Hi -husband had the surgery on 2/28…he saw a pelvic floor therapist and started doing kegels like almost a month prior to his surgery. He had his catheter removed on Monday and has not had much of an issue with leaks…I attribute this to the kegels..he resumed these after kegels after he had the catheter removed..his scrotum was extremely swollen for a while but has since gone down…so far happy with the surgery…Dr also removed 13 lymph nodes and all clear!!
I'm 6 weeks post-op RARP. I was told by 9 different doctors that they recommended RARP over radiation at my age (54) because the side effects of radiation might impact me before the end of my natural life. I have no regrets, I'm fully continent and no ED. That's not everyone's history with RARP, but it is mine. With a couple months to prepare, you could start working your pelvic floor and core muscles to better improve your recovery and even prevention of both incontinence and ED.
Radiation has some appeal, as do alternative treatments, because the side effects are often less, but you never know the true scope of your cancer until they remove it and analyze it.
If you haven't talked to multiple doctors, you should do so now. Nobody here is qualified to tell you which path you should take, but your doctors absolutely are. The best we can do is tell you how it went for us - and remember that most of the people here, me excluded, are here because they either are new and have questions - like yourself - or they continue to have issues. The success stories have no reason to stick around, but there are plenty of RARP success stories out there, I had a hell of a time finding them because they don't participate in these types of forums anymore so I'm trying to stick around to sprinkle some good news over all the bad that comes with this terrible disease.
Yes!! My husband had his surgery on 2/28….he was very swollen after surgery but as far as incontinence, the pelvic floor exercises have helped immensely!! That and a very positive attitude!! I tell my husband every day how proud I am of him for being such a trooper through this whole thing…
Yes!! My husband had his surgery on 2/28….he was very swollen after surgery but as far as incontinence, the pelvic floor exercises have helped immensely!! That and a very positive attitude!! I tell my husband every day how proud I am of him for being such a trooper through this whole thing…
Todd, I’m no Doctor but with a Gleason score of 3+4 and 4+3 which is middle score for aggressive, I asked my doctor what he would do since I trusted him being a friend of large donor friends of mine . He also knew how important my sex life is and will always be , he tried to spare the nerves but in one side could not . With my bad luck my PSA after surgery showed some cancer still there which pet scan confirmed. Just finished 6 weeks of radiation and waiting for next PSA plus another hormone shot which I dread. Since I’m much older than you I can’t advise you fairly but I wish I opted for no surgery. My sex life for 6 months is dead despite pills and a pump. When hormone shot wears off will strongly consider implants especially after hearing a nice gentleman who spoke on the last Webinar who only had radiation. At your age losing your manhood abilities would be more than I could handle . At 78 I struggle each day in various degrees of sadness , anger and occasional depression which I fight off the best I can , get a second opinion, I didn’t but probably my outcome would be the same . Quality of life will always be a priority for me . Wish you good luck and a return to a normal life
Hey hogy, Pretty good info on that Dr Grimm website. Took me a while to figure out those graphs and how to manipulate them, but they still leave me somewhat confused.
I plugged in robotic surgery and different EBRT regimens and they don’t seem all that different to me. Seed therapy, however, seemed to be better than both. Am I reading this correctly?
Thanks
Phil
Sorry for my delay phil.
Yes you are reading correctly. With external beam radiation, they have to quit radiating you because they are also dosing the other organs. At some point, they have to quit shooting.
With seeds they can dose a bit higher because the radiation emanates from inside the prostate
Sorry for my delay phil.
Yes you are reading correctly. With external beam radiation, they have to quit radiating you because they are also dosing the other organs. At some point, they have to quit shooting.
With seeds they can dose a bit higher because the radiation emanates from inside the prostate
I've got to disagree with those who claim that a prostatectomy does not shorten your penis. Before my RALP, I said to the surgeon, if you remove a walnut length of urethra from me (the average size of the prostate) how do you make up that difference? Does my penis withdraw that much? His answer was that the hope is the bladder will drop down that much, but usually there is a "compromise" and both happen. The bladder is held in place by many things in your gut, restricting its ability to move lower and make up entirely for the loss of urethral length. My penis is still shorter two years after the surgery, even doing VED therapy daily. How do I know? Foreskin piles up around the base of the glans, like a turtle head withdrawing into its neck. And I'm circumcised. It never did that before.
@tomf
I agree with you! It definitely shortens your penis! I had an extremely enlarged prostate on top of prostate cancer. I took medications to reduce my testosterone for 1.5 years to shrink my prostate and then I had a prostatectomy! My before measurements was 6 inches long soft. After taking the meds for 1.5 years my penis began to shrink! I, like you, was circumcised at birth but my penis shrank to 3 inches long. I have so much extra skin after 50% shrinkage it looks like I’m uncircumcised now! In fact I experience “turtling” where the penis is inverted. I understood that the prostatectomy would shorten my penis, especially with my very enlarged prostate!
After surgery my soft penis is now 2 inches long! Being 4 inches shorter and being unable to have an erection is very troubling! Do you feel this may change as I continue my recovery? I am 1 month out from my prostatectomy.
Any advice or information would be appreciated!
Bill
@tomf
I agree with you! It definitely shortens your penis! I had an extremely enlarged prostate on top of prostate cancer. I took medications to reduce my testosterone for 1.5 years to shrink my prostate and then I had a prostatectomy! My before measurements was 6 inches long soft. After taking the meds for 1.5 years my penis began to shrink! I, like you, was circumcised at birth but my penis shrank to 3 inches long. I have so much extra skin after 50% shrinkage it looks like I’m uncircumcised now! In fact I experience “turtling” where the penis is inverted. I understood that the prostatectomy would shorten my penis, especially with my very enlarged prostate!
After surgery my soft penis is now 2 inches long! Being 4 inches shorter and being unable to have an erection is very troubling! Do you feel this may change as I continue my recovery? I am 1 month out from my prostatectomy.
Any advice or information would be appreciated!
Bill
@billybwbf2
I wish I had a happy ending (no pun intended) for you but alas, I don't. I use a VED every evening as physical therapy for my penis. Unfortunately, my nerves weren't spared during the prostatectomy so the only erections I will ever have again are induced, and I am a firm believer (now that pun I did intend) in the old adage "use it or lose it". So, I induce an erection every night, and if my wife and I are going to make love, I use Trimix. My penis is still shorter than it ever was, but luckily it isn't withdrawing any further. I would estimate I lost at least an inch if not an inch and a half. One thing I have to be aware of is gaining weight...if my belly gets too big, I will feel like my penis is shrinking further. So I try to keep active. I don't want an implant because I prefer blood engorgement to be the cause of any erections I get, and Trimix allows that. Any more questions just ask; I haven't contributed here in a long time.
@tomf
I agree with you! It definitely shortens your penis! I had an extremely enlarged prostate on top of prostate cancer. I took medications to reduce my testosterone for 1.5 years to shrink my prostate and then I had a prostatectomy! My before measurements was 6 inches long soft. After taking the meds for 1.5 years my penis began to shrink! I, like you, was circumcised at birth but my penis shrank to 3 inches long. I have so much extra skin after 50% shrinkage it looks like I’m uncircumcised now! In fact I experience “turtling” where the penis is inverted. I understood that the prostatectomy would shorten my penis, especially with my very enlarged prostate!
After surgery my soft penis is now 2 inches long! Being 4 inches shorter and being unable to have an erection is very troubling! Do you feel this may change as I continue my recovery? I am 1 month out from my prostatectomy.
Any advice or information would be appreciated!
Bill
@billybwbf2
RLAP 7 years ago at age 72. Lost about one inch penis length and serious ED. Used vacuum pump for therapy and intercourse for first 3 years then went to EDX penis injections. Still use Vacuum for therapy. My theory is use it or loose it. Sex not like it used to be, but at 79 still trying and getting it done most of the time.
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Hi -husband had the surgery on 2/28…he saw a pelvic floor therapist and started doing kegels like almost a month prior to his surgery. He had his catheter removed on Monday and has not had much of an issue with leaks…I attribute this to the kegels..he resumed these after kegels after he had the catheter removed..his scrotum was extremely swollen for a while but has since gone down…so far happy with the surgery…Dr also removed 13 lymph nodes and all clear!!
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8 ReactionsYes!! My husband had his surgery on 2/28….he was very swollen after surgery but as far as incontinence, the pelvic floor exercises have helped immensely!! That and a very positive attitude!! I tell my husband every day how proud I am of him for being such a trooper through this whole thing…
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6 ReactionsSorry..meant to reply to another post…did not mean to do a repeat …
It is OK , I am also here for my husband and my brain is frazzled too 😉 ...
Todd, I’m no Doctor but with a Gleason score of 3+4 and 4+3 which is middle score for aggressive, I asked my doctor what he would do since I trusted him being a friend of large donor friends of mine . He also knew how important my sex life is and will always be , he tried to spare the nerves but in one side could not . With my bad luck my PSA after surgery showed some cancer still there which pet scan confirmed. Just finished 6 weeks of radiation and waiting for next PSA plus another hormone shot which I dread. Since I’m much older than you I can’t advise you fairly but I wish I opted for no surgery. My sex life for 6 months is dead despite pills and a pump. When hormone shot wears off will strongly consider implants especially after hearing a nice gentleman who spoke on the last Webinar who only had radiation. At your age losing your manhood abilities would be more than I could handle . At 78 I struggle each day in various degrees of sadness , anger and occasional depression which I fight off the best I can , get a second opinion, I didn’t but probably my outcome would be the same . Quality of life will always be a priority for me . Wish you good luck and a return to a normal life
Sorry for my delay phil.
Yes you are reading correctly. With external beam radiation, they have to quit radiating you because they are also dosing the other organs. At some point, they have to quit shooting.
With seeds they can dose a bit higher because the radiation emanates from inside the prostate
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1 ReactionOn the graphs, try drawing a dot on the elipse endpoints, then draw a line through the dots. Reading the lines is easier than the blobs
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1 Reaction@tomf
I agree with you! It definitely shortens your penis! I had an extremely enlarged prostate on top of prostate cancer. I took medications to reduce my testosterone for 1.5 years to shrink my prostate and then I had a prostatectomy! My before measurements was 6 inches long soft. After taking the meds for 1.5 years my penis began to shrink! I, like you, was circumcised at birth but my penis shrank to 3 inches long. I have so much extra skin after 50% shrinkage it looks like I’m uncircumcised now! In fact I experience “turtling” where the penis is inverted. I understood that the prostatectomy would shorten my penis, especially with my very enlarged prostate!
After surgery my soft penis is now 2 inches long! Being 4 inches shorter and being unable to have an erection is very troubling! Do you feel this may change as I continue my recovery? I am 1 month out from my prostatectomy.
Any advice or information would be appreciated!
Bill
@billybwbf2
I wish I had a happy ending (no pun intended) for you but alas, I don't. I use a VED every evening as physical therapy for my penis. Unfortunately, my nerves weren't spared during the prostatectomy so the only erections I will ever have again are induced, and I am a firm believer (now that pun I did intend) in the old adage "use it or lose it". So, I induce an erection every night, and if my wife and I are going to make love, I use Trimix. My penis is still shorter than it ever was, but luckily it isn't withdrawing any further. I would estimate I lost at least an inch if not an inch and a half. One thing I have to be aware of is gaining weight...if my belly gets too big, I will feel like my penis is shrinking further. So I try to keep active. I don't want an implant because I prefer blood engorgement to be the cause of any erections I get, and Trimix allows that. Any more questions just ask; I haven't contributed here in a long time.
@billybwbf2
RLAP 7 years ago at age 72. Lost about one inch penis length and serious ED. Used vacuum pump for therapy and intercourse for first 3 years then went to EDX penis injections. Still use Vacuum for therapy. My theory is use it or loose it. Sex not like it used to be, but at 79 still trying and getting it done most of the time.