fall out! but the inc nurse cannot change them back to Tena as this is what they have to use.

I hope this may help you, Keep your chin up xx

Hi Koo

I had my RRP on 21st December 2010 and therefore I've just passed the first anniversary of the operation. What your dad is going through is perfectly normal. At his stage after the operation, the urinary tract will be a mess of scars and scabs; eventually the scabs will dissolve, the scars will reduce in size and the incontinence will settle down.  Doing the pelvic floor exercises will help a lot to speed up the process. You can also ask for a referral to incontinence nurse - I found this particularly helpful.

Regarding pads, I found the Tena for Men and Molimed for Men Protect the most useful.  I bought them in bulk over the internet and so got them at a reasonable price.  I also tried the Molimed Active but found it completely useless.  I wore the Tena during the day and the Molimed at night - the shaped pouch of the Molimed reduced the chance of leakage while asleep.  At the two month stage I was also getting up several times in the night, and on more than one occasion leaked while asleep and had to change my pants, PJs, and sometimes the sheets. One problem I found was that it was difficult to get used to the new feelings in the bladder and I was never sure if I really needed to go to the loo or not.  Up until a couple of months ago, I was still unable to sleep the entire night without getting up.  It's only in the last few weeks that I was able to sleep right through, then wake up with a full bladder and not have to rush to empty it.  Now I can laugh, sneeze or cough with a full bladder and remain leak free (fingers crossed!).

I found I turned the corner with incontinence after about 5 months and I was able to go without pads - mind you, I did carry a spare pair of pants and I did have the occasional minor accident, usually as the result of sneezing or coughing.  Over the next few months, things continued to get better, but even so there'd be just the odd drop of leakage now and again.  Now, at 12 months I consider myself to be 99.999% continent.  However, I still have two mattress protectors on the bed just in case!

Practical steps to do:

1. Change to de-caff tea and coffee - this was a tip from the incontinence nurse and it really helped. I went back to normal tea/coffee after 6 months.

2. Put an emergency pack of paper towels, dry underpants and spare pads in the boot of the car and then get out and and about as much as possible.

3. Do the pelvic floor exercises as often as you can.  I'm doing them right now as I type this.

4. Don't even try to hold on to your dignity. Dignity goes right out the window with a PCa diagnosis. Instead, see the funny side of everything, including incontinence!

5. Don't be in a hurry; expect it to take a year for things to settle down. 

All the best

Bob

Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement and support. It is very kind.

Best wishes to all

Koo

I also had my prostrate December and catheter removed a week before Christmas I have struggled with leakage and have found that wearing underwear that are slightly tight seems to keep it in place better

i also didn't know until recently that there was a front and a back, the smaller circle goes to the front and is punned up quite a lot, the larger circle to the rear

then a neat pair of pants(I use y fronts) seem to do the best job, but they do need to be tight

hope it helps

Hi davemo. Welcome to the forum.

You are now at the worst time post surgery.  Everybody finds the first few weeks hard going, but it will get better. 

I found I didn't get any major improvement until I'd stopped peeing blood and clots - then things rapidly improved.  I also suggest you do the pelvic floor exercises ("Kegels") several times a day, even thought at first they seem to do nothing useful. 

If you're like me then after three months you'll find that you don't need full size pads at all. After 6 months I was pad free, but everybody's experience is different. 

Hi Telemando

thanks for the kind words

yeh, finding it hard right now, yesterday was a particularly bad day, but that's gone and positive mental 5hinking" again

the blood in the urine is at a quite shocking level, like a dark red wine, and will be glad to get to a stage where that's clear8ng

i am already doing the Kegels, 4 times a day, 10 reps of 10 seconds and will build up on them

next milestone for me is the 28th January, results of 1st post surgery PSA check (which will be done on 25th) and results of the microbiology on the prostrate, 

thanks again for your words, they help a lot