Survivor - Robotic Laproscopic

PMOFF

Just a short message for now. I did keep a journal, or should I say I do keep as it is unfinished at this point. I was diagnosed in Novemeber 2007 with Prostate Gleason score 3+3 and a PSA of 6.4. Immediate impact ? why me why me why me. I could not work for 2 days. But then I said " okay , time to beat this crap". My main advice is to research, research, talk, talk, get second opnions, third opnions or fourth if needed. You will probably discover three to four options that no one can tell you which is correct for you, For better or worse you must choose which is right for YOU. In my case I first choose the procedure I preferred and then the surgeon who had lots of experience with the DiVinci Robotic laproscopic procedure. I was firm in my choice after threee months of fact finding. Other advice - talk to other survivors, get into some kond of support group. Do not get dicouraged post surgery. I am currently 4 weeks post and am still working on the incontinence-but getting better by day. Pleasant surprise that Ed is not an issue. I think this may be due to my surgeons practice of prescribing Cialis almost immediately after surgery - it works !! . I am almost 52 and have decided I will stick arounf for at least another 25 years. Life changing, yes ? But you may find some very positive changes along with the negatives. Sky diving anyone ?

fcatroneo

I went through the same experience. I became an expert in PC. At one point, I thought I could perform the surgery myself. You did your research and made the right decision. I had RP in December, 2006. Incontence was a minor issue for a few weeks....ED was never a problem. My doctor put me on Cialis immediately and I never had an issue. I agree....there is life after Prostate Cancer.
I am now on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition. I am their Treasurer and Chairman of the Fundraising Committee. I am having fun and enjoying life. Glad to hear you are doing well.

rogermoore

Congratulations PMOFF,

Sounds like you are on the road to recovery!!! Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a 7 yr survivor of a Radical Prostectomy (pre-robotic days) and am one of the lucky ones. Have never had contenance or ED issues at all. Sounds like you are headed down the same road.

Again, Congrats.

Roger

carolinahome

fcatroneo said:

I went through the same experience. I became an expert in PC. At one point, I thought I could perform the surgery myself. You did your research and made the right decision. I had RP in December, 2006. Incontence was a minor issue for a few weeks....ED was never a problem. My doctor put me on Cialis immediately and I never had an issue. I agree....there is life after Prostate Cancer.
I am now on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition. I am their Treasurer and Chairman of the Fundraising Committee. I am having fun and enjoying life. Glad to hear you are doing well.

fcatroneo, did you have your surgery at Emory? I am newly diagnosed and desire the di Vinci method. It is offered where I live (Greensboro, NC), but my concern is physician experience with the methhod. I am a 3 + 3 Gleason with a 5.09 PSA. The bioposy was very low....less than 5% in one of two cores. The other 11 had negative findings. I am 51 years old and my Urologist also suggested the seed implants as an option. Do you have any thought on that? It is his opinion that due to the low numbers this is a viable option. Regardless, he feels that my "comfort" zone should influence the decision. I look forward to your comments

socky

fcatroneo said:

I went through the same experience. I became an expert in PC. At one point, I thought I could perform the surgery myself. You did your research and made the right decision. I had RP in December, 2006. Incontence was a minor issue for a few weeks....ED was never a problem. My doctor put me on Cialis immediately and I never had an issue. I agree....there is life after Prostate Cancer.
I am now on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition. I am their Treasurer and Chairman of the Fundraising Committee. I am having fun and enjoying life. Glad to hear you are doing well.

Your Surgeon's Experience
How many Robotic Laproscopic surgeries had your doctor performed before you? I was diagnoised last week and and leaning to this option, but I am still reading and learning. I appreciate your help.

rogermoore

socky said:

Your Surgeon's Experience
How many Robotic Laproscopic surgeries had your doctor performed before you? I was diagnoised last week and and leaning to this option, but I am still reading and learning. I appreciate your help.

Surgeons Experience
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis Socky. But, you are going down the right path. Researching, talking with survivors, becoming educated prior to making a treatment decision. I for one have never questioned my decision to go the surgery route. I wanted to get the beast out of my body. Also, I was afraid that my luck would be for the cancer to return (or cells be missed) with the seed implants. After that the treatment options would have been very limited.

As my profile states I am now able to lead a completely normal life. Good luck with the decisions you are facing.

Roger

JimEC

socky said:

Your Surgeon's Experience
How many Robotic Laproscopic surgeries had your doctor performed before you? I was diagnoised last week and and leaning to this option, but I am still reading and learning. I appreciate your help.

Yes, keep talking with
Yes, keep talking with survivors and researching your options. I'm newly-joined to this website and had the robotic laprascopic procedure 14 days ago, so I'm still in the midst of recovery. I had 4 treatment options given to me by my doctor. He said they should all work, so he encouraged me to decide in terms of my quality of life priorities. I'm 62 years old and plan to be around for a while.

With the exception of a minor problem with incontinence that's taking longer to resolve than I expected (my bad assumption and doctor's suggestion), I've been very pleased with my recovery so far.

Talking with a friend earlier today and reading other guys' experiences online tonight has made me realize that I'm being too impatient. That might be an indication I'm doing OK.

fcatroneo

carolinahome said:

fcatroneo, did you have your surgery at Emory? I am newly diagnosed and desire the di Vinci method. It is offered where I live (Greensboro, NC), but my concern is physician experience with the methhod. I am a 3 + 3 Gleason with a 5.09 PSA. The bioposy was very low....less than 5% in one of two cores. The other 11 had negative findings. I am 51 years old and my Urologist also suggested the seed implants as an option. Do you have any thought on that? It is his opinion that due to the low numbers this is a viable option. Regardless, he feels that my "comfort" zone should influence the decision. I look forward to your comments

Carolinahome....sorry for
Carolinahome....sorry for not answering you earlier. I used Dr. Fray Marshall at Emory for my RP. Dr. Marshall has performed over 3,000 RP and still performs 4 every week. I would definitely recommend him.