Could the Aftermathof side-effects be blamed on the Surgeon?

Surgery Is To Blame!
Sorry to hear about your travails in dealing w/the consequences of surgery. Unfortunately, at this late stage, you probably can't prove whether they were caused by the surgeon or not.

FWIW, when anyone undertakes surgery, it's a crap shoot. As you know, some men come out great but others are doomed to a lifetime of misery. You can have the best and most experienced surgeon in the world and still come out of PCa surgery impaired for life. Also, when surgery fails, as it often does, you still have to resort to radiation and other methods of treatment anyway.

So, why risk it?

Surgery for men w/early or intermediate stage PCa is really unnecessary because there are now equally effective methods of treating their cancer w/radiation w/o the risks of surgery. Late stage PCa patients where the cancer has likely metastasized also have no need for surgery because removal of the prostate will not solve that problem; hitting the prostate w/various forms of radiation & using hormone therapy w/the possibility of chemo for backup is the main recourse for such patient.

This is why I'm now such an ardent opponent of using surgery to treat PCa. It's too late to help you but it's an archaic treatment method which has been superseded by modern radiation technology. It's time to put surgery for PCa to an end. End of speech.

I hope your post-surgical problems are somehow resolved in the future. Good luck!

lion1 said:

Great Perspective
Thanks Guys....for adding such great perspective. All that you said is true, because there is just too many variables involved. I live a full life, but incontinence is challenging to say the least. I have tried all types of medication, botox injections, collagen, and nothing has worked. I have a great doctor now and he has suggested trying the interstim, but I am delaying it. Again there's no guarantees and I am not ready to have a pacemaker like device in my butt. I am very active and would probably knock it off course.My doctor says for my situation there are no effective cures right now. I have to believe that something is coming along to treat an overactive bladder--that's my main problem right now.

I wanted to bring the Surgeon aspect up , to see how others feel and share their experiences. I did pick a great doctor and have no ill-feelings. My decision in one aspect was a trade-off, the hope to be cancer-free and to roll the dice and hope I had no after-effects
Life goes on............Lion 1

Yes they should....
Lion

I agree with you that guys should blame their doctors for incontinence and ED post a treatment for PCa. These two main aspects in surgery outcomes would not have a chance to happen would the surgeons take into higher consideration the side effects when cutting, more than the principal intent of their job in showing cure.
The same responsibility could be attributed to radiologists when bladder chronic cystitis or permanent rectal ulcerative colitis is caused due to their isodose-planning or deviations during treatment.

Cancer cannot be seen but judged to exist so, both, surgeons and radiologists tend to cut and reach closer to the limits. These are means only possible at the hands of highly expert physicians.
Treatment applied by trainees or mediocre doctors should have fixed protocols, lesser cutting and lesser limits in the isodose-planning. In other words it should be looking more into avoiding too much cut or radiate than looking at cure; particularly when the patient is young and with many years of survival to go. What good is there in being alive but handicapped?

I recall been given a “contract/agreement” which had to be signed by my wife and I before surgery. We took it home one week in advance so that we could read it in detail and never thing in blaming the physician for whatever he would cut on “S- day”. Those items were listed and so it was the argument of fathering. We had lots of interrogations in our minds but knew that the upmost would be cure, otherwise I shouldn’t be doing a treatment”.
And so it was. I signed for a “hypothetical cure”. All the rest was covered in the agreement.

When reading about guys that like you become permanent suffers, I see myself as one of the lucky group not affected to such extent. However, I really believe that the outcome was not totally due to luck. It was due to the efficiency and knowledge of my surgeon when cutting and during his “after-care services”.
He was careful at the bladder’s sphincter area and took focal X-rays of the area to certify the incision limits. After surgery he also checked for the healing process of the V-shaped neck before withdrawing the catheter and allowing my discharge from the hospital (12 days after surgery).

Physicians looking for quick cures to the wound with fast robotic cuts and short terms in hospital after-care, working like factories tend to precipitate the aspect of individual care and forget about what one most dare which is Cure but with Quality of Life.
Those should be blamed and prosecuted.

Best.
VGama