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How much did you know about your Urologist before RALP?

Posted by animate @animate, Oct 28 2:43pm

For those who’ve had RALP, did you learn how many procedures your surgeon had performed prior to yours? If so, what was the number?

Also, do you feel the surgeon’s level of experience was reflected in your surgical outcome?

I understand that more experience generally leads to better results, but I’d appreciate insights on what’s considered low, average, or high volume—and how strongly that correlates with outcomes based on your experience.

Thanks in advance for sharing.

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dkgibson | @dkgibson | Oct 29 10:23pm

I should add that I never had any post-operative pain. I walked that night with the nurse in tow until she got tired. When I woke up the next morning, they took my vitals, disconnected some tubes, & told me to get dressed & go home. I said, "What about breakfast?" No incontinence.

Best operation I ever had, next to my cataract surgery. So I guess that is confirmation as to the surgeon's experience.

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beachflyer | @beachflyer | Oct 29 11:24pm
In reply to @retireditguy "@beachflyer -- I had a similar experience after surgery. No incontinence at all (except a few..." + (show)
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@beachflyer -- I had a similar experience after surgery. No incontinence at all (except a few minor accidents during the first 6 months as I figured out the new normal and fully resumed all physical activities). I did have ED, but it (very) slowly recovered until I fully recovered at about 15 months. I hadn't heard the 1/2 to 1 mm a day recovery, but that sounds like exactly what I experienced. Best wishes.

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@retireditguy
Thanks for the feedback regarding your ED recovery. It is good to hear of your recovery at 15 months. I do all the rehab stuff and even do trimix weekly to keep things working. I try and stay positive about that aspect of recovery, but it seems painfully slow.

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retireditguy | @retireditguy | Oct 30 9:15am
In reply to @beachflyer "@retireditguy Thanks for the feedback regarding your ED recovery. It is good to hear of your..." + (show)
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@retireditguy
Thanks for the feedback regarding your ED recovery. It is good to hear of your recovery at 15 months. I do all the rehab stuff and even do trimix weekly to keep things working. I try and stay positive about that aspect of recovery, but it seems painfully slow.

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@beachflyer -- I really know what you mean. At 4 months I was maybe 65% firmness and wondering if I'd ever get better. At 12 months I was pretty happy with my progress, but I really wondered if I was still continuing to improve as progress was so slow. But I kept at it and I did keep improving. Around 14 months I made another jump and I'd have good days and less good days. About 15 months I made another jump and now I consider myself fully back to normal. I just passed 16 months I have much less anxiety before sex as my confidence has grown a lot in the last month. That's important as Dr. Mulhall explains in the following video that anxiety is like an anti-viagra. One thing that encouraged me a lot was when I saw a chart in the following youtube by Dr. Mulhall from Sloan Memorial that showed penile rehab success kept improving out to 24 months. Sure enough, that was me. Don't give up. Best wishes

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