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Erections post radical prostatectomy: What to expect?

Prostate Cancer | Last Active: May 25 10:23am | Replies (28)

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@web265

Hi @havhav
I'm no expert but can give you some insight ..

Diagnosed at 60 Gleason 4+3 but I think I was a little less advanced, there was no obvious tumor on the outside of the prostate, just inside with slight invasions but clean margins.

At about 3-6 mos I could get about 70%-80% maybe a little less, not enough for fun play with my wife and it would come with a dry orgasm. Using a little pharmaceuticals was helpful. There are a couple other options if needed but I'll let the docs get into that.

I think the doctors are kind of stuck giving you the answers like they do in percentages. Every question I asked was answered with XX% of men your age recovered blah blah after this amount of time. Virtually like he was reading off a chart. Unfortunately this is as close to "scientific facts" as I believe they can get.

It's my belief..
A. They don't really know exactly what they are up against till they get in there.
B. Everyone's a little different in presentation and healing capacity.

I really think that's the best they can do, nerves are funny things and take a LONG time to heal/grow
One of the things I found after diagnosis is that no one I knew talked about it much, after diagnosis I found several of the same acquaintances had dealt with this. Many get treated get better and move on with their lives, you tend not to hear from them. Meaning, I think you might hear more about bad outcomes than good ones.
Best of luck to you and your husband!

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Replies to "Hi @havhav I'm no expert but can give you some insight .. Diagnosed at 60 Gleason..."

Did you get radiation after RP? Thanks.

Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. Definitely is helpful as the vague generalities leave us feeling rather lost and it is true that we may hear of bad outcomes more than good ones. Thanks again

There are probably some downsides to promising "yes, I can fix this." If it doesn't work, the problem (that they WANTED to fix, but didn't have enough control over TO fix) may now be seen as their fault. And then they may get sued.
It's important to only promise what you can deliver, which is the attempt, and not 100% success.