Second guessing or being sure.

At age 72, I was faced with choice of radiation or surgery. Many in my family lived to 90 or beyond. My cancer was confined to Prostate gland according to PSMA test. After lots of research, I chose RALP as I found that radiation after surgery was a doable option, but the radiation affected the tissue making surgery after radiation not a good option.

I had 3+4’s and some 4+3’s. After the RALP, the pathology reported an as yet undetected cancer that would have survived radiation.

I am now very happy with my decision.

Great decision, so glad men are not just using the average lifespan to make these life limiting decisions. The average life expectancy includes all those that abuse their bodies and unfortunate deaths of the young (we were all young at one point and made bad decision, but fortunately we survived). I am 57 and have several friends in their mid to late 80's. They are doing great, have excellent attitudes, and God willing, will make it another 10-15 years. At the young/healthy age of 72 with confined cancer, I would always recommend a radical prostatectomy. This is the only procedure that allows for removal of the cancer and a full pathology to be performed. Other procedures use imperfect imaging tools to focus the treatment, but in the end, you can only hope that all the confined cancer was addressed. Even with a radical prostatectomy, unknown metastasis can occur - Cancer is cancer, and you never know if it has metastasized. For me, going with a radical prostatectomy was doing everything I could do to minimize the likelihood of reoccurrence, keep future options open in case of BCR, and get the best possible understanding of cancer stage in my body with a post RP pathology.

Good luck to everyone and as always - Just my thoughts/opinions, everyone if an individual and needs to make this personal decision based on their life expectations and personal research.

I had my RP yesterday. Everything went better than they imagined. Recovery is going well. Doctor said I was one of the best conditioned 70+ patients he worked on. He said it allowed him to spare some nerves and removed my enlarged prostate easier. Too much belly fat makes removal more difficult. DO NOT underestimate the importance of physical fitness, regardless of age

Awesome news and so glad everything went well. You obviously did your homework and chose a center of excellence and a competent surgical team for your RP.

Keep up the Kegels and I look forward to hearing how everything is going as you progress through recovery.

Jim

I had my RP yesterday. Everything went better than they imagined. Recovery is going well. Doctor said I was one of the best conditioned 70+ patients he worked on. He said it allowed him to spare some nerves and removed my enlarged prostate easier. Too much belly fat makes removal more difficult. DO NOT underestimate the importance of physical fitness, regardless of age

I had my RP yesterday. Everything went better than they imagined. Recovery is going well. Doctor said I was one of the best conditioned 70+ patients he worked on. He said it allowed him to spare some nerves and removed my enlarged prostate easier. Too much belly fat makes removal more difficult. DO NOT underestimate the importance of physical fitness, regardless of age

Congrats on the successful surgery. May you have a quick and complete recovery.

Thanks for the support Perry. On day 3 of recovery. Starting to eat liquid foods. My abdominal pain is minimal. I’ve found that wearing the catheter is not the end of the world; I just have to be careful with my dog.
Health and happiness!

Thanks for the support Perry. On day 3 of recovery. Starting to eat liquid foods. My abdominal pain is minimal. I’ve found that wearing the catheter is not the end of the world; I just have to be careful with my dog.
Health and happiness!

I hung my cath bag in a 5 gallon bucket that I just carried around. To keep the dog out, I put a lid on it with a notch cut out for hanger and the tube to run in.