No urge to urinate over a week after resection!

[HDLadyRider]

Here I am again, with more questions. I have tried to research this one online with NO luck. On 3/17, last week Monday, my husband had colon and liver resection surgery. Two days after surgery the catheter was removed. He was checked and straight cathed every 4 hours because he had absolutely NO urge to urinate. The hospital ended up recathing him the next day and just uncathed him again yesterday morning. Now, a day later...NO URGE to urinate still. Three uroligists have been in to see him and they want to send him home either with a catheter and a fully (??sp??) or him cathing himself every four hours. They have no clue what is going on. According to them his prostate is enlarged. It was prior to surgery but was under control with meds. Anyway, when I google enlarged prostate, it says he would have FREQUENT urges to urinate...he has NONE. So, I ask the last urologist, this isn't something permanant, is it? He says, "well, it could be, that's why he needs to cath himself?"

What is going on here....????? The very hardest and worse part of all of this is the look on his face...he looks SO defeated. I was trying to talk to him about the ileostomy and this bladder thing all being only temporary...he looked and me and said "this is no way to live"!!!

I cried all the way home. Anyone have any input as to what could be going on or whether this has happened to anyone else.

Thanks,
Janine

[mRpOO]

Tell your husband to hang in there. I was released from the Hospital with the same problem back when I had my surgery, 1 1/2 years ago. I had to go back and get re-cathed and they sent me home with it in along with a drainage bag strapped to my leg. I had to keep the catheter in forr an additional 4-5 days or so, I can't really remember how long. When they finally removed it again, I was able to go, albeit it was difficult. Apparently the nerves down there really take a hit after being handled during surgery, correct me experts if I am wrong!

Now 1 1/2 years later my feeling is returning and I am now able to feel the urge to go again.

Hoping for the best for your husband and you!

MrpOO

[Lee]

While I did not have a problem going, I could not tell if I was completely emptying my bladder, I made a point of going at least once every 4 hours. At some point, all feeling did return.

Lee

[CRguy]

Tell him things will take time and will improve. he has been thru the ringer and he needs to give things a chance to settle down.

I agree with other postings. My surgeon said "we preserve the nerves but they get pretty banged up at surgery." I guarantee he was right on both counts !!

A "foley" catheter has an inflatable cuff to help it stay in place all the time, and will be attached to a closed drainage pouch he wears. Open catheterizations are done when needed, or on a time schedule to keep the bladder small, and not left in. If the bladder gets too big for too long and not emptying, the muscle wall of the bladder loses function so it won't want to empty on its own. doing the catheterizations keeps the bladder small so the muscle wall gets a chance to heal and get back to normal function, but this will take some time. Also you want to empty the urine out of you so the toxins don't irritate the bladder or get reabsorbed back into your system. If the prostate is enlarged then there will be some effect on urinations so the docs are trying to manage a few things at once.

Hubby has to remember these are secondary effects. The primary effect was to get rid of the cancer !!! And being a cancer SURVIVOR is a "way to live."

I know it is tough right now but he needs to stay strong and keep fighting. it is easy for us to sit here and give him a pep talk because many of us are now past the worst parts, but he has to remember WE ALL WENT THROUGH the worst parts to get here today. He will too. Make sure he has lots of positive support around and make sure YOU have somebody who can support you too. The caregivers take a lot of stress and need some backup sometimes.

Prayers and best wishes for a positive result for you and hubby.

Cheers
CRguy

[HDLadyRider]

Thanks for the input. It was a relief for me to read that this could be normal. The ileostomy (whom I call Lola) is one thing to learn to deal with. A urinary problem and possible cateterization would just add one more negative during a time when we struggle for the positives.

The great new...he came home from the hospital today, cathetering himself and dealing better than I thought he would. Well, he just walked out of the bathroom hunched over from his pain but smiling...he said "I Peed!!!!!" Glory be!!!!! He says it was work but at least it's kicking in.

Again, thanks so much for the input and putting my mind at ease. I tend to worry almost more than my husband who has the cancer does.

Janine

[Cmcoaster]

Had colon resection 4/08. Can't pee, have to self cath. Have seen two eurologist, no help. I plan to hand in there, hopefully time will take care of this.

[wamo]

Oh goodness Chin Up! New normal for now.... or maybe longer. Paul had to self catheterize every 4 hours for about a year due to desensitized nerve impulses if he was emptying all the way which then led to a distended bladder hence had to self catheterize. It was like for six or eight months Aug 07 to April or May 08 or something like that. He was leaking when he slept which gave insight to the distended bladder. BUT I do also remember him having trouble feeling like he had to go after his initial resection. Paul started to figure out how to just sit and concentrate and let it just kind of well.... fall out of him and doesn't have to catheterize now after he learned this on his own. I guess what I am trying to say is Paul's nerve damage was permanent and did lead to a distended bladder and also ED problems BUT THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN PERMANENTLY TO EVERYONE.

Give it time and understanding for now.... tomorrow is another day, January is another month and next year this might seem like a blip in the radar looking back.
Hang in there and encourage your husband that the body is a miraculous thing which needs time to heal and adjust.
WAMO

[guest2]

It's not just men with enlarged prostrates that can have a problem with inability to pee after surgery. I've had a colon resection, a liver resection + hysterectomy, and then an incisional hernia repair. In each case, they have taken the catheter out sometime the first day after surgery, aAnd then I can't go, and the problem is getting worse and worse because of all the IV fluids being pumped into me. All 3 times, I've had to have a catheter put back in, then taken Lasix to get the fluid down, then wait another day, and try again. The first time wasn't so bad, the nurse mentioned a "lazy bladder" and did all the tricks like running water in the bathroom, putting peppermint oil in the toilet.
After the second surgery, we had been through the whole routine with the re-cath, had gotten it back out, and then I was given muscle relaxers in attempt to calm some back pain from the epidural. They relaxed my muscles -- so much I couldn't pee again, and there went another catheter.
The third surgery was by far the most painful recovery (either that or they didn't give me pain meds as good as I had after the liver resection). We did the re-cath bit once and we finally got things working, but I've always believed things never quite got back to normal. My abdomen can get quite distended before I feel the urge to pee in all the regular areas. I just figured they had shoved things around putting this notebook paper-sized mesh in my abdomen. It never occurred to me there might be nerve damage. It certainly makes sense.
I've always known that pain killers like opiates can slow digestion. Do they also take away (even somewhat) the sensation of the urge to urinate?

[AngelaW]

I had problems going after my first LAR. They had to recath me. I was told it was because they had to move my bladder, so it would take a while for the nerves to wake back up. I didn't have a problem after the 2nd LAR though. It takes time. I don't know how much different it is between men and women.

[AugustWest]

Hang in there Janine ~
props to your Husband for doing what is needed...
very hard,,,,but kudos to him & to you!!

[dearestguardian1]

My dad has not had surgery. He has had a cathder. We took it out today and he still has no urgeto urinate.

[mm66ny]

I am male, had LAR June 2009, and had no urge whatsoever to urinate afterwards for many months. It got better over time, but has never returned to what it was prior to surgery. At first, no matter what I did--concentrate, push, squeeze--nothing would come out on its own. I did the straight-cath thing for many months (you'd be amazed at what you can do if you have to), but it's a pain in the ass (figuratively speaking; no pun intended; I know which end it goes in!).

I went to two urologists; one tried to sell me on a laser procedure; the other one told me to wait at least two years after surgery to see how things are. Like others said, although they try to preserve the nerves, things get pretty banged up down there and it can take a long time for them to recover. Plus, if you're doing chemo and takin pain meds, etc., it may slow the healing. But the nerves are so small--as thin as sewing thread I'm told--that sometimes they get permanently damaged. I have no doubt this happened to me.

I do have the sensation and urge, but it takes either a) relaxation and concentration; and b) some pushing. I don't straight cath anymore. I don't think I fully empty my bladder unless I push. Honestly, I've gotten kind of used to it.

This might be a little TMI, but the stream is not as powerful as before, so I won't be dismantling cigarette filters that people leave in public toilets with my pee laser/sword anymore. Guys, you know what I'm talking about. Oh, the little things in life . . .

[chrissyl]

Hi, I had lar sugery last year and afetr the surgery I had the exact same problem..The Dr said it was nothing to worry about and let me go on my way.I didn't get the urge to urinate but if i made myself push I could go so whenever I remembered I would just make myself go.It has been a year now since the surgey and I still don't get the urge as if I am busting to go to the toilet but slowly the sensation seems to be coming back.I still only go to the toilet about once a day but I have noticed if i do drink a lot of fluid I do get a weird sensation so I go...It does take time but it does slowly seem to come back. Hope this helps

Chrissy