If you have recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer it is likely to be a worrying time and you will have lots of decisions to make and information to absorb. If you have chosen or been have advised to have a radical prostatectomy, one of the things that may have been mentioned to you is the likelihood of experiencing urinary incontinence post-treatment.
In the following sections we would like to give you some practical tips and advice on what will happen to you in the coming weeks and to help you to prepare for coping with a catheter after surgery and the subsequent bladder leakage that will occur following catheter removal.
• Immediately after your surgery you will have a catheter and this is likely to be kept in for around two weeks, find out practical advice to help you look after your catheter during this time.
• You will have an appointment to return to the clinic/hospital to have it removed.
• Immediately following removal of the catheter you will be unable to control your bladder and will have bladder leakage. The amount of leakage and how severely you are affected various between individuals and it is not possible to predict in advance how exactly you will be affected.
• Find tips and advice to help you cope with bladder leakage and product advice Help and advice coping with bladder leakage
To read more about the operation and what a radical prostatectomy, entails please visit prostate cancer UK.