Surgery options?

welcome to hw,jason

either surgeon you mentioned would be excellent choices. sure some of their patient's on here will testify to that.

the robotic vs. open argument isn't as important as the excellence of the surgeon.

i had open surgery myself, very little incontinence (less than a month), and despite having left side nerve bundle removed, have never experienced any ED at any point (one of the lucky few there I admit)

with a gleason 6 dx, have you considered any of the radiation options including "seeds"? you might be a good candidate, worth checking out.

with any surgery, even with a great surgeon, the results pertaining to incontinence and/or ED are all over the board. if you study the results just here at HW, they vary that much, so there is a certain amount of risk with side effects involving surgery.

good luck as you study your options, and feel free to ask all the questions you want. its a good group here.

david in sc

If your a Canadian, to consider having surgery in the US . . . if you don't have US health insurance, or are not wealthy, you will find the cost to be truly astounding. Fortunately, there is great medical talent in Canada.

Thanks for all your advice. I came to the conclusion that there are excellent surgeons in Canada, it just takes a little longer to get in. I have decided to go with Dr. Menon at the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford in Detroit. They are highly specialized in prostate surgery. When I visited I met a young surgeon from the U.K. who told me U.K. surgeons regularly apply for fellowship placements with Dr. Menon to learn the procedure. Will go under the knife on Dec 13.

Good luck Jason9-2011.  You will do fine.  I am 8 days out of my robotic and recovering.