Four Years

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 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.

 

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 said:

Happy Anniversary

Beau2

Enjoy and continue to enjoy. 

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

Best wishes.

VG

VG,

Saude ... tonight a Porto.

Good Luck!