Golf and prostate cancer

Be aware of that if you have one Gleason nine you are a Gleason nine and the sevens really don’t matter at all. That is very aggressive prostate cancer.

The answer your question is not real straightforward. Whether you have radiation or surgery, you would be able to resolve any problem with incontinence. They have devices that could be put in that completely block your urine until you’re ready to go. I have one installed in June and activated in July and I No longer having incontinence. There are a couple of different devices that you can get for that. With the right treatment, you may not have Incontinence..

If you need a radical prostatectomy, then you want to get one that is Retzius sparing And nerve sparing. That will keep your chance of having any incontinence very low, Maybe for a few weeks, but that’s it. The nerve sparing will hopefully allow you to get an erection. Since you Are a Gleason nine, they may not be able to spare all the nerves because the cancer is aggressive. These are things you have to speak with the doctor about.

As an important as the Gleason score is, what else is found That could be even more important.

Were any of these things found in the biopsy intraductal, ductal, large cribriform, Seminal vesicle invasion, EPE or ECE. (Extraprostatic extensions extra capsular extensions). They can make the cancer much more aggressive.

Have you had a PSMA PET scan? You definitely should be getting one since you are a Gleason nine. If the cancer has spread outside the prostate, then they normally will not do surgery they do radiation.

Be aware that prostate cancer is a chronic disease for almost all of us not a deadly disease. With the proper treatment, you can may have a Progression free survival.

Have you had hereditary, genetic testing? Genetics can cause prostate cancer, and there are treatments for some genetic problems. If there is cancer in your family, you should definitely get this test.

I can by no means promise that your results will be the same as mine, but I have had zero incontinence following RP more than a year ago. I play pickleball, hike and do fairly heavy lifting with no leakage.

Anyway, with a Gleason 9 lesion, treatment, either surgery or radiation is not optional and both carry incontinence risk, though in both cases, you could be lucky and not have any issues/

I had RP April 30 2026 and all nerves spared on right and most spared on left. Still having incontinence issues, but getting better. Might take awhile and they tell me if not complete over in a year they would put in a mesh of some kind that would fix the incontinence. I am down to one shield a night which catches 1 - 2 ML and 1 guard a day unless I go to gym and work out on weights, then 2 guards. Doing pelvic therapy which has made improvements.

67 with Gleason 8

I care you are still looking at alternative treatments….

Just finished 28 sessions of VMAT radiation. Played golf throughout the 6 weeks. Little tired at end of 18 but not too bad.

I played from the senior tees. I mentioned to my partners that I should be allowed to play from the next tee forward….”the senior radiation patient tees” lol. They said NO!! 🤣🏌️‍♂️🤷

Wear black pants. You'll be the only one that knows. Kegels

@jeffmarc
Thanks for this. Perineural invasion was present in one G(3+4) sample. Absent in all 12 other samples. Cribriform glands absent in all samples. Of positive samples, tumor involved between 20-65% of sample. Pre-biopsy MRI indicated no exo-prostate involvement. No PET scan as yet.

The possibility of surgery is scary, but what freaks me out is the required catheter for 7-10 days afterwards. I would like to hear your thoughts on how this is managed. Is it painful, uncomfortable or tolerable? Do you need to sit in a chair most of the 10-days, do you wear totally loose-fitting pants, must you lay only on your back in bed? How easy is it to walk around and go to the bathroom (for #2)?

65 y/o RARP Oct 25. Followed strict instructions of doing nothing but walking for six weeks. Had a bit of incontinence early on. Alcohol and heavy exertion exacerbated somewhat. Slowly resumed normal activities. By spring 2026, incontinence was reduced to minor stress and dribbles. By summer still a little stress incontinence with heavy exertion, but mostly back to normal. Golf and all activities have resumed with no worries. Best of luck!!

@golf2026 I had RARP a couple months ago. The catheter was in place for 8 days. It was not painful except for when there was the occasional tug when the velcro strap around my thigh that held the catheter in place got loose (happened when the day bag got full and heavy). For this reason, I started to just use the night bag most of the time. I got a bucket to place the night bag in and carried it around the house. I stayed indoors those 8 days but was able to go up and down the stairs, walk around the house etc. w/o difficulty. It helped to wear boxer briefs one size larger (to accommodate the catheter) and thread the catheter down one of the legs openings.

All the best!

Play golf as long as you can. So many benefits.