Four Years

Beau2

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of my RLP.  All’s well.

I don’t come to the forum as much as I had.  I guess the further I get away from treatment, and the longer my Psa’s stay low, the less I check in on the forum.     

I miss some of the guys who no longer post to the forum, and as I write this note I wonder what they are doing.  My guess is they are doing real well and have just moved on.

I admire the “older” guys who are posting to the forum and giving so much of their time and knowledge to those who need help.  Some of you were posting before I joined the forum and you are still helping others. Thanks!

 

Good luck to those guys just starting down the PCa path.  I pray that your results will be at least as positive as mine. Good Luck!

Well back to the bucket list …. Santa Fe Trail is next.

 

tp23

Any Regrets

I was just diagnosed and one part of the treatment is supposed to be a radical prostatectomy.  Some folks have cautioned as to ill efects given the possibility that my diagnosis shows some advancement.  What ill effects did or do you suffer from - if you don't mind me asking.  In the long run, I don't see a down side if it means they can get most, if not all of it out now.  I just turned 50 so my likelihood of passing from another cause first seems small when compared.

Beau2

tp23 said:

Any Regrets

I was just diagnosed and one part of the treatment is supposed to be a radical prostatectomy.  Some folks have cautioned as to ill efects given the possibility that my diagnosis shows some advancement.  What ill effects did or do you suffer from - if you don't mind me asking.  In the long run, I don't see a down side if it means they can get most, if not all of it out now.  I just turned 50 so my likelihood of passing from another cause first seems small when compared.

Since my PSA has remained low, I have not had regrets.  Maybe I was lucky, but I had no problems with leakage and ED is handled with pills and/or shots.  At 66 years of age, I might have needed pills in any case. I "feel" younger guys (your age) recover from surgery with less side affects then us older guys.  A definite benefit was that when they removed my large prostate my urinary problems went away ... presurgery, I had to get up during the night, and it toke me several minutes to void my bladder ... now I sleep through the night and void in seconds ... just like the old days.

Since my treatment, I have learned a lot from reading posts on this forum. This has given rise to some second thoughts:

1. A guy is very wise to research the heck out of all treatment possibilities before picking one.

2. Since I had a low risk PCa, I wish I had spent more time considering AS.

3. Since I had a large prostate, I did not want to do HT followed by brachy and chose surgery (my only choices with Kaiser in Denver). What if I had chosen HT and Brachy ... where would I be now?

Like I say, these are second thoughts and not really regrets. My treatment treatment has turned out well.

yankeefan

Beau2 said:

Since my PSA has remained low, I have not had regrets.  Maybe I was lucky, but I had no problems with leakage and ED is handled with pills and/or shots.  At 66 years of age, I might have needed pills in any case. I "feel" younger guys (your age) recover from surgery with less side affects then us older guys.  A definite benefit was that when they removed my large prostate my urinary problems went away ... presurgery, I had to get up during the night, and it toke me several minutes to void my bladder ... now I sleep through the night and void in seconds ... just like the old days.

Since my treatment, I have learned a lot from reading posts on this forum. This has given rise to some second thoughts:

1. A guy is very wise to research the heck out of all treatment possibilities before picking one.

2. Since I had a low risk PCa, I wish I had spent more time considering AS.

3. Since I had a large prostate, I did not want to do HT followed by brachy and chose surgery (my only choices with Kaiser in Denver). What if I had chosen HT and Brachy ... where would I be now?

Like I say, these are second thoughts and not really regrets. My treatment treatment has turned out well.

did you have "nerve sparing" surgery?

I am 68 and just had a radical prostatectomy. I m glad to hear you are not havig any incontinence issues...I'm less than 2 weeks out and am not having any issues there either...though I was asleep yesterday and didn't feel the urge to go and ended up spilling a little in bed...when awake i don't have a problem. Last night I made it through ok. I am interested in ed. so far I have no feelling there at all. Since it's so soon I hope that will get better. My surgeon said he spared the nerves on one side and perhaps to some degree on the other, the side of the known location of the cancer. I feel young and had no ed prior to the operation. What pills do you take and when did you start taking them?

thanks for your insights and willingness to share.

 

Beau2

yankeefan said:

did you have "nerve sparing" surgery?

I am 68 and just had a radical prostatectomy. I m glad to hear you are not havig any incontinence issues...I'm less than 2 weeks out and am not having any issues there either...though I was asleep yesterday and didn't feel the urge to go and ended up spilling a little in bed...when awake i don't have a problem. Last night I made it through ok. I am interested in ed. so far I have no feelling there at all. Since it's so soon I hope that will get better. My surgeon said he spared the nerves on one side and perhaps to some degree on the other, the side of the known location of the cancer. I feel young and had no ed prior to the operation. What pills do you take and when did you start taking them?

thanks for your insights and willingness to share.

 

Nerve sparing and pills

Yankeefan,

Congratulations on the continence!

Yep, I had nerve sparing.

Currently I take Viagra, because that is what Tricare covers. I feel Levitra worked better for me ... Cials gives me a back ache.

I started on penile rehab about two weeks after my surgery.  I followed the advice in Dr. Mulhall's book, "Saving Your Sex Life, A Guide for Men with Prostate Cancer".  You can also find his information by googling his name and the subject ... he has several You-Tubes that cover the subject.

 Basically penile rehab consists of taking 1/4 of a pill (ie. 25 mg Viagra ) a day.  This helps bring fresh oxygenated blood to the penis ... a must for recovery.  If after a short period of time, you are not getting satisfactory results, you start on injections (Bimix, Trimix, etc.). Once again the purpose of the injections are to bring oxygenated blood into the penis. For most guys, the injections will create an erection that is very suitable for sex.  You have to be careful with the pills and injections and use them only with the oversight of your doctor.  With the injections you can end up with a very painful, long lasting erection that will send you to the ER.

Giving yourself an injection can give you a pause ... the first time. After that, no problem.

Good Luck!

VascodaGama

Happy Anniversary

Beau2

Enjoy and continue to enjoy. 

I toast your anniversary with a glass of my Portuguese red wine.

Best wishes.

VG

Beau2

VascodaGama said:

Happy Anniversary

Beau2

Enjoy and continue to enjoy. 

I toast your anniversary with a glass of my Portuguese red wine.

Best wishes.

VG

Thanks

VG,

 

Saude ... tonight a Porto.

Good Luck!

gumbyrun

Three for me

This past Feb 26 was three years for me since Davinci RP at Alleghany General in Pittsburgh. Had a PSA test last week and it came back zero. Good feeling.

I had my surgery at age 52. I have a "little" bit of leakage - mostly when I have some type of unexpected exertion - yelling, farting...just a few drops. Still do the kegles.  There are times that I have second thoughts, close to regrets, but my wife snaps me out of them.  I can say that we are more intimate now then before, although our intercourse is less frequent and I can't always "deliver the goods." I don't really care for the the pills and find that even at my age it is becoming more of a desire thing than performance. Not sure if the desire is a physical or mental thing.  I have an appt in a couple weeks with my urologist and will talk to him about it.

As with Beau2, I found this forum an incredible resource during my decision process and following the surgery. I need to get back in the habit of reading and contributing.

Mike