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Post prostatectomy

Posted by toddsp @toddsp, Mar 11, 2025

Has anyone had the prostatectomy... I'm 57 scheduled for May. Not sure if I want the surgery or radiation. Any recommendations?

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Jeff Marchi | @jeffmarc | Jul 29 11:43am
In reply to @jayhoward0521 "I am probably the odd one here. I had my prostate removed two years ago and..." + (show)
Profile picture for jayhoward0521 @jayhoward0521

I am probably the odd one here. I had my prostate removed two years ago and I am still dealing with urinary incontinence. The reason I say that I might be odd is because I haven't let it impact my life. My wife and I travel. We ballroom dance, having performed in local shows and we compete in dance competitions. It does take some planning, but I haven't allowed it to stop me from living.

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@jayhoward0521
Incontinence is a problem every day not just when going dancing. My wife and I like to go swing dancing every Saturday night and have done it for years. Not the greatest, but we know a lot of steps.

After six years of incontinent, I had enough. I had an AUS (Artificial urinary sphincter) Put in in June and it was activated early this month and I am 100% continent. No longer have to wear a pad in my underwear. No longer have to worry about the pad filling up and wetting my pants.

If you haven’t had radiation and don’t expect to have it, then you can get ProACT Or with radiation get an AUS put in. It really changes your outlook on what you can do when you no longer have incontinence..

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Jeff Marchi | @jeffmarc | Jul 29 11:56am
In reply to @drdoom01 "On 9/12/25, I was diagnosed with Gleason 7 (4+3) Prostate cancer. On ADT Hormone Therapy for..." + (show)
Profile picture for drdoom01 @drdoom01

On 9/12/25, I was diagnosed with Gleason 7 (4+3) Prostate cancer. On ADT Hormone Therapy for 9 1/2 months.
I went in for HDR Brachytherapy and the doctor stopped the operation because probe to reach the prostate was not long enough due to my anatomy. Radiation is no longer an option for me. I was told I needed the prostate removed. I'm 66 years old, active swimmer and cyclist. This news has devastated me. Due to my size 6 ft 320 lbs there is the fear of permanent urinary incontinence effecting my life. I'm not big on the libido part because I've had ED for 10 years already. I was hoping for some rat of light in the darkness. Im interested in any one having a successful prostate removal that has resumed normal activities. Thanks.

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@drdoom01
You do not have to live with lifetime incontinence. If you need to have surgery about 10% of patients, don’t have any incontinence problems after surgery, It never was a problem for me. Most of the other patients that had surgery get their continents back within a year. Four years after surgery, I had to have radiation and six years after that I had incontinent start. After having to live with it Getting progressively worse over the six years since it started I had an AUS (Artificial urinary sphincter) Put in and I am now 100% continent. Because you’re not going to be able to have radiation, you could have the ProACT Device put in, which is easier to work with than the AUS.

You don’t have to be incontinent for a lifetime.

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edinmaryland | @edinmaryland | Jul 30 5:11am

Not that odd Jay ..
I am 72; 18 months post RARP and still incontinent. I hate it however it has slowly- very slowly- gotten better. Instead of leaking most of the day, mornings are pretty good, Strenuous activity (lifting, digging, playing on the ground with kids used to cause immediate leaks now they are intermittent and usually associated to longer or more strenuous heavy lifting. I was feeling pretty good a few weeks ago and decided to put in a little retaining wall which involved digging lifting bags of gravel and then blocks it was going great and I love hard work, however there seems to be some type of cumulative effect because after a day of moving 10-20 bags of sand and gravel I regressed big time. I am taking a break off kegels and trying to build back up. In my case (1) I do not want cancer and am doing what it takes to keep that at bay (2) the incontinence is getting better I can do the things I want

hang in there
get help if you need it in terms of PT for the incontinence and use this board for support

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clevelandguy | @clevelandguy | Jul 30 7:20am

Hi,
One rule I always follow is before you go anywhere or go outside to work in the yard take a quick pee. Helps reduce the dribble leakage for me.

Dave 3+4

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Cannondale | @tactive | Aug 5 4:09pm
In reply to @survivor5280 "I'm 6 weeks post-op RARP. I was told by 9 different doctors that they recommended RARP..." + (show)
Profile picture for survivor5280 @survivor5280

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.

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@survivor5280 thanks for your comments.

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kjacko | @kjacko | Aug 6 8:53am

It will be three years in October since I had my RP. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky 10% that had Zero incontinence issues. FYI, my biopsy showed I had one core at 3+4, but after surgery my pathology report showed it was 4+5. As I’ve said many times, be as confident as possible that your Gleason score is accurate. At this time, my PSA continues to be <0.01. Hoping and praying for more of the same. Best wishes as you move forward 🙏🤞

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