@fritzo

What I don't understand, is why I had none of these issues (at age 76). I don't doubt your report at all. I literally had no discomfort, let alone any pain for my robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. I was told that my abdomen was inflated to create working room, & that I should expect it to go down in a couple days, which it did, but there was no discomfort. There was no pain or discomfort when removing my abdominal tube or urine catheter a week later.

Similarly, 20 months later I had a hernia repair done robotically (different doctor, different medical facility) in a same-day operation & release, & the doctor gave me a prescription for oxycodone. I declined it, but he insisted, as he didn't want me to get home & then need it, so I filled the prescription. Never needed it. No pain, no discomfort.

It's not like I'm some superman invulnerable to pain. Nor am I some athlete; I'm quite sedentary. I find routine dental cleaning visits painful. I take aspirin if I have a headache (about once every 3 months), or a Tylenol for a muscle ache (about every 3 months).

My prostatectomy surgeon was doing about 115 operations a year); I don't know about my hernia surgeon. In the latter operation, the surgeon in his notes described the procedure as difficult due to the preceding prostatectomy.

???