Encouraging Woods of Wisdom

Yes, you read that correctly.

Look, along with every other guy who finds out they have prostate cancer we all know the score: you might be in diapers for life and you might never get an erection again, and if you do then it might only be achievable via pharmaceuticals. I think every single one of us dwell on and worry about these two things the most - to the point of seeking alternative treatments that might prevent one or both side effects. If we all knew that RARP had zero side effects we’d likely all do it in a heartbeat and get rid of this thing tomorrow.

My catheter is still in for a few days but one thing has been made abundantly clear, wood is happening with similar regularity as before. It’s uncomfortable but it’s there.

I did have nerve sparing surgery, a few nerves were taken as a precautionary margin, but otherwise they are intact. So, considering the extreme trauma in the area, the uncomfortable tube running the through the middle of the zone, the pain and discomfort of the incisions and the overall lack of any sexy feeling - wood is present.

I’m not being a braggart, I struggled greatly to find good news on these sites and they have been very difficult to find. So for those that are worrying about this, it is possible. I don’t know if my function is 100% or 50% at this point, but any naturally occurring erection is a fantastic feeling. My doctor tells me that since it happened on the day after surgery and daily (or multiple daily) since that he’s fairly positive that I’ll be 100% naturally functional once the catheter comes out, no meds needed.

I did have some things in my favor, being only 54, having a very healthy and active libido since pre-teens, nerve sparing surgery, preemptively being put on 5mg of tadalafil and L-Citrilline a month ahead of time to keep the nerve endings firing are all playing into this - but success is success.

Next step: dryness. This is what I was able to work towards and control, this is the one thing that I *THINK* I will have under control, but if I get that as I fully expect to then I am the unicorn - the guy that comes out unscathed that we’ve all heard of - or know the guy who knows the guy.

So it’s possible. This sh*tty disease can turn out OK after all.

That’s today’s bit of, hopefully, upbeat news. I know there’s lots of guys suffering from ED right now and that’s the terrible end of the stick (some pun intended). I might be in the same boat in a few years if this comes back and I have to return to treatment, but this post is more about all of us noobs thinking this was almost guaranteed out of the gate.