Hello. I am male just turned 30. Since a young man of about 16 I had a problem and just got it fixed. Technically, recovery is over, but I still feel am going through some things. I tried to look up information about my surgery, but could only find the academic stuff. I wanted to share my story and hopefully help someone in my position, somewhere or someday. Well... here we go.

What was my problem: urinary strictures

Problems: Pain when urinating, feelings or pain or discharge after urination, urine split, and pain closer to the anus along the urinary line.

How did this effect me sexually: not really, but could effect fertility and if urine can get stuck because of strictures, then semen can get stuck too. Either way it is uncomfortable.

Pre-surgery: This happened due to teenage masturbartion exploration. One moment exploration, the next felt a pop, the next seeing blood, feeling pain, and hid. Weeks later finally told my Dad. Went to the doctor, but nothing came of it. Later on in college, I finally went to doctors feeling maybe in my maturity I could understand the situation better. I was accused of STD's first, but slowly figured out it was not. I was instructed that after college I should go to a urologist and get it fixed. The younger I am, the better. Got out of college and I am just now understanding how finances and how insurance works. First job even with a Bachelor's degree, that was not cutting it. The insurance was Aetna. What were they going to cover?! Pennies. So finally in my late 20's I finally have the opportunity and a doctor finally tells me exactly what I needed to know and my money and insurance were going to work out (not Aetna). I was sent to a lab to do some x-rays and find out what my problem was. Spoiler warning: brace yourself if you love penis!!!! The doctor requested a retrograde urethragram. Here is what that is for those that don't want to google right now and in simple terms: they took a catheter and camera with dye, lubed up, and stuck that up my penis to see where my strictures were while taking x-rays. This did not hurt neccesarily, but if there was a line between uncomfortable and painful this was a tightrope walk with a fat guy. Surprise! This was the first one and they didn't finish. Two beautiful girls were in the room that got to see me cry a little. The doctor was furious with the work they had done and scheduled a second. This one was worse with a more competent team, but they got the job done. FYI, you won't like yourself after one of these, but you will be fine, meaning I was able to go back to work that day. The doctor was able to tell me that I had two strictures and the surgery would be a urethroplasty. Essentially, there was one of two options: make an incision, cut out the strictures and tie them together or take some tissue from my jaw and do the same thing. Either way, I'd end up with a catheter. Before the surgery I took a COVID19 test and blood. There was a special shower I also had to take the night before and clear liquids. Of course, I got out as much of my sexual urges as I could because the thing I deal with is I like porn, sex, and anything over PG-13 rating for viewing. The former stuff I reconcile with for a number of reasons.

Post Surgery: Week 1: I woke up and was able to go home the same day while I was expecting and was told to stay the night. Doctor said the surgery went great and I could go home. I had no pain. When I finally came down off the cocktail I finally fully realized there was a catheter in and what that meant. Not actually going to pee, emptying my bag instead was different for me the entire three weeks. I was told I may start to feel normal like it would bother me after a few days. I did not! As the days went by, I ran into a couple of interesting things: pain, blood, mucus (I had no idea there was mucus coming out of my penis), and swelling in both my penis and balls. My first night, I am trying to sleep and it is already different because I am a stomach sleeper. Randomly, I wake up in pain due to an erection. It was like tug of war and I couldn't get fully erect for obvious reasons and couldn't do anything about it. Of course, I screamed and had medications for pain and erections. Even after a couple of days I would still get erections. Suffice to say, this sucked.

Week 2: Due to the erections, and masturbartion usually being a coping mechanism for me I of course had no real recourse. I developed situational anxiety and depression (diagnosed). I was told to just focus on the end date essentially. Any sort of movements with the catheter would make me uncomfortable, but I will say movement with the catheter gets easier, even with the showers. Also, figet spinners and toys help out a lot. I essentially tried to become a monk and watch nothing, but disney plus at this point to keep my mind pure, but in the end it seemed helpless. Remembering that my body was doing what it normally does and there was just a foreign object inside me was difficult to cope with. I fought this and my mind's random adventures into the sexual. If I didn't say it before, then let me say it again... This sucks.

Week 3: I found that making a routine, going out and doing things, and generally making yourself feel normal helps. I had a smaller bag that I was supposed to switch to in order to get around better, but I hated that bag except for it's convenience. A bag filling up faster isn't exactly a selling point. I used the scooters at groceries stores proudly and did what ever I could to keep myself out and not thinking about the thing coming out of my penis. Although, as I said there were some bad days like the day my catheter got pulled out farther. It hurt and felt sore for about a day until I got "readjusted". There is an anchor that was attached to my leg that was supposed to help/prevent certain things. I had to have it reapplied several times with surgical tape. On removal day, I arrived to do one last retrograde urethragram... along side the catheter I already had in. This was again very uncomfortable. Later the same day, I went to get the catheter removal. Another guy came in the doctor's office with a catheter and left. Looked fine... that was unnecessary confidence. When that nurse removed my catheter, I screamed, hopefully like a man. Urinating was painful on the back end for about 2-3 days. Erections are still a bit sore or painful even after a week. I am sure it might take a while to feel normal. Masturbartion has gotten better over time and sex is different. My penis feels completely different, so I am learning how to work this thing again.

What I learned: If you are going through this or something similar, then you need a good support system. My girlfriend did a lot of research and knew a lot. She cleaned me up and looked at the things I couldn't, not to mention did all the driving. I called family members and good friends in the middle of the night to get myself through because most nights I didn't sleep or would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning.

Well now it is out there. The information I wish I would have known. I hope this helps someone.