You may take what you like to eat or drink. The appetite may be diminished the first several days at home.

You may take a shower as you normally do. You may allow the water to run over the incision and the catheter. The catheter can be rinsed with water but do not put soap directly on the catheter itself to avoid irritation at the tip of the penis.

You may be up and about as much as you like. You may go up and down stairs. You may take walks outside. You may tire easily with minimal activity and find that you require an occasional nap. Your energy will return over the course of 4-6 weeks.

Some men find it difficult to move the bowels after surgery. You may take Metamucil 1 tbsp on a daily basis which may help make bowel movement easier. You may also use Milk of Magnesia 1-2 tsp which may help stimulate the bowels to have a bowel movement.

You can obtain good pain relief if you take 2 Tylenol (regular or extra strength) every 3 hours while awake for the first several days at home. You will also get a prescription for pain pills. You can use these prescription pain pills in addition to the every 3-hour Tylenol. You can take the pain pills as needed according to the directions on the bottle.

You should avoid strenuous activity for 6 weeks. This includes activities such as golf, tennis, cutting the grass, stretching exercises, lifting weights, jogging and so forth. You should avoid carrying anything over 20 pounds for this 6-week period. You will need a postoperative visit in approximately 7-10 days after your procedure. If surgical clips are placed in the incision, they are typically removed at that time.

The catheter stays in for several weeks after surgery. While the catheter is in, you may have some leakage of urine or blood from the tip of the penis around the catheter. This may be more noticeable with bowel movement. You may also notice some blood or mucous-type sediment in the drainage tube or in the bag. The color of the urine may vary. There may be times where it is clear for several days, then become blood for several days, and then become clear again.

You may use the leg bag during the day while up and about. You can then transfer and use the larger bag at night. The larger bag holds a greater quantity of urine so that you will not have to get up in the middle of the night to empty the bag. If you like, you may just use the leg bag the entire time.

You may feel the need to urinate at times while the catheter is present. The bladder senses the catheter and may start to contract. This can cause a bladder spasm which you will feel as a pain or cramping in the lower abdomen. If this occurs, you may also experience some leaking of urine around the catheter. You may apply a heating pad to the lower abdomen which may provide some benefit. You do not have to worry that the catheter will become dislodged. There is a balloon which will keep the catheter in place. If the catheter becomes blocked by either a blood clot or debris, you will notice that there is not any urine while accumulates in the bag over the course of several hours. This occurs very infrequently. If it does occur, the catheter may need to be irrigated. During the day when the office is open, you should call so arrangements can be made to irritate the catheter. If the catheter is blocked at night or on the weekends when the office is not open, you should get to the emergency room at Reston or Loudoun Hospital so that nurses there can irrigate the catheter and call us. They should not remove the catheter without checking with us first.

Admit to Urology
Dx prostate Ca s/p RRP
Cord stable
Vitals q 30 & p.r.n., O2 sat monitor
Allergies
Nursing – strict I's and O's

Foley to gravity
Ly bag teach by in a.m.
JP to Bulb suction
SCDs and TEDs while in bed
Incrive Spirometer 10 puffs/hr while awake
OOB to chair today
OOB ambulatory as tolerated p.m.

500 mL 0.9% NaCl if urine output <30 mL/hr x 2 hours
May repeat once. Give bolus over one hour

Toradol 15 mg IV q 60 x 8 doses
Tylenol 1000 mg p.o. q 60 x 8 doses (give 3 hrs with each Toradol)
Ditropan 5 mg p.o. q 60 p.r.n. bladder spasm
Oxycodone 5 mg p.o. q 40 p.r.n. (once PCA DC'd in a.m.)
Zofran 4 mg IV q 60 p.r.n. N/V
Colace 100 mg p.o. b.i.d.

May take home meds.