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Like I said, not an expert

When I had the implant done in 2002, I don't remember there being an infection, they had a word for the condition, but I don't recall what it was off the top of my head. Quick Google search later, it was a SEROMA. Anyways that was me. Whole story about the last pump that eventually had to come out entirely at the end of 2021 was an ordeal. Not for this thread though.

Still swollen, not much pain, but definitely not comfortable. Seems like I'm still getting a lot of seepage from the incision, but it seems clean, no sign of pus, just either clear or pinkish fluid....

I hadn't found that Tylenol or Ibuprofen had done much for me, and the docs haven't said anything about meds for the swelling, but it seems to be a definite case of 'inflammation' or so it seems to me... Just for fun the GF wanted to look up what the best OTC drug for swelling was, and Gaaggle came back w/ Alleve / naproxen... I had to do grocery shopping so I picked up a bottle of the grocery store brand knockoff (why pay extra for the real thing?) and it seems to help a little w/ the discomfort - will see if it does anything useful about the swelling...

WheelyFixed

Still somewhat sore, but swelling may be down a little. It's hard to tell, but at least its not worse. I think it may also have stopped oozing, or at least slowed down a lot. Generally looks like it's healing well otherwise.

WheelyFixed

Good to know it's improving.

Improving is good

Still oozing some, probably less than before, still swollen, again probably a bit less. On the theory that it is better not to stir things up, I haven't tried digging my penis out from under the swelling, but think I probably could if I had to. Pain does seem less, but that may be due to the Alleve knockoff I'm using...

WheelyFixed

Amount of oozing from the incision seems to vary day to day - this morning after showering I was oozing enough to drip on the floor... However it is probably trending down slowly overall.

No signs of infection - and it seems the ooze is more clear / pinkish as opposed to blood. There are also parts of the incision that are looking pretty much closed up and healed, albeit w/ lots of scar bump. I'm having more largish bits of what looks like surgical glue and possibly stitch material peeling off. So overall I'd say things are healing slowly.

Swelling is going down very slowly, feels like I can ALMOST get my penis to put in an appearance, but it's not there yet... The area where the swelling is worst is also one of the places that appears to have the most oozing, so I'm being very gentle in my explorations as I don't want to aggravate things...

I do have a followup appointment w/ the Urology folks on Monday the 16th, hopefully by then the swelling will be down and I'll be healed enough to pull the indwelling cath....

WheelyFixed

Continuing to get slow improvement... At least some parts of the incision seem to have stopped oozing, and I can now get my penis out from behind the swollen areas enough to wash it in the shower without to much difficulty, although I still have a lot of swelling.

WheelyFixed

That sounds promising, hopefully when the swelling finally subsides you'll be be able to take care of business as easy as before surgery!

Still have a lot of swelling, but saw the Dr's nurse today and she pulled the indwelling cath out, and I was able to fish my penis out enough to do an intermittent cath, so hopefully I'm going to be able to be back to intermittent cathing again even if it is difficult... As long as the swelling doesn't get any worse because of my poking at things, I'll be OK. Of course I'd like the swelling to go down but not as much of a rush on that.

Still oozing some, but not as bad so they are keeping me on the antibiotics as a precaution... I did complain about the one I was on that was supposed to be 4x day, pointing out that there was no way I could reliably make that work, so they are switching me back to one that only needs twice a day which works fine for me...

WheelyFixed

Swelling continues to slowly decrease, and oozing continues to decrease... Most of the incision appears to be either closed up w/ no scab, or closing nicely.

It is slowly getting easier to fish my penis out and cath...

However there are at least a couple of spots that have me concerned as to my untrained eyes they look like they have opened up as if the stitches that should have held them closed are not holding... However I have talked to the doctors PA, and sent her some photos of the areas and she seems to think that I'm healing fine, and as long as I'm not getting any signs of infection, I shouldn't worry... I hope she is right, will give it a while and see what happens. I'm checking at least once a day when I get out of the shower for any signs that it is getting worse or getting infected.

Still on the antibiotics with about a week's worth left, I am thinking that when I get down to a day or two's worth if I don't have good healing, I will raise more of a fuss, and possibly insist on actually getting seen...

WheelyFixed

Swelling continues to go down and while oozing hasn't totally stopped, it seems to be down to just a few drops over the course of a day, judging from my pads and underwear... Last night I reached a minor milestone and slept "commando" which is what I prefer and did before the surgery.... It was nice not needing to 'adjust' every time I rolled over or moved my legs around in order to keep the bits out of the way...

Still uncomfortable in other ways, but slowly improving... I've now quit using any sort of pain-killers as they don't seem to be doing much anyway...

Wheelyfixed

Well it's now been one month, and I still have a few spots that are still bleeding and or looking ugly, though not looking infected... But

WheelyFixed wrote: Tue Oct 24, 2023 2:48 pm it seems to be down to just a few drops

a day and the ugly spots are less ugly looking... I think the swelling is also pretty much all gone other than the scar itself...

Hopefully I'll see the bleeding stop some time next week, I hope...

WheelyFixed

Good to hear that things seem to be healing up.

Well, it looks like the bleeding has FINALLY stopped! I've had a couple of days now without any spots on my pad or underwear...

The places I thought looked worst have filled in quite a bit and aren't as ugly.

The incision still looks like a zipper, but it has flattened out a lot and is now pretty much smooth to the touch and even with the surrounding skin.

It has gotten relatively easy to dig my penis out of hiding to cath, more or less about like it was pre-surgery. Only time I sort of miss the balls as it's now a bit harder to anchor the underpad I use in place as I don't have those dangly paper-weights to anchor it....

So I think the healing is going pretty well....

WheelyFixed

Great to hear!

Are underpads unisex? Or is that a stupid question?

Wolf-Pup (imported) wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2023 4:33 pm Great to hear!

Are underpads unisex? Or is that a stupid question?

Not totally stupid.. I have three different pads that I use for continence issues, and it's easy to confuse them unless I go into details...

1. "Male guard" Pads - These are not unisex, but are more intended for an intact male w/ typical size hardware... They basically work like the sort female menstrual pad that is designed to adhere to underwear, but are shaped for male anatomy and stick into your underwear in front... I suspect they are also higher fluid "capacity". They make female urinary pad equivalents, but I think the shape would be wrong for my use since I don't have a penectomy. The male pads aren't ideal as they have a bit of a gap in fit due to missing bits, but work pretty well in handling the stress leakage and dribbling I get... If / when I get my adaptive underwear design project done it will probably make them fit and work better.

2. The bed pads I use at night - definitely unisex, fairly large rectangular sheets, also known to medical folks as "chucks", that hopefully catch the night-time dribbles (I normally sleep w/ just my shirt) and also if I have a bowel 'blow out'... If you've spent much time in a hospital they are likely to have used some on you, as they are a 'go-to' for catching any sort of leakage before it hits the sheets... They are also sometimes marketed as "puppy pads" for critters in 'training' and I've also heard of them being used by couples during sex so she doesn't get stuck with "sleeping in the damp spot "

3. The small thin sheets that come in my catheter kits - essentially a layer of plastic with a heavy absorbent paper layer on one side - they are square and flat, so relatively unisex... They are supposed to go between the 'equipment' and clothing to catch small drips, and protect from them from the povidone iodine solution swabs used to clean the glans pre-cathing.... They also give a more clean / sterile area for the process... I suspect that these are the pads you are asking about.

My kits, and most 'male' catheters are 'unisex' in that both sexes could use them, but the catheters are FAR longer than needed for female anatomy. They make 'female' length catheters, but those are to short to work for a guy. I'm not sure (and haven't investigated) but I suspect that if a guy with a penectomy (or M-F trans that still has a prostate) needed to cath, he would probably need a male-length, since the re-route doesn't shorten the plumbing enough to allow a female length to reach the bladder...

WheelyFixed