I had the surgery about one and a half years ago. Afterwards things healed quite normally at first, but I got an infection so then it took a little longer. That was quite painful at times. I recovered well overall, though.
Straight after the operation I still had to go to the toilet about two to three times a night, but after a while things improved and became more normal. My urine stream was stronger, there was less dripping and I didn't have to get up as often at night. It took about two to three months for everything to settle down.
The pain caused by the wound was one of the drawbacks of the operation, so were the ejaculation problems. Although not being able to ejaculate properly means it's not quite the same, I still enjoy sex as much as I used to. I feel okay about it. After all, I don't want any more children. But I can understand why people are afraid. I wasn’t happy about it at first either, but I didn't feel like I had any alternatives. The disadvantages of the operation are minor compared to the problems I had before, which just kept on getting worse.
After the operation, it took some time before I could leave the house and get on with normal everyday activities again. Shortly afterwards I often felt a sudden urgent need to pee. I couldn't go to town because I always had to be within 5 minutes' reach of a toilet, just in case. You can't control it.
But I wanted to get some exercise. There's a big forest near my house where you can walk for hours without bumping into anyone, which was great for me because I had to go behind a tree every ten minutes at first. That’s not a problem in the forest, though. The exercise and fresh air did me a lot of good.