turp operation

[fruitsalad]

mr fruit recently had this operation on his prostate, when he left the hospital a couple of days later, i ask what he would be able to do and what he should avoid and was told he could do everything, did'nt sound quite right to me so decided to look it up on the net only to find he should'nt do any heavy work for 6 weeks, no sex for between 2 and 3 weeks, not to drive for the first week after the op, bit worrying if the hospital is sending people home telling them they can do anything when they clearly should'nt be.

[Sqad]

I know that there are nurses on here who work on Urological wards so perhaps they are better qualified to answer.

I feel that you were let down on the instructions or lack of instructions from your husbands rehabilitation care.

No heavy lifting for perhaps 2 weeks......6 weeks seems excessive.
No driving for perhaps 10 days.
No sex for 2 weeks....he probably won't feel like it.

TUR is a non invasive procedure but is still a significant operation.

[fruitsalad]

thank you, for the info every bit helps, he's always been a grafter and i was a bit afraid he would go abit overboard as soon as he started to feel a bit better, so at least i can now show him what he can and cant do and when, very disapointed with the lack of info from the hospital though, i know they are run off their feet but a leaflet on the subject would of helped.

[boxtops]

Something like this would have been useful, depends where you are but I am surprised mr fruit didn't get one of these before his op - I hope this helps - if you Google TURP patient information, there are others too
http://www.northdevon...tion/urology/turp.htm

[fruitsalad]

thanks for the link boxtops, i can understand why he did'nt get any info like this before his op because he was admitted under A and E (due to not passing urine for days) very stubborn man would'nt go to doctors, but would have thought they could have given him that sort of info on his discharge from hospital.

[foodluva]

Hi Fruitsalad,

I'm a Urology Nurse.

There are no hard and fast rules regarding resuming normal activities following a TURP. Basically, the op involves trimming away the excess growth on the prostate which in your husband's case was preventing him from passing urine. The most (un)likely post op complication is bleeding (you would see it coming from his urethra) but this would need to be copious and bright red before medics would be concerned. FYI I have NEVER seen anyone readmitted with this complication post op. I have to admit that in my ward, we give very little information regarding post op do's and don't's when it comes to TURPS. It's probably because they are generally well tolerated procedures with few complications. That doesn't make it right though!!! I'm going to raise this at work tomorrow. You are absolutely right, this is a perfect example of poor communication.

P.S I agree with Sqad. think the timescales you got from the internet are a bit over cautious. Car driving is probably fine but the timescales for sex are probably reasonable. As long as your hubbie doesn't have a job which involves heavy weights/ alot of exertion, he'll be fine to go about his normal business.

Hope this helps!

[Jemisa]

On the sexual side one of the drawbacks is he won't be able to ejaculate, so I hope you have completed your family. - I expect this is something you would have been told.
Otherwise your sexual life should be the same.
jem

[Sqad]

jemisa...that is a good point.

[fruitsalad]

thank you guys for the info, it all has been very helpful, yes family was completed a long time ago.

[foodluva]

Jemisa, slight correction here. Many men continue to ejaculate normally after a TURP. Some go on to have 'retrograde ejaculation' which may be what you are referring to. Certainly not a dead cert that some men couldn't go on to father children. That said, due to the age related aspect of the illness most men (although not all) will have completed their families before prostate troubles start.

[Jemisa]

Thanks 'foodluvva' I understand what you're saying.
I was just relaying what the surgeon told us in a consultation before my hubby had same op. (which turned out to be true)

jem

[fruitsalad]

i forgot to add that mr fruit also has a pipe from his bladder which he has to empty via a tap thats on the end of the pipe, he does'nt have a bag attached just the pipe, and each time he emptys it we have to keep a record of the amount, have to do this for 6 weeks, the urge to pee normally has'nt returned yet.

[Sqad]

Odd very odd, that your husband was discharged home with an indwelling catheter.
Foodluva will obviously put me right.

[dr b]

I had this operation on May 13 of this year. I went into the hospital on a Thursday, discharged after staying one day. I was driving on Sunday (2 days later). No "vigorous exercise" for 2 weeks, but free to resume normal activities (walking, driving, working crossword puzzles) right away. It took about 10 days for there to be no visible blood when first starting to pee. After 4 weeks I was cleared to fully resume all activity (heavy lifting, running, sex, etc.).

In order to go home without a catheter, I was given a "peeing test" where they used a sonogram to determine how much urine was left in my bladder after urinating. Fortunately I passed (they did not give me much time to study!). So although it's not unheard of to go home with a catheter, having it in for 6 weeks seems like a really long time. Everything was working quite normally (very much new & improved, actually) after 2 weeks.

[dr b]

As a postscript, I did a lot of reading about the procedure and recovery, and found many informative ones in the UK from the NHS (I'm in the US). So it does seem odd that a UK hospital is not providing patients with relevant info!

[fruitsalad]

Squad i think its due to damage being done to his kidneys, after the length of time he went without peeing before he had to go to A & E for it to be drained 3 litres was drained off, and it took him 6 days of not going before he would go to the docs, I was abroad at the time if I had been here I would have taken him on day 1

[Sqad]

fruit.....it does seem, given the facts, that your husband has seemed to be "short changed" on this occasion, but remember, the body is very resilient and the medical staff do know what they are doing.