My ER Experience: Lessons from Post-Op Recovery

Long, long day yesterday. Surgery itself was complication free, but the recovery has been “interesting”. Beyond this lies TMI for some folks. Consider yourself warned. If you choose to read on, that’s on you.

I ended up in the ER last night. I developed what’s called post-op urinary retention. I almost certainly woke up with it after surgery. There was a comedy of errors, largely on me. I had never heard of such a thing. So, I didn’t realize the trouble I was in until late in the afternoon.

Joanne took me to the ER at 7 pm last night. I was in 9 of 10 pain by the time it was resolved. The resolution? I had to get a Foley catheter. I don’t know for how long, could be days, or weeks. I will reach out to the surgeon’s office in a short while to find out that timing.

That “comedy of errors?” I was still groggy when I went to leave. Someone asked if I needed to go (note, not you must go before you leave). I was really not in any urgent need, but said I would try. That’s when the fun started.

I got in there and my bandages had come loose and blood was everywhere. I had to call the pretty young nurse to help me. She got me bandaged again, and left me to my business. I actually did go, but only a very small amount. When asked, “Yeah, I did.”

I hadn’t felt any pressing need, so it seemed “Yes” was a true answer. I didn’t urinate more than a couple of teaspoons full any time after that. I tried probably a half dozen times through the day. By 5 pm I was in severe pain.

I called the on call for my surgeon. It was over an hour before the on call doctor returned my call. He suggested that drinking some fluids “might wake up” my system. If it didn’t relatively quickly, I was to go to the ER for the Foley.

I arrived at the ER around 7:45 pm. Was not seen until 11-ish. Finally got some relief around midnight. Approximately 1500 cc of urine came rushing out of me over the next several minutes.

There was some difficulty placing the catheter initially, which is part of why it took so long. My primary nurse was encountering an obstruction and could not get past it.

Another nurse was then called to do it, and I finally started getting some relief. I then received training on how to manage the catheter. It was just after 1 am before we left there. It was 2 am when we got home.

Even with all the excitement, I am deliriously happy about getting my gender affirming surgery. I would certainly encourage everyone to be aware of post-op urinary retention though. It seems to be a relatively common complication of anesthesia. And it can manifest as, not just total absence, but very minimal flow.

Make sure you can fully relieve your bladder while still in recovery. Take mine as a cautionary tale. Don’t put yourself through what I did. And yet, the journey still continues.

Tags: Gender Affirming Surgery, medical tmi, spoonie, trans, Transgender