good news desired

RAS2

Although realizing that any procedure has its pitfalls, I have committed to an RP and could use some GOOD words concerning the results of such surgery. As if I weren't already shaky enough, last night I received an unsolicited call from a member of a local support group who insisted on dwelling on the negative aspects. Obviously, this has rattled me and I am in need of some confidence-bolstering.

cneil7

My friend, I am the worlds worst when it comes to pain, surgery and cancer. I opted for RP as my dr. suggested. I live in Houston, thus we have an abundance of dr.s and facilities. I had the surgery 8 days ago and everything is wonderful. I wake up each morning with a smile on my face and thank God my dr. was successful. Sure, you are going to have some discomfort, but it sure outweighs the alternative. You will be just fine. You will see your attitude changes to wonderful thoughts for the future. Again, you will be just fine. God bless.

rogermoore

Ras2,

Congratulations on making your decision to have the RP procedure. Yes, there are negative people out there, but, there are a lot of people out here that have had very FAVORABLE results from the RP. In my case I suffered very littly discomfort. The most aggravating thing was the catheter which I had in for 10 days. I think that is about the average time. Although an inconvenience, it did not hinder me from being quite mobile, in fact taking daily walks.

You will do fine, especially if you keep a positive attitude.

Good luck, and don't forget us when you are recouperating (sp).

Roger

nutt

I too am glad you made a thoughtful decision and are satisfied with the results.
Many times we forget that those of our fellow cancer patients may have the best intentions, just unable to verbalize and present their concerns in a factual manner. Sometimes, there are the "pitfalls" you refer to and our members are overwhelmed to let you know what they experienced to the point of "alarm".
I hope, their intentions were not to do this but not everyone is a public speaker or necessiarily thinks before sharing information.
Regardless, we all pray for your speedy recovery.
Joe

tpelle

Hi RAS2: I'll tell you about my experience. Maybe it will be helpful in putting your mind at ease. My RP, performed at a Northern California hospital in early 2003, began 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, just 45 minutes after I arrived at the facility. No time to worry. A cheerful anesthesiologist said "I'll take good care of you" just before she inserted the epidural upon my arrival in the operating room which seemed occupied mostly with electronic equipment and technicians. That's the last thing I remember until I arrived in the recovery room a couple hours later. There, the surgeon reported that the procedure went very well.

Soon I was in my room where a bevy of nurses hovered around getting me settled. Nurses were in and out of my room throughout the day and night. I began 10-minute walking tours around the hospital floor twice a day beginning the morning of the day after surgery, first with a walker and the nurse pushing the IV stand, later with no walker or IV. The epidural automatically fed pain meds on the day of surgery and the day following, then it was removed. There was little pain while I was in the hospital and practically none when I arrived home in just over 48 hours after surgery.

I needed help changing and cleaning the catheter bag for a couple of days until I got the hang of it. I showered each morning and was out of the house visiting and doing some light business every day after arriving home. I couldn't drive for 21 days while the catheter was in place. One caution -- obey the doctor's heavy lifting admonition.

At the time of surgery, I was age 71; PSA was 3.9 and Gleason was 4 + 3. My three PSA readings after surgery were reported to be <.01.

This brief sounds like a repeat I provided to someone earlier. I hope it's not duplicative. Lou T.

ckd86

I had RP in October of 2003. I have maintained all through this that it is a short term solution to a long term problem. It didn't take very long after surgury for me to notice improvement. After 6 months, I am 100% with a PSA of < .01. Good luck

Dario

Hello RAS2 , I answered you in your last note about a week ago, I was scheduled for RP April 15th and guess what " Its a cake walk " I just got home today. I was in for a little longer because I could not pass any gas, that was worst than the operation. Get it done and over with, you won't regret your decision.
Good luck
Dario

RAS2

tpelle said:

Hi RAS2: I'll tell you about my experience. Maybe it will be helpful in putting your mind at ease. My RP, performed at a Northern California hospital in early 2003, began 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, just 45 minutes after I arrived at the facility. No time to worry. A cheerful anesthesiologist said "I'll take good care of you" just before she inserted the epidural upon my arrival in the operating room which seemed occupied mostly with electronic equipment and technicians. That's the last thing I remember until I arrived in the recovery room a couple hours later. There, the surgeon reported that the procedure went very well.

Soon I was in my room where a bevy of nurses hovered around getting me settled. Nurses were in and out of my room throughout the day and night. I began 10-minute walking tours around the hospital floor twice a day beginning the morning of the day after surgery, first with a walker and the nurse pushing the IV stand, later with no walker or IV. The epidural automatically fed pain meds on the day of surgery and the day following, then it was removed. There was little pain while I was in the hospital and practically none when I arrived home in just over 48 hours after surgery.

I needed help changing and cleaning the catheter bag for a couple of days until I got the hang of it. I showered each morning and was out of the house visiting and doing some light business every day after arriving home. I couldn't drive for 21 days while the catheter was in place. One caution -- obey the doctor's heavy lifting admonition.

At the time of surgery, I was age 71; PSA was 3.9 and Gleason was 4 + 3. My three PSA readings after surgery were reported to be <.01.

This brief sounds like a repeat I provided to someone earlier. I hope it's not duplicative. Lou T.</p>

I appreciate the information. Certainly, I am apprehensive and it helps to hear from those who have gone through it.

By the way, where in Northern California are you? I am in Morgan Hill, just south of San Jose.

tpelle

RAS2 said:

I appreciate the information. Certainly, I am apprehensive and it helps to hear from those who have gone through it.

By the way, where in Northern California are you? I am in Morgan Hill, just south of San Jose.

Hi RAS2: Is your RP scheduled? I suspect you will be quite happy when it's all over with.

I had the choice of traveling to a larger hospital away from home here near Placerville with the inconvenience of traveling, non-familiar territory, no close friends nearby and my doctor not performing the surgery OR having the surgery performed in our local hospital by a team -- a surgeon with several years RP experience trained at Mayo clinic and another doctor with 20+ years of RP experience. I chose the local hospital and the attending conveniences. I am quite happy with my choice. We'll watch for your posting of progress reports.

tpelle

Dario said:

Hello RAS2 , I answered you in your last note about a week ago, I was scheduled for RP April 15th and guess what " Its a cake walk " I just got home today. I was in for a little longer because I could not pass any gas, that was worst than the operation. Get it done and over with, you won't regret your decision.
Good luck
Dario

Hello Dario: Sounds like you did very well with your surgery. Being in the hospital a bit longer probably had positive aspects as well as the negative side of waiting for the stomach/bowels to begin working. Your being back on the computer on the day after getting home also gives encouragement to others. Good luck with your recuperation. Lou T.

rogermoore

Dario said:

Hello RAS2 , I answered you in your last note about a week ago, I was scheduled for RP April 15th and guess what " Its a cake walk " I just got home today. I was in for a little longer because I could not pass any gas, that was worst than the operation. Get it done and over with, you won't regret your decision.
Good luck
Dario

Dario,

Congratulations on becoming a "Survivor". I'm sure that I am not alone in wishing you a speedy recovery. Keep the positive attitude, but be certain to follow the Doctor's instructions and constantly work on those "kegel" exercises.

Again, congratulations,

Roger

RAS2

tpelle said:

Hi RAS2: Is your RP scheduled? I suspect you will be quite happy when it's all over with.

I had the choice of traveling to a larger hospital away from home here near Placerville with the inconvenience of traveling, non-familiar territory, no close friends nearby and my doctor not performing the surgery OR having the surgery performed in our local hospital by a team -- a surgeon with several years RP experience trained at Mayo clinic and another doctor with 20+ years of RP experience. I chose the local hospital and the attending conveniences. I am quite happy with my choice. We'll watch for your posting of progress reports.

My countdown to surgery is seven days, so next Monday the first part of the Big Worry will be over.
I am glad yours went well and hope that my situation copies yours.

RAS2

Dario said:

Hello RAS2 , I answered you in your last note about a week ago, I was scheduled for RP April 15th and guess what " Its a cake walk " I just got home today. I was in for a little longer because I could not pass any gas, that was worst than the operation. Get it done and over with, you won't regret your decision.
Good luck
Dario

Dario,

Congratulations. Glad it went so well. Welcome home--belatedly, because I have been away from the computer for a few days. My surgery is next Monday, so I won't be far behind you.

Bob

skhill

RAS2,

On January 14, 2003, at age 52, I had an RP after a PSA of 3.9 and a Gleason of 7. I looked at the options and decided that RP was the way to go. I do not regret my decision at all and would do it again in a heartbeat. My quality of life is pretty darn close to what it was pre-op.
I had little, if any, post op pain. They had me hooked up to a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesic) morphine IV and when they told me what it was, I wanted to know why it was there. The only pain I remember was at home when my chocolate lab whacked my Foley wagging her tail.
I had some problems getting the 'ole stomack and intestines working but they were minor. I also developed an infection while hospitalized that they could not discover why I had it. These two complications kept me in the hospital two extra days.
My recovery at home was quick. I was soon walking in sub-zero weather. That was much better than walking up and down the halls of the hospital which they let me start the morning after surgery. My first walks were .25 miles. Within a month, I was doing two miles twice a day.
Good luck to you. You will be fine.

Keep us posted. I used my email at home to keep friends and family updated. I got lots of good support -- you will too.

Steve

dakotarunner

Your RP will go well. It always seems there is someone who needs to tell you how terrible everyting was. As you can see from all the messages, a lot of us sailed through the procedure. I had RP on 1/28/04. Catheter was in for 21 days, yet I could go for walks of 2 - 3 miles before it was out. As far as right after surgery, very little incision pain, and it was easy to move around. Backround on me was age 54, PSA of 19.5 (yes I had been watching it and having biopsies for four years prior), and gleason of 4+3. Take your time, remember what the Dr. says about not lifting anything heavy, and don't get down if you seem to have a bad day now and then. You'll soon forget them when you have all the good days. Best of all, always remember that you'll get to have years of god days ahead of you because you went ahead with RP and had a couple of bad days as a trade off. Let us know how you do after the surgery.

tpelle

Hi RAS2: In the even you are checking your mail today, this is just a last minute good luck with your RP tomorrow. At this point you are probably contemplating the colon clean-out procedure for later today, which may be the most unpleasant part of the entire RP process. Again, our prayers are with you. Lou T.

rogermoore

RAS2 said:

My countdown to surgery is seven days, so next Monday the first part of the Big Worry will be over.
I am glad yours went well and hope that my situation copies yours.

Good Morning Ras2,

By now you should be over a week post-op. We are concerned and would like to have a report. Hope you are recovering well.

Roger

AuthorUnknown

tpelle said:

Hi RAS2: In the even you are checking your mail today, this is just a last minute good luck with your RP tomorrow. At this point you are probably contemplating the colon clean-out procedure for later today, which may be the most unpleasant part of the entire RP process. Again, our prayers are with you. Lou T.

I had laparacopic in Florida Aug 24. NO Pain, not even a tylenol! Walked alone in 4 hours; 1 day in hospital, drove day 3! City of Hope near Pasadena is doing lots of these, Dr. Mark Yamachi. Call city of Hope and ask for Urology.
LAP is painless, rapid recovery. Still has incontinece problems and no early erections but with nerve sparing all good drs say it takes a year and be patient. orgasm is achievable at least if not in true sex

Unknown

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