After surgery. Follow up appointment

MMDowns

My husband is a week out from his robotic radical prostatectomy. It went swimmingly. According to the dr. it was a text book surgery. Now we are just taking it easy waiting for his follow up and the removal of his catheteR. His PSA was 2 at the last doctor visit and his Gleason score was 6.  Just nervous for the pathology report. Even though I feel like it will be just fine. The dr said he saw no visible sign of spread and the lymp nodes look good. Just nerve racking. 

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

Standard

We all know those feelings, MM.

His surgeon probably already has his pathology report, but you can get it when you go for the cath removal.  I recommend getting a PAPER copy, even if it is available online.

Good luck, and it sounds like his case was very mild,

max

MMDowns

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 said:

Standard

We all know those feelings, MM.

His surgeon probably already has his pathology report, but you can get it when you go for the cath removal.  I recommend getting a PAPER copy, even if it is available online.

Good luck, and it sounds like his case was very mild,

max

Thank you! I just needed

Thank you! I just needed someone to reassure me. I think he will be OK as well. We will get his path when he goes this Monday to remove the catheter. It’s just the fear of the unknown and the possibility of the “what if”. But it was a mild case and I have to take the doctors word.  I’ll feel so much better after Monday. Thanks again. 

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

MMDowns said:

Thank you! I just needed

Thank you! I just needed someone to reassure me. I think he will be OK as well. We will get his path when he goes this Monday to remove the catheter. It’s just the fear of the unknown and the possibility of the “what if”. But it was a mild case and I have to take the doctors word.  I’ll feel so much better after Monday. Thanks again. 

Minor....

A minor point: 

(1) cath removal is totally painless; tell him he won't even feel it.

(2) His first post-surgical PSA will probably be about 6 weeks after cath removal, but doctors vary slightly on this.  I would not want mine any sooner, since men get a fright in those cases where all PSA has not yet cleared the body at first test.

It is smart to carry an adult male diaper or two.  While most guys get fairly rapid continence back, many guys need a diaper for a day or so.  After a day and a half, I ditched them and went to pads. Just be prepared and know that time frames vary between patients.

MMDowns

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 said:

Minor....

A minor point: 

(1) cath removal is totally painless; tell him he won't even feel it.

(2) His first post-surgical PSA will probably be about 6 weeks after cath removal, but doctors vary slightly on this.  I would not want mine any sooner, since men get a fright in those cases where all PSA has not yet cleared the body at first test.

It is smart to carry an adult male diaper or two.  While most guys get fairly rapid continence back, many guys need a diaper for a day or so.  After a day and a half, I ditched them and went to pads. Just be prepared and know that time frames vary between patients.

I will tell him! He’s very

I will tell him! He’s very nervous about that. I had planned on the heavy duty pads and have them ready. If needed I will definitely get the underwear. Thanks for the tips! 

Grinder

ditto

To add a bit to what Max said...

Since his surgery was "textbook" , that means the cancer did not appear to invade surrounding tissue and the surgeon was able to spare the nerve bundles. That means they will heal up and your husband will be continent in 3-6 months... maybe sooner. And he can expect erectile function to return within 6-12 months, again maybe sooner. Some guys even report continence and erectile function within weeks. For me it was months.

After a couple years, this will be a bad dream, and life will be back to totally normal, as long as PSA numbers don't start rising, indicating some prostate cancer cells metastasized before surgery. This is highly unlikely in your husband's case.

The only side effect you really have to worry about that you may not be aware... the prostatic urethra is removed during surgery along with the prostate... and the urethra is pulled up and reattached to the bladder neck. This causes the business end to be retracted, and he will lose 1-2 inches of length. 

 If you read back into this forum you will find a lot of people were not told this by the urologist, and then it comes as a shock when they discover their shortened business. I call mine "Stubby" now, and realize I won't be winning any size contests anymore. But I also am still alive to tell about it, so there you go.

In short, except for that minor side effect, expect your husband to be fully functioning in no time, and expect his PSA numbers to remain undetectable, mostly because he discovered the PC and treated it at such an early stage, before invasion or metastasis.

And expect the pathology report to be good news, otherwise I doubt your surgeon would have been so confident about the operation's success, if he suspected invasion.