It's been almost one year since I added to this post so I decided I would continue the story here. First off, I have had several 3 scans since surgery and so far so good!
In other posts I talk about hypercontinence or the in-ability to urinate. This is one of those issues that a few will encounter and of course… I had to be one. Following surgery I was doing OK training myself to void and hold but I also experienced several UTI's (urinary tract infections). These were horrible because you feel miserable for a few days and sweat with fever the whole time. Finally my Uro asked me to cath in the evening. This seemed to solve the problem but slowly it became more difficult to void naturally. One more UTI aroung Thanksgiving and I started using a cath more and more. I was slowly losing the ability to void without a cath.
It's now 10 months later and though I have tried some therapy I still rely on the cath to void. I guess I've gotten used to things because It really is not an issue. It's amazing how easy things become when it's just the way it is!
Let's move on to sex for a moment. Again, I have discussed this in other posts but I wanted to keep a complete story here. Early on I talked about concerns that the Viagra was not working. Though I did find that things might go to "half-mast", it was not what I hoped for. Actually things did get worse… perhaps my frustration did not help. My Uro had me try "Muse: which is a very small pellet that you insert in the end of your penis. No worse than using a cath so no problem for me. I found this treatment to be very un-natural. Though I did get a 1/2 or 3/4 erection there was some burning from inside where the pellet dissolved.
I went back to the Uro know that the next step was "Injection" therapy (yikes)! He had told me abut this but obviously sticking a needle in Mr. Happy to wake him up seemed a bit extreme. I was petrified but knew my wife was as frustrated as I was even if she did not show it. Well I'm at the Uro's office, wife by my side and he begins showing me how I will inject myself. Of course he has to try a test run and I have to pay attention so I can do it later. WOW… what a surprise! He shot me up and the needle is so small I can barely feel it. After about 15 minutes he returns to check me out. Sure enough… I have a woody like I'm a teenager again! Why I had this thing scheduled in the middle of a work day is beyond me. My wife had to get back to work as did I so I'm driving down the road with a perfectly good hard on and it's going to waste!
Well needless to say we could not wait to try again when we could enjoy and enjoy we did. To this day I do use the injections (CaverJect) and find it's very natural. Every once in a while the needle stick is a bit more noticable but really… not much to it.
Life is certainly different. I use a cath to pee… I use a needle prior to sex but as I said before it's amazing how easy things can be when that's just the way it is. The love of my wife, support of my family, co-workers and friends has been wonderful. Life is certainly different but if you ask me would I make the same choice I just laugh… such a silly question… I love my life!
