Recovery At Home: Things To Expect After Radical Prostatectomy And Tips On How To Manage Them
A radical prostatectomy is involving as it includes the removal of not only the prostate gland, but also the surrounding tissue. After the prostate cancer surgery, you may experience challenges and it's therefore necessary to be fully informed about the challenges and possible solutions to these challenges. Below is an outline of common post radical prostatectomy challenges and tips on how to manage them.
Exercise Difficulty
Although after hospital discharge you may be quite strong, and probably able to move around, you shouldn't engage in some exercises. For example, it's not advisable to climb up a staircase as a form of exercise. Also, some exercises, such as swimming and running are also highly discouraged. You should only do light exercises and refrain from any vigorous movement.
To avoid any accidents and injuries resulting from post radical prostatectomy exercises, get a list of workouts you can do from your doctor. Also, you may want to request for a clear description of the do's and don'ts of the post-surgery exercises. For the first week, you can walk around the house for about five minutes, and repeat the walking roughly six times a day.
Renal Function Challenge
Some of the controls that regulate passage of urine are found in the prostate, and the removal of the prostate may affect your ability to hold back urine temporarily. It takes some time for the controls left behind to take up the entire role of controlling bladder release. As a result, you may experience some incontinence or leakage of urine in the beginning and, in some cases, a patient may not be able to control leakage at all.
However, worry not because normally bladder control is achieved in an average of three months, advises Metropolitan Urology. In the meantime, you will be required to wear specific pads meant to hold any leakage. You can inquire from your nurse or doctor the best type of pads to use and where to shop for the pads when the ones you have run out.
Diet Restrictions
Patients who undergo radical prostatectomy are not subjected to a special diet that they are meant to sustain throughout their lifetime. However, after the surgery, it's not advisable to eat just any type of food, particularly foods that are not easy to digest. Foods that don't digest easily, such as meat may cause constipation and give you a hard time when passing stool.
Soups and oatmeal are examples of soft foods that digest easily and may be best for you after the surgery, advises Thomas Ahlering, M.D. In most cases, your doctor will give you a list of foods you can eat. However, if you're not given the list of foods, it's best to have one written down for you by the doctor or nurse. Also, once you go home consult your doctor about food items not discussed previously, before consuming them.
Radical prostatectomy may cause some post-surgery challenges for patients. This article gives tips and guidelines on how to deal with common post radical prostatectomy challenges.
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