davinci procedure or external radiation

I have been reading alot on this site for the last couple of days and and have to confess its the first time I have heard of the davinci procedure. I just found that I have prostate cancer and choose radiation over having the prostate removal because of a bleeding condition (vonvillabrands-blood does not coagulate well but I can take something for this).  Bone and CT scan next week. In reading, it seems the davinci method has much less bleeding and better long term results. Is this true and is the procedure performed throughout the US.  All comments are welcomed.

Your question is simple, but like everything with PC, not always easy. I had open surgery, and was told to stock up to 3 units, in the end, my surgeon didn't need any. As a rule, the robotic surgery is much less likely to need additional blood. As far as availability, depends where you live. When I was at the decision point, found out, there was only one robot in the whole state of SC, and only one surgeon, who happens to be a partner with my dr's practice, and he had limited experience. I could have gone to Atlanta, GA or Charlotte, NC where they are commonly done, but didn't because I didn't want a lot of complicated logisitics with my wife and children. In the end, after my open rp was done, the surgeon said due to difficulties inside me, had it been robotic, it would have been aborted to an open. So you never know what you are going to get. If you live in or near a major metro area, you should have plenty of choices and options. Good luck in your search.


David in sC

Thanks, just for the info and just updated my sign

I am also a DaVinci prostatectomy patient, and had 50 cc of blood loss with surgery. That being said, much of minimizing blood loss comes with the skill of the surgeon and to some degree, the difficulty of the case presented to him/her at the time by the patient. Although we are all the same anatomically, each of us presents a slightly different scenario to the surgeon, with some prostates being easier to remove from surrounding structures. I have spoken to open surgery patients who also had comparable blood loss. One of the supposed benefits of the robotic procedure is that it is usually less invasive externally, meaning that the overall incisions are smaller, and healing usually occurs faster. The same procedure occurs internally regardless of the surgical method involved. Again, the skill of the surgeon is key, and skill comes with sheer numbers. I hope this helps.
Randy

I was going to have Di Vinci but decided to have open based on a study I read. It indicated that there had been a 3 fold increase of the need for radiation and hormone treatment after robotic surgery. Keep in mind though that the study also said that those results were less when surgery was done by high volume doctors. Being able to actually get your hands on the organ to examine it during surgery I felt was very important. With my open surgey there was no need for blood and my recovery was the same as robotic procedure. Yes, there is a bigger scar but that was the least of my concerns. Keep reading, it will come to you what is best. Try to have a uro with at least 500 surgerys. Mine had done 1,200.

I have to agree that the surgeon is more important than the method. The best surgeons will be fully cognizant of the bleeding issue and take the necessary precautions. True the da Vinci robotic is less invasive, and so is the Laproscope. But none of the three can boast better results over the other with the cancer. You do need to understand that there will be side effects with any treatment. As one doctor told me ~ you are always at your best the day before your treatment for prostate cancer starts. David (Purgatory) is on to something, tell us more about what you know about your prostate cancer. We'll help with the options and our experiences with them.

Peace!

Tony

Mika, was just reading your post. We are both similar age, both had open RP. I was in hospital 4 days could have used 5 or 6, but insurance wouldn't hear of it. I required pretty steady pain meds the first 2 weeks at home. And if you have followed my catheter sagas for over 2 months now, I have had tremendous problem with bladder spasms from the longterm cath use.

Just shows people how different one person/body is from the next. Different pain tolerance levels, different healing rates, etc.

Happy for your 18 months of zeros, looking still for my first in a few weeks.

David in SC

gpg, I just read your signature. Are you saying that you had a prostectomy, and that the doctor left a lot in, so that you could have another biopsy? And then you also had radiation? Diane