standing bye waiting

I would not even consider having someone do robotic surgery on me who has not worked since Feb! How many prostate surgeries in that 300? I would find a prostate cancer specialist.

bogerman,

I agree with the other posters. I would try and see another Uro who specialises in PCa. The guy who operated on me does a few each week and has done 1300+ robotics.

Good uro is good for uro

Good surgeon is good for surgeon.

Hard to believe a doctor who seems to do this surgery so infrequently could be classed as good at it.

But .....

If your wife is a nurse in that hospital, and if it's a larger hospital with a busy OR slate, have her ask an OR nurse, "would you want this doctor doing a RP on your husband?" PLUS have her ask nurses on the uro ward.

While I am not one who thinks a huge number of surgeries is critical to surgeon choice, I do think someone who has done several hundred, and is doing several a week, is the minimum threshold. You say your doctor hasn't done one since February! I'd not want to be his next.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless

Hi Bogerman,- Unless he has published some Studies, there is no really independent way to gather the information you are seeking. We all need to ask the surgeon and hope he keeps such personal statistics and is honest with them.

How many robotically aided surgeries, he has done tells you how familiar he is in manipulating the joy sticks at the computer but does not reveal how accomplished he is in performing Radical Prostatectomy. He is not doing a lot of them, if he hasn't done one since February. Doing 1 or 2 a week would be much more comforting to me. I understand that there is a lot of skill difference necessary in doing a nerve-sparing Prostatectomy, as compared to a more isolated gland removal.

Unless the nurses are in the operating room, assisting, their opinions are more likely based upon his personality and their own interaction with him on their floor, rather than any direct observation of his surgical skills. Their opinions can be helpful, but MAY be based more on 3rd party 'grapevine info than on first hand evaluation. Like the rest of us, including Doctors, we are human beings first and subject to the same human frailities as others.

In the end, choosing a Physician is often a "gut" feeling that provides the confidence to make the choice at the local level. Other physicians are the ones who have the most reliable information on who is technically good or not, but unless they are a personal friend of your, you are probably not going to get other than general comments, if any.

In my opinion, your chosen surgeon should be Board Certified in Urology and active in the medical community. Good luck! - [email protected] (aka) az4peaks

Many studies have shown that the best long term results and the lowest side effects come from the surgeons that are specialists. John T showed some studies that this differential starts at 750 surgeries. Equally important is that the surgeon is performing these surgeries often and recently. Seven months is a long time between surgeries to be considered a specialist. There are unfortunately a lot PCa surgeries being performed as there are unfortunately a lot of us being dxd. Call around and you will find surgeons in your area that are doing a lot of these. PCa is a real growth industry for surgeons, radiologists and oncologists. Call some oncologists and ask about surgeons.

Also google for PCa support groups like USTOO to see if there are chapters in your area. I just looked at USTOO and there are 13 chapters in Arizona with three in Phoenix. In Phoenix one meets every Tuesday, one meets the first Monday of the month and another the second Monday of the month. Every chapter lists a person with a phone number that you can call now and get first hand information. Website is www.ustoo.org.

Another question.....have you investigated brachytherapy? Both permanent seeds and HDR are as effective as surgery with less severe side effects. I would suggest that you fully investigate it before making a decision. Two great websites to learn more are www.cetmc.com for HDR and www.prostrcision.com for permanent seeds.

Cmetalman once again . congrats- brother of hw -.IM so glad for you.It sounds like you understand what i mean about being a little cocky. But since my post ive been doing some resarch and found nothing but good around the board of my uro's ...so like you .only time will tell.wishing you a good path.and a speedy recovery

just got the scoop on my uro. He does about 2 prostate robotic surgerys a mouth plus he assist other surgeon with there sergery plus he use the robot for different type surgery. That sounds like enough experence to me.I called the office and talked to his surgery sch nurse and she read his sch off for the last few mouths.This guy is pretty busy and i feel lucky to have him now.But time will tell.

I'll both agree and disagree with John. If a surgeon has done a reasonable number of prostate surgeries with the DaVinci robot or open, we have to consider that. I know that my surgeon does 2 or 3 RPs a week out of 10 potential time slots, but not 10, because he only does surgery 2 days a week, and he does a lot of various procedures, and keeps office hours 5 days a week.

Here is the disagreement - If a surgeon has a good reputation with the nurses and volunteers at a hospital, I believe it has to do more with the lack of negative comment than presence of good comment ( I have family who have worked in recovery rooms - one scrap of bad news obliterates a lifetime of good or neutral news).

What am I saying -

I would not be "amazed" with a uro/surgeon who had not done one recently (say last month or two), but you also have to consider his practice. Is he overwhelmed with women? If so, ain't many prostates to take out. If that is the case, politely check around. It doesn't mean he isn't good (maybe he does the best work in town, but not many of them). Most here on HW tend to like bigger numbers. I'm not always happy with the slant that thousands of surgeries mean a surgeon is good. Often that is correct, no doubt. But at some point does it become too much an assembly line?

If your situation (financial / insurance) allows you to travel to a well known cancer center or a well known surgeon, by all means do so. But in the end, you must be comfortable with your decision, as it is just a bit on the permanent side.