AMS 800

[coolio]

Hi,
After three years of leaking I have just this last week had an AMS 800 artificial sphincter fitted. Still quite sore but doing OK. After my prostatectomy in Feb 2012 I was totally incontinent. In August after months of Kegels and physio visits my urologist put the AMS Advance sling in. At week 15 it suddenly failed, so a second sling was fitted in December 2012. This was about 90% successful, but I was happy with this, only minor stress leaks now and again and dry at night. About a year later the leaks started to get worse, and I was back in pads, first one a day, then two and by October of 2014 I was using three a day. My urologist suggested that the muscles in the pelvic area weren't strong enough to hold the sling and it was now looser than when it first went in. I had an ultrasound which showed the two slings. The first sling had slipped back and had turned almost 90 degrees out of place. The second was still in place but not doing a good job. When I coughed you could see the sling move.

In Feb 2014 I had a Coloplast Titan implant which has been working well. My Canberra surgeon wasn't keen to try fit the AMS 800 given that I already had two slings in place, so I was referred to a specialist in Sydney who deals with "difficult cases" and has a lot of experience with fitting the AMS 800 and penile implants. He told me that I only had enough room on the urethra for one more attempt, so recommended the AMS 800.

When he opened me up downstairs, he discovered that my urethra had a very thin wall, and he almost closed me up without inserting the device. He then took a flap of muscle and wrapped it around the urethra, then fitted the cuff around that to try and prevent erosion. The whole operation took him 4 hours. He said that he had had to "remodel" things a little, so it's not surprising I'm a little sore. Both slings are still in place, so he is confident I will be dry. My one concern is that my urine stream is now VERY slow, about 3ml/sec (about a third of the average for a bloke my age). I'm praying that it will improve as the swelling goes down.

Now the long wait until the device is activated in early June.

[coolio]

Three weeks since the AMS 800 was fitted and I'm still in a lot of pain down there! It hurts like hell every time I take a step, and my scrotum is still pretty sore and the skin feels quite thick. Has anyone else had a lot of pain after this operation? It may be because the surgeon had to do a bit of remodelling down there, and the operation took four hours to complete. Would love to hear from anyone as to how long the pain and discomfort last.