Guest guest Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Sounds like you are in a VA Hospital Facility, right? Your experience was not mine, as I was Gleason 7 with proton beam therapy. Are you on any meds, like antihormone drugs?Hope you mend well. You write well. Could we have another Kurt Vonegutt? Regards, T I everyone, I is a little hard writing this note becasue my mind isn't all here, if that makes sence, Last Thursday march 1st at 0845hrs the VA Docotors at VA Mather Hospital, CA for a radial Prostate Cancer Removal with glands the cancer was a stage2hight grade PSA 8.1 and Gleason count 3+5=8,glands enlarged The operation was supoose to be a an easy 2 hr operation turned in to a nightnare over 6 hours operation..... All I know righte now is that i had some problems and the prostate was very large. I am trying to get around with this cath for the next 14day from march 1 st. What do I need to look out for when it is removed, And yes I have run into the runs already by having a diaper handyDid any of you undergo frashback from NAM and weird dreams>???????SkipTired and sore and write me in CALIF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Skip, I had the nerve sparing DaVinci surgery last June at s Hopkins. Had the Foley removed 10 days later. Then had leakage for 7 months. I used various pads which contained the leakage and now seem to be completely free of leakage. I have good control, high flow rate and other things are 90% of normal. I don't remember any strange dreams but did have some incision pain for a week. My 6 month PSA was 0.0. I know we are all different, but I'm pleased with the results. There were times when I wondered if I would ever stop leaking. Hang in there, it takes time to heal. Kegel exercises are very important and a little praying doesn't hurt. Best of luck. Larry (68 in Endicott, NY) I everyone, I is a little hard writing this note becasue my mind isn't all here, if that makes sence, Last Thursday march 1st at 0845hrs the VA Docotors at VA Mather Hospital, CA for a radial Prostate Cancer Removal with glands the cancer was a stage2hight grade PSA 8.1 and Gleason count 3+5=8,glands enlarged The operation was supoose to be a an easy 2 hr operation turned in to a nightnare over 6 hours operation..... All I know righte now is that i had some problems and the prostate was very large. I am trying to get around with this cath for the next 14day from march 1 st. What do I need to look out for when it is removed, And yes I have run into the runs already by having a diaper handyDid any of you undergo frashback from NAM and weird dreams>???????SkipTired and sore and write me in CALIF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hang in there Skip. You are at the lowest point right now. You have been diagnosed and dealt with the decisions and now you need to wait to see what happens. It is very unnerving. We know, many have been there too. My self I started with a Gleason 9, stage 3 (plus a bunch of letters), did the DeVinci surgery. Like you it was supposed to be a 3-4 hour surgery that turned into a 6 hour ordeal because of where the cancer had attached and the surgeon tried his best to get everything. It didn’t really bother me much since I slept through the whole thing. The wife and the patient following me were a little put out though J. Yes, the catheter is bothersome but hey sit back in the easy chair with plenty of snacks and drinks and enjoy a few games and/or sporting event and not have to get up for bathroom breaks. The cath will be out soon enough. What is two weeks out of the rest of your life right? One of the things you won’t have to worry about without the prostate is stream restrictions. Some of my friends have problems getting started, expecially in the morning. I certainly don’t now. You also don’t need to worry about getting a vasectomy either. You will spend 6 months or so learning to control your urine using Kegals. A frustrating time but once again it should be over soon enough. The pads are usually enough protection and more comfortable to wear. Don’t worry most people won’t know you are wearing anything. You will get past it. I just started playing racquetball again and found out I need to practice my swing without wetting myself. I just wear a pad while playing and am getting dryer the more I play. I don’t even worry about getting any flack in the locker about it now either. If they can’t deal with my cancer survivorship then they have a real problem not me. In the long term don’t fret too much about too much because the doctors have a lot of options for curing any side affects you may have. Incontinence and ED (erectial dysfunction) are the two most annoying and both of them have pretty good fixes. They won’t do anything right away because they want to see if you will heal. If you do that is the best option but there are choices to take advantage of if you don’t. From: ProstateCancerSupport [mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ] On Behalf Of SKIPSent: Friday, March 09, 2012 12:43 PMTo: ProstateCancerSupport Subject: Revovering from PSS I everyone, I is a little hard writing this note becasue my mind isn't all here, if that makes sence, Last Thursday march 1st at 0845hrs the VA Docotors at VA Mather Hospital, CA for a radial Prostate Cancer Removal with glands the cancer was a stage2hight grade PSA 8.1 and Gleason count 3+5=8,glands enlarged The operation was supoose to be a an easy 2 hr operation turned in to a nightnare over 6 hours operation..... All I know righte now is that i had some problems and the prostate was very large. I am trying to get around with this cath for the next 14day from march 1 st. What do I need to look out for when it is removed, And yes I have run into the runs already by having a diaper handyDid any of you undergo frashback from NAM and weird dreams>???????SkipTired and sore and write me in CALIF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hi Skip, I had DaVinci surgery last May at City of Hope in Duarte, Ca. I stayed overnight and went home the following PM. Had no pain afterwards - no pain meds. Catheter stayed in 5 days, then out. No real inconvenience. Did the kegel exercises prior to and after surgery. Was dry during the day in three weeks and it took three months for total dry at night. You definitely will piss like a race horse afterwards. Has some blood in my urine one evening after about three weeks. Doc said it was part of the healing process. Still have some ED, but it takes about 18 mos to be as good as your gonna get without some "help". Hang in there, you will heal. Our bodies are all different. We all recover at different speeds. Feel free to contact me for any other details.Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Skip, I had the robotic surgery two years ago (PSA 4.95, Gleason 3+4=7, 7 of 12 samples cancerous). I did Kegels before the surgery and up to 100 a day for about two months afterwards, and after12-14 weeks I was dry. I can do any activity now without concern (I sail, cycle and snowboard regularly). ED is still a problem and Viagra hasn't been the solution, so I use tri-mix injections. It sounds terrible, but it's not as bad as it seems. In fact it seems a non-issue to me and the results are excellent. To what the other guys have said I would only add, check out what Dr. Mulhall of Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York says about ED. He is their ED specialist, and there is a video of one of his lectures on the Mememorial Sloan Kettering website. The key point is that he believes getting the patient on to viagra ASAP (after 6 weeks, if I remember correctly) is critical to the recovery of sexual function. My uro didn't get me on to it until I suggested it more than 6 months after the surgery, which might be why Viagra didn't work for me. Talk to your urologist about it. Unfortunately, Viagra costs almost $600 for 30! Tri mix does the same thing Viagra does -- increase the blood flow to the damaged nerves to help recovery and is only $75 for three months -- and for me it works better. Mike To: ProstateCancerSupport Sent: Friday, March 9, 2012 12:42 PM Subject: Revovering from PSS I everyone, I is a little hard writing this note becasue my mind isn't all here, if that makes sence, Last Thursday march 1st at 0845hrs the VA Docotors at VA Mather Hospital, CA for a radial Prostate Cancer Removal with glands the cancer was a stage2hight grade PSA 8.1 and Gleason count 3+5=8,glands enlarged The operation was supoose to be a an easy 2 hr operation turned in to a nightnare over 6 hours operation..... All I know righte now is that i had some problems and the prostate was very large. I am trying to get around with this cath for the next 14day from march 1 st. What do I need to look out for when it is removed, And yes I have run into the runs already by having a diaper handyDid any of you undergo frashback from NAM and weird dreams>???????SkipTired and sore and write me in CALIF------------------------------------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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.