Radical RALP done yesterday

Posted by pianoman @philipbrachko, Jul 19, 2023

Took a year of research and stress to get to this point. Very glad I went this route. The surgery was very successful. Being day one after surgery. Thought some brief info might be of help. 3 1/2 hour surgery. Pain meds are necessary if you want to get up and moving around which is encouraged Slept well. Go home today with foley in for 9 days. My research comparing RAD therapy with surgery. Indicated that 3 months and 5 years out results are the same. Both have lousy side effects. One night in the outpatient clinic and I’m done. No 6-7 weeks of radiation was the closer.

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Rest. That is my only advice at this point. Be patient with healing but move forward slowly.

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Congratulations, step one:complete! (You survived the surgery.) Now, walk every day even with the cath. When it's out, you should have the pathology report detailing what was found in the tissue removed at surgery. That, plus a follow up PSA dictates next treatment steps. In the meantime, Kegel's exercise for incontinence, and starting a penile rehab program for erectile dysfunction. Here's hoping in a year you'll have hit the trifecta: undetectable PSA, minimal to no urine leakage, and signs of life down there. Good luck!

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@trusam1

Congratulations, step one:complete! (You survived the surgery.) Now, walk every day even with the cath. When it's out, you should have the pathology report detailing what was found in the tissue removed at surgery. That, plus a follow up PSA dictates next treatment steps. In the meantime, Kegel's exercise for incontinence, and starting a penile rehab program for erectile dysfunction. Here's hoping in a year you'll have hit the trifecta: undetectable PSA, minimal to no urine leakage, and signs of life down there. Good luck!

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Thanks, can't believe how smoothly everything went. Satisfaction way beyond my expectations. No swelling or discoloration in genitals. I'm home now walking 5 min. at a time already done about ten times. Been a long time since I've been on Percocet . Wow, what a feeling, Tons of energy. Now that my Doc took out everything of concern I'm hopeful that I'll be in the 50% that it doesn't,Come back. Thanks again

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Walk and just check for orange color in the bag, if no orange keep walking. Be easy on the percocet, i think in Europe they just give Tylenol

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Day 2 after Radical RALP, No need for Percocet , just Tylenol, and stool softeners . Lots of walking, no pain, just some tightness and discomfort when abs contract. I took a year to find the right place and Doctor for me. Turns out I was right on. Dr. Pow-Sang at Moffitt Cancer center in Tampa, Fla. Had to wait 2 months to get it done. But went into the surgery with complete confidence. Which was of utmost importance. As a lot of having cancer is mental.

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Best wishes for the most satisfactory and successful results possible. I had my RALP performed on 10/25/22 and it went as well as could be expected. I did a lot of research, physician consults and read numerous articles, studies and comments like these from the “Mayo Clinic!” I was as well prepared as possible, (or so I thought)! There is nothing that can totally prepare you for all of the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual changes that occur the day following your surgery and the months to follow. Given that there is an initial recovery period of between 6-24 months to assess what your remaining Incontinence and ED issues may be, there are a lot of ups and downs. Thankfully, they eliminated 100% of the detectable cancer which was limited to my PROSTATE. My PSA continues to remain level and undetectable at < 0.014. I have almost returned to my pre surgical continence levels and my normal erections are about 60% of my pre surgical stiffness and effectiveness. Barely erect enough to have some level of penetrative intercourse. My Penis lost about 1.75+ inches in length and is smaller in girth. I am told most of this should return to normal by the 24 month post surgical date of 10/25/24! Overall, I am grateful and thankful that my cancer is in remission. I know from previous research that there is a 30%-40% chance of it returning within the first 5 years. Everybody is different and I hope and pray that I am in the percentile where my cancer never returns or comes out of remission. As most patients come to understand, nobody is ever “fully cured” of cancer. You’re either in remission or you’re not! I am trying a few methods to assist with my ED. My wife and I are both 69 years old and enjoyed a very happy and satisfying sex life. Frankly, readjusting to this has been and remains more difficult for me than my wife. The ED Pills did very little for me. I just had my first injection of “TRIMEX” today and will utilize that as another option to assist me with obtaining a more function erection for intercourse. I started using a PENILE PUMP about 6 weeks ago to assist with my Penile Rehabilitation. This is an imperative process to recover your and support your overall penile health. It allows me the ability to engorge my penis with more new blood and obtain greater length and rigidity in length and girth. As I can only get so much blood in my penis resulting from my natural erection or “partial erection,” one needs some method to engorge your penis and maintain an erection for longer periods of time to build up its strength and improve its overall health and well-being. Over time, this will increase your own capability to get and maintain healthier, longer lasting, more effective erections! Do not overlook this part of your overall recovery therapy,
It also provides another option to obtain and maintain an erection for sexual intercourse. Do the research on this and you will educate yourself on everything you need to know about this and how it works.
I have some days where so am relatively okay with Evian’s some where I get pretty depressed. I’ve been dealing with several debilitating diseases for the past 32 years which have altered my life significantly. Although I’ve adjusted to these about as well as any person could these also present certain life challenges that most people will never face.
However, the ongoing issues with ED and the various treatment options with various levels of success and or failure have been and continue to be very difficult for me at times. I have a therapist I work with regarding these issues and he is helpful. Thankfully, my wife is very supportive and her sex drive is measurably less than mine so I don’t have to deal with any extra levels of stress or unmet expectations on that front. Frankly, losing the 1.75+ inches in the length of my penis was and remains a disheartening issue for me. Even though I am a well complimented and appreciated lover by many of the women who have told me so……….it’s still a very personal issue for me and many men. Like everybody in life, I know that I can only do the best I can and that’s it. I give it my best and I get what I get, (or not)! Due to my other long term disabilities I had to give up all of my previous athletic and musically gifted artistic abilities to play, write and sing music. In short, making love was one of the few talents I’ve had left and been able to enjoy while being accomplished at it and doing it well! So………compared to other men, I am probably more sensitized to it and it remains a matter of greater importance to me than other men with PC and recovering from post RALP.
It’s always my intention to assist other men in their recovery journey by sharing any and all of my personal experiences in the hopes that they will be able to benefit through them in some way.
GODSPEED to you all.

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Congratulations! Had similar experience exactly 31 days ago. 3 hour surgery, Single Port. One night observation in the hospitsl. No pain except discomfort on cath. Walked 2-3 miles every day with the cath. Received pathology report on day-3. Back to work (online) even when the cath attached. Removed the cath on day-6 and immediately gain urine control except some minor leaks at night. Still Kegel twice a day, trying to eliminate the leaks and trying gain a new life down there.

Good luck!

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@iboy

Congratulations! Had similar experience exactly 31 days ago. 3 hour surgery, Single Port. One night observation in the hospitsl. No pain except discomfort on cath. Walked 2-3 miles every day with the cath. Received pathology report on day-3. Back to work (online) even when the cath attached. Removed the cath on day-6 and immediately gain urine control except some minor leaks at night. Still Kegel twice a day, trying to eliminate the leaks and trying gain a new life down there.

Good luck!

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Great, stories like yours and mine need to get out there, I have read about a lot of bad side effects of RP. Glad we didn't have them. My wife is an RN that works in PACu and believes, that where and who does it, makes a big difference.

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