You've come to a good place to ask your questions. I will attempt to give you a different point of view. First, there are a bunch of men who somehow are continent within days or weeks of the operation. I truly believe the majority are not in that boat no matter what the doctors say. Most of us struggle to get our continence back. I am 15 months out from my RALP and can finally say I am very dry most of the time. I firmly believe that Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy is why I finally got to this point, and I am committed to do these exercises most every day for the rest of my life. But I said "very dry" because there is still the occasional dribble or squirt that I must be prepared for. Friends who had the same surgery years ago still put a thin pad in their underwear just for this purpose. I can live with that. But when I am active (pickleball, golf, hiking) all bets are off. It is called stress incontinence and I leak unknowingly while I am engaged in the activity. I will admit the volume is steadily decreasing and I hope one day a thin pad will be enough to handle it. But for now I need thick pads, a condom catheter or Depends to keep me from embarrassment. The male sling or AUS is supposed to fix this issue, but I am reluctant to have the surgery. I just don't believe their success ratios anymore. As for erections, I am still waiting for my first natural one. My VED creates them as therapy for penile rehab and my fingers are crossed that the nerves will come back someday. Good luck.