Life after prostate cancer

yes. I am glad your happy with the decision. I did not give it enough time but still not unhappy. My father passed away at 87 with prostate cancer. He had radiation at 65 and it came back at about 75. He had treatments for his last ten years. My Dr did not agree with removal but told me he could not do nerve sparring surgery after radiation. Best thing to him was to treat as you are. My PSA was 1.2. No cancer had even registered yet. Yet I decided the only way to try and save the nerves and have any chance of the cancer not moving was removal. If it was found outside the margins then I could do treatment. My margins were clear. So I am hoping I made the right decision as far as the cancer is concerned. Leakage is manageable. Impotence has not been important. Of the two, I miss sexual activiity as much as before. So I am trying to do the right thing now with my decisions going forward. One was seeing Dr Wolter at Mayo. I feel better about it. Thanks for the reason and good luck.

Each person has to make their own decisions, but with Gleason 3+3=6 or even 3+4= 7 I just don't understand why someone would chose surgery with all the side effects, and there is a good chance the cancer comes back later anyway, then they want to do radiation and ADT. Seems to me the treatment is worse than the disease. I am 70 years old, fusion biopsy at Mayo 2/2/24 showed Gleason 4+3=7 in 70% of 6 cores ( out of 23) but my decipher score is only 0.38 so low risk of metastasis, and my PSMA PET showed only a small area, less than 1% of my 50.4 cc prostate as cancer, so contained. I have met with the surgeon, Radiation OC, and Urologist regarding various focal treatments, and I have decided to do Passive Surveillance, in other words no treatment other than the Keto diet, zero sugar and no carbs, it's a difficult diet but I have already knocked my PSA down from 6.62 to 5.12 after only 2 months. Glucose feeds the cancer cells, take it away and they can't live, also reduce glutamine thru vigorous exercise . I have zero side effects other than sugar cravings, and I have zero symptoms from the cancer, and I am enjoying every minute of life to the fullest, as I know it may be shorter in quantity, but better in quality. I take 5mg Cialis daily and it's the only thing that helped with symptoms of BPH plus the added benefit of helping with ED

Each person has to make their own decisions, but with Gleason 3+3=6 or even 3+4= 7 I just don't understand why someone would chose surgery with all the side effects, and there is a good chance the cancer comes back later anyway, then they want to do radiation and ADT. Seems to me the treatment is worse than the disease. I am 70 Gleason 4+3=7 but my decipher score is only 0.38 so low risk of metastasis, and my PSMA PET showed only a small area less than 1% of my 50.4 cc prostate as cancer, so contained. I have met with the surgeon, Radiation OC, and Urologist regarding various focal treatments, and I have decided to do Passive Surveillance, in other words no treatment other than the Keto diet, zero sugar and no carbs, it's a difficult diet but I have already knocked my PSA down from 6.62 to 5.12 after only 2 months. Glucose feeds the cancer cells, take it away and they can't live, also reduce glutamine thru vigorous exercise . I have zero side effects other than sugar cravings, and I have zero symptoms from the cancer, and I am enjoying every minute of life to the fullest, as I know it may be shorter in quantity, but better in quality.

If you want a good range of experiences with an AUS check the discussion here titled: "Can Someone help me about life after AUS 800 implant?" Posted by rodneyverrill.
I wish you and your wife all the blessings that can be. I lost my wife and sweetheart of 53-years to Covid (and no immune system due to a 20-year struggle with MS) a little over 2-years ago. My RALP for early but aggressive PC had to happen 2-weeks after she passed. That didn't help. Both recoveries take time - way more than I expected or realized.
You've gotten this far and you're able to ask cogent and meaningful questions. You're tough and thoughtful, keep it up and God Speed to you both.
GranPun

VEDs can help some men with ED but have to be used with caution as damage to the penis can result unless used appropriately and carefully. Here’s a link that might be helpful.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/erectile-dysfunction/care-at-mayo-clinic/mac-20355786

First off, so sorry to hear about you wife.

I recently had my RARP and know the side affects will last a while. I read many posts from the guys in this forum about doing the kegals everyday without fail. Many have had good outcomes being faithful doing them regularly. As far as the VED, is a medical grade one? I am going to be purchasing one within a week or two. Any advise you can share would be great.

They said no rehab until 6 weeks post surgery.

I hope everything works out for you.

oh brother. things are getting complicated.

It stands for vacuum erection device, otherwise called a penis pump. Either manually operated or machine driven it creates a slight vacuum around your penis drawing blood into it. Alone it is good for rehabbing your penis, but with a tension ring it can help maintain an erection good enough for intercourse.

This unfortunately is a more realistic answer. I am just a little over 4 years in. What is a VED.

You've come to a good place to ask your questions. I will attempt to give you a different point of view. First, there are a bunch of men who somehow are continent within days or weeks of the operation. I truly believe the majority are not in that boat no matter what the doctors say. Most of us struggle to get our continence back. I am 15 months out from my RALP and can finally say I am very dry most of the time. I firmly believe that Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy is why I finally got to this point, and I am committed to do these exercises most every day for the rest of my life. But I said "very dry" because there is still the occasional dribble or squirt that I must be prepared for. Friends who had the same surgery years ago still put a thin pad in their underwear just for this purpose. I can live with that. But when I am active (pickleball, golf, hiking) all bets are off. It is called stress incontinence and I leak unknowingly while I am engaged in the activity. I will admit the volume is steadily decreasing and I hope one day a thin pad will be enough to handle it. But for now I need thick pads, a condom catheter or Depends to keep me from embarrassment. The male sling or AUS is supposed to fix this issue, but I am reluctant to have the surgery. I just don't believe their success ratios anymore. As for erections, I am still waiting for my first natural one. My VED creates them as therapy for penile rehab and my fingers are crossed that the nerves will come back someday. Good luck.