Getting HIFU tomorrow: Worried about the catheter mostly

Interesting that you referr to it as surgery. It’s an ultrasound treatment that requires no incisions or tissue removal. Hopefully it is 100% successful in your case.

Do the doctors call it surgery?

A week with the catheter is really not all that uncomfortable. A lot better than the two weeks an RP requires. The biggest pain is changing the bag to sleep. It’s sorta of nice to not have to go pee!!!

The doctor doesn’t call it surgery but staff and hospital do. The warnings sound worse, but they’re all about the rare risks. He’s taught this procedure all over the world so I suspect he’s competent.

If I can adjust to the catheter I guess it will be nice not getting up 4 or 5 times a night to pee.

A tad late for a response since today is the day, but, I wouldn't stress the cath too much. It's annoying of course but I got used to it fairly quickly, hopefully you will as well. At that point, it's just an annoyance.
I had a leg bag and was using it by day two or three after prostatectomy, taking short walks that turned in to longer ones in a few day that turned into shopping trips in a few more....by about day 5, I'd only use the large bag at night.

It goes by pretty quickly then you are free of the it!

Good luck to you!

Make sure to clean dry blood off cath and put some Vaseline on if you still get nocturnal erections so your erection does not have to climb over the dried blood (Painful).

I find it strange that the USA has not embraced the NanoKnife procedure which is gaining momentum worldwide for Low & Intermediate cancer . Gleason 6 , Gleason 3 + 4 = 7 and select patients with Gleason 4 + 3 = 7 .
This is being favoured over Cyberknife .

I had the NanoKnife (Irreversible Electroporation) treatment in January 2024 at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. The results thus far have been very good. Due to the location of the tumor, the doctor felt that NanoKnife treatment was my best option. There are a multitude of considerations that go into a doctor's recommendation and after much research I felt comfortable with this approach.

Thanks for your response . As I noted: I have yet to find an unhappy NanoKnife patient .
What was your Gleason score at the time of your procedure ? And were you on Active Surveillance or any other medications prior ? Finally , what was the location of your tumor and your prostate volume .
Keep healthy .

If I may ask, who was your doctor? I am looking at a consult at Moffitt but have no knowledge of any doctors there. Thanks.

My doctor at Moffitt is Dr. Julio Pow-Sang, who is the Chair of the Department of Genitourinary Oncology. Prostate cancer is all he treats. My first appointment with him was in November of 2023. I followed up with a letter to him asking several follow up questions. The day after Thanksgiving, he called me on the phone and we had a twenty minute conversation talking in detail about the various alternatives available to me and why he thought the NanoKnife was the best of those alternatives. I am very impressed with how he took time to address my questions and with how well he performed the NanoKnife procedure.

There's only two places where I seek serious medical treatment. The doctors at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville probably saved my life on two occasions and I hold them in the highest regard. Moffitt Cancer Center consistently provided a very high level of care for my prostate cancer and Dr. Pow-Sang and his staff are outstanding.

Good luck to you!

My MRI noted two lesions; both with a PI-RADS of 4. The volume of my prostate was 41cc. Both lesions were in the anterior location of the prostate. My Gleason score was 3+4=7. The tissue from my biopsy was sent for the Decipher test, which came back as low risk. Active Surveillance was an option for me, but because one of the tumors abutted the edge of the prostate, I didn't want to run the risk of it spreading. I had no cancer medications prior to the NanoKnife procedure.

Hoping and praying for the best outcome for everyone!