My Doctor's Comments on my Lack of ED at this point

After getting the PSA report, my dr and I spent a lot of time on ED.  At almost 3 months post surgery (open), and 3 weeks to the day post the last of my 66 days on catheters, I can achieve errections with no difficulty, just through normal fooling around with the wife.  This has been going on for 2 full weeks now.  At first, she estimated 60-80%, but after this weekend, she said no doubt 100% pre-surgery.  Was able to obtain, maintain till the job was done, without any effort.  And can repeat this probably about the same frequency as before surgery, which at 56, wasn't as often as when I was 18.  Least I am being honest about it.

Told my dr about our group hear and how some here were wanting a medical explanation for what I am experiencing.  He said, he can't give one, that in his 26 years of practice, he has seen men with both nerves spared never have natural errections, and men with both sides removed have natural errections.  I quote him here, "someone up there must like you" in that department.

I will change my signature, he now clearly states that he only removed the left side nerve bundle, that he never touched the right side, and that it must not have been damaged as much as he observed.  He said the biggest factor is how much shock and trauma the nerve bundles go through in surgery, whether they stay or are removed.

He said he was thankful I had that kind of results, and I assured him I was too.  We both agreed that there was no need for pumps or drugs at this point, not unless I lose the ability in the future or have some kind of relapse.  He said even a couple of good workout a week the natural way will keep plenty of blood flowing in the right places.

I hope this post can be an encouragement to each man here, whether you are pre-treatment or post-treatment.  With PC, nothing is written in stone, you can have different results, no positive way of knowing ahead of time.  My doctor and I's agreement going into surgery was the standard order:  Get the cancer out with whatever wide margins were needed, try to consider incontinence second, and ED was a distant 3rd.  You may remember from some of my pre-surgery posts, that my wife and I were emotionally prepared to deal with me having perm ED.

He also told me not to worry about what becomes of the sperm that is no long ejaculated, he gave me a complicated lesson in biology that made sense but I cant remember now.  And then I do ask goofy questions, I asked if penis size had anything to do with ED results, i.e. a tiny weiner might not require as much blood flow as a long dong, he laughed on that and said that made no difference.

Sorry to be so long, wanted to share while this was fresh in my mind.

David in SC

Hi David,

Well at least that is part of the puzzle, you had indicated that your surgery was non nerve sparing, and it is well documented that both bundles are not required. I remain puzzled concerning your Drs. statement that some men with both bundles removed have normal erections, I am not a Dr. and I have not read everything printed on this matter but I have read that it is not possible to have normal erections in the absence of both bundles.

Continued health and well wishes to you. Scott

James, I would only be interestd in being poster boy for giving HOPE to any man here and their families. With PCa, you never know what you are going to get, and I don't want anyone to give up hope that their lives can still go on despite cancer, its treatments, and its side affects. Who knows what I may have to still deal with in the future. Today, I am happy to be in the Zero Club, makes most of what I went through in my own unique journey worth it to be on this side of the PSA numbers.

I enjoyed your post David and this answered some questions I had. Following your story gives me hope since I'm now 4 weeks post-op and still have a braindead little guy. But maybe he is waking up some in the night time with the noticeable lengthening. Thanks

Dave, God bless you!!!

Sam

Thanks again, Diane, I almost feel guilt reporting good news in that dept. Now if I were as lucky at winning the Powerball, Id be all set. lol. Just kidding

Thanks Mika, happy for your 1 1/2 years of zeros, keep em coming

DJ,

For all my writing in my life, I never write non-fiction, tried a few times over the years, but feel it limits my imagination. Plus not sure how interesting my, or any of our stories would be to anyone not dealing with PC or knew someone dealing with PC. Speaking of writing, I finally heard back this weekend from a publisher about my latest novel, a dark horror book, a new genre for me, somehow, they sent it to the wrong editor, the romance editor, and she didn't think it was a good choice, lol, took one full year to get a reply. Such is the life of a writer.

David

Jim, your points are well taken. My mind was resigned to the fact that I may never have natural errections again after my surgery, my wife/I talked often about that. The fact, that in my case, it just started happening on its own after I ended the long catheter saga was a complete surprise to both of us. Trust me, I am as normal as the next guy when it comes to sex, so I knew it was time to experiment and exercise the equip while the going was good. Connecting the dots in the head is taking awhile, and may take a while longer. You do have to adjust to the concept of orgasm without ejaculation. You have to adjust to orgasm without an errection, if that is the case. And while practice makes perfect, you have to be reasonable in your physical therapy. If one obsesses around the clock, you will just make yourself tired and frustrated. If one has a lovely, supportative other half, it even makes the efforts more easlily handled. My dr just said yesterday, the part involving the mind, can be just as tricky as any of the physical part, and in my case, I know its true. If I am in the arms of my wife, the majic happens all on its own, just like before, only big difference, can't be as rough because I am still paranoid of hurting myself (though dr. said no way that would happen). Now if I am experimenting on my own, i.e. a simple HJ, right now, it takes much more concentration to get all the dots lined up right, but it does most times. Even before surgery, I wouldn't always connect right, sometimes I think we need to be more honest to ourselves about what and how it worked before surgery. I think every man here needs the hope, our bodies are all different, rate of healing, the mental portion of the process, our feelings in general, and of course, the actual physical condition involved of all the "players". We all know, we are not dealing with an ailment or malady that is straight forward, one that goes by the rule book, like other diseases. We make a tough choice, go for it, and then have to learn to deal with the cards that we are dealt, and there is no turning back for having best out of two. My heart goes out to each and every man here, no matter what his dx is, no matter what stage of treatment, no matter where he is in his recovery. We truly are all in this together, and if we didnt feel this way, we wouldn't be here all the time.

DJ, I have read the book "Look Me in the Eye". I worked with someone who's son had Asperger's, so I got on a kick and read all I could.

Famous - not me, not in a million years. Don't want fame either, not my thing.

Writing is a funny thing. It's easier for me to write 80,000 - 150,000 word novel in a few short months, then it would be to sit down and write a 2,000 word essay. That's why I sucked at every attempt to do magazine articles. lol. And its funny, though I only write fiction, I almost never read it, I mostly read non-fiction, loads of technical and historic literature.


David in SC

Great news!!

Hope I can share some encouraging news as I go through my procdures.

MB

rob, my next psa is at 6 months, then 9, then 12, then if all goes well, next year it will only be twice. right now, while i am hopeful, that sounds a long way off with a lot of psa anxiety in between.