Re: Re: Husband Recently Diagnosed - Thanks

[Guest guest]

Suzanne, one more thought. Nag your husband to do his Kegel exercises -- up to 100 a day. Especially since he has chosen surgery they are vital and will minimize the incontinence afterwards. I started as soon as I made the surgery decision and kept it up for four or five months after surgery, until bladder function was fully normal. Twenty months after surgery I no longer do them and have no incontinence issues, but I know others recommend continuing to do them even after the pads are dispensed with. My scores were similar to your husband's, and after surgery the Gleason score and the grading were both raised, confirming that I had probably made a good choice. So far all followup PSA scores have been undetectable. ED is still an issue, but seems to be slowly improving, and meanwhile tri mix injections mean a satisfactor sex life is possible.

Mike

Subject: Re: Husband Recently Diagnosed - ThanksTo: ProstateCancerSupport Date: Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 12:02 PM

My husband has decided on surgery. He's scheduled for surgery (Yao) at Stanford in December, but he is also scheduled to meet with a UCSF surgeon (burg) next week.I've read more about the UCSF surgeon, so we'll see.I'm the researcher, but I'm forwarding info to my husband. The only thing I don't understand is that my husband is totally exhausted. I don't know if it is stress/depression or actually the cancer. Even before he was diagnosed, I noticed him being tireder than usual.------------------------------------There are just two rules for this group 1 No Spam 2 Be kind to othersPlease recognise that Prostate Cancerhas different guises and needs different levels of treatment and in some cases no treatment at all. Some men even with all options offered chose radical options that you would not choose. We only ask that people be informed

before choice is made, we cannot and should not tell other members what to do, other than look at other options. Try to delete old material that is no longer applying when clicking replyTry to change the title if the content requires it

[Guest guest]

Suzanne:

You and your husband should talk to your surgeon about the exhaustion. I'm not aware of such a side-effect of the cancer itself, so it may be the stress or depression, but it would be good for him to be in a good mood going into the surgery. You have reasons to be upbeat:

You made a good choice. After looking at the various options, doing your homework, and talking to doctors, you chose the treatment plan that works for you. As the guys in my support group say, you can't make a wrong choice. That is, if you opted for something that absolutely wasn't going to work, your doctor would tell you so. There's no way to know in advance how everything is going to work out, so there is no perfect choice. Your husband's numbers are similar to mine, and even the radiation oncologist that I saw said that surgery would be a reasonable option.

You found a good doctor. You can rest assured that the surgeons at Stanford and UCSF are absolutely top-notch. Dr. berg did my surgery three weeks ago, and it went very well, so naturally, I think he's the best surgeon in the world (:-), but I'm sure Dr. Yao is fine, too.

He has a good chance of recovery. Every patient is different, of course, but I can tell you that my recovery has progressed much faster than I expected.

We all wish you the best.Phil

[Guest guest]

I'm thinking the exhaustion is not the cancer also. He hates his job and is worried about losing it, and his mother just passed away. Just those alone would make most people pretty stressed, but the cancer on top of that just magnifies those issues.

Glad you liked berg!

Subject: Re: Re: Husband Recently Diagnosed - ThanksTo: ProstateCancerSupport Date: Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 1:28 PM

Suzanne:

You and your husband should talk to your surgeon about the exhaustion. I'm not aware of such a side-effect of the cancer itself, so it may be the stress or depression, but it would be good for him to be in a good mood going into the surgery. You have reasons to be upbeat:

You made a good choice. After looking at the various options, doing your homework, and talking to doctors, you chose the treatment plan that works for you. As the guys in my support group say, you can't make a wrong choice. That is, if you opted for something that absolutely wasn't going to work, your doctor would tell you so. There's no way to know in advance how everything is going to work out, so there is no perfect choice. Your husband's numbers are similar to mine, and even the radiation oncologist that I saw said that surgery would be a reasonable option.

You found a good doctor. You can rest assured that the surgeons at Stanford and UCSF are absolutely top-notch. Dr. berg did my surgery three weeks ago, and it went very well, so naturally, I think he's the best surgeon in the world (:-), but I'm sure Dr. Yao is fine, too.

He has a good chance of recovery. Every patient is different, of course, but I can tell you that my recovery has progressed much faster than I expected.

We all wish you the best.

Phil