@jim18 "Find the best surgeon you can and unless you sought someone out after your diagnosis it is probably not your urologist. .... There are two factors with nerve sparing ... 2) the skill of the surgeon .... Again, the skill of the surgeon becomes your destiny."

As I've mentioned here before, my urologist was willing to do the robotic surgery (he did 35 per year), but he gave me John Walsh's "Surviving Prostate Cancer" book, which recommended finding the most experienced surgeon. I did at U. Wash. Medical Center (part of the Fred Hutch Cancer Center), one who was doing 115 per year.

That surgeon recommended radiation for my age (then 75), but I wasn't having any of that & had him do the Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy anyway. M y surgeon wanted me to lose some weight (it makes the procedure easier) even though my BMI was less than 25. Some men are ineligible for surgery based on weight.

Piece of cake. No pain after or since, 5 tiny (1/2") scars which have long since healed, & no incontinence. I chose non-nerve-sparing because the cancer had reached the surface of the gland.

I have strongly recommended surgery here as a result, & I thought my experience was typical. However, many here do not have the same experience. Of course, most men with really good experiences don't come here afterwards.

So, what's the difference? In my opinion, it's as they say in real estate, "surgeon, surgeon, surgeon."