Welcome Fred508nyc

Fred508nyc posted on another thread -

Hi Everyone. My name is fred and I have surgery tomorrow at Sloan Kettering. It is nice to discover that there are a lot of people with my problem. It helps not to be so alone.
One of the things that is interesting to me is that I really miss my mother. She died in 2006. I guess that part of me that is still a child wants her hugs and for her to say "It's going to be alright." Also, I feel really betrayed by my body. Never thought that I would develop Pca. My Dad is 96 and never been DX. But he has dementia and is incontinent. One of my biggest concerns is leaking after surgery. That's funny. "one of my concerns". Heck, I am scared to death about everything! Sexual function, riding my bike, possible radiation, possible hormone treatment, the catheter-----All OF IT!

I ride a road bike 100-125 miles per week. Haven't been able to run since my TKR in 2009. What is the general consensus regarding riding after surgery?

I will update when I come home on Saturday. God Bless you guys and wives.

Fred

IronReb,
The good news is that you are in one of the top medical institutions in the world.
Good luck with the surgery and keep us posted on how you are doing.

Zimac

Be patient with the recovery time and ease your way back into it, you don't want to risk a hernia. I started back at hockey 3+ months after surgery.

Years ago I used to do a lot of mountain biking when I lived in NH, but it's flat where I live now and had never got into road cycling. This summer I was loosing the battle of the bulge so I started biking and really enjoyed it. I'm just using my old mountain bike so I don't have a lot of speed, I was doing a 22K loop on M/W/F with hockey on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now that the cold weather is here I've switched to swimming.

I would caution you, Fred, to please ease yourself very gradually back into exercising. In fact, 2-3 miles walking two days after surgery sounds like too much already. I'll never know if it was my lack of caution that got me back into the hospital with a bladder/urethra tear, but you don't want to go through what I did, including another 5 WEEKS with a catheter and a lot of misery and suffering until the tear healed up. You have just had major surgery, with a good deal of your insides stitched back together. Please give them all a couple of months to heal up. Walking is great, but don't overdo that, especially not in the next few days, and stay away from anything strenuous for a while. Feeling like you're ready to get back into things and BEING ready might be two entirely different things. Good luck to you, and I'm looking forward to the best possible pathology report and PSA tests.
Henry

Hi Fred,

I had surgery upstate, but moved my case entirely to Sloan when surgery failed.  Sloan is great!  Do you know about MYMSKCC at Sloan?  This on-line portal allows patients to view real time their lab results and histories, billings, and appointments.  For example, when I have a PSA test at Sloan, I can see my score posted on-line in a couple of hours.  Well worth signing up for MYMSKCC.  Sloan has been terrific for me.  Best wishes!

Newspaper Lover

Age 68

DaVinci surgery 11/09. Clean margins, clean seminal vessels.

Rising PSA noted 06/11

Gleason 8

Time to recurrrence 18 months

Three month doubling time (summer 2011).

PSA rose from .07 on 06/11 to .17 on 11/11.

MRIs and bone scans negative so far.

Started hormone therapy (Lupron/Casodex) 12/11

Began radiation (SRT) 02/20/12.

Finished SRT 04/16/12

Last Lupron shot 03/12

PSA and testostorone "undetectable"  07/12

Next PSA and testostorone test early January

 

Beyond worried,

I will be at Sloan on Wednesday. If you give me your info I can try to speed things up. They treat us like royalty there so I can try if that would help you.

Zimac

I had my first post-surgery PSA test ~3 months after. At the time, it drove me crazy waiting. But I avoided being where you are ... wondering if the number is as low as it's going to go. Not a problem if you get a zero, but if you don't ... then what?

I've seen posts on here that say it takes a while for the pre-surgery PSA to flush from your blood system, but I don't know how long that takes. Maybe someone with more knowledge can weigh in with some facts.

Unfortunately I think the best you can do is wait and see. And hope that the next one is undetectable. Best of luck.

Zimac, could not be happier with my surgeon. His name is Vincent Laudone. If your friend goes to the
Sloan website, there are several videos featuring Dr. Laudone. He has experience with open and Robotic surgery. Very, very skilled. And get this----night before my surgery, he calls me at home!! I was shocked. we talked for about 10 minutes, about my life, my restaurant (we own a place in NYC), my experience on Wall Street, and any concerns or fears about the surgery. Then he tells me that he is going to get a good nights sleep so he will be ready for me tomorrow. Tells me not to come in at 5 as the hospital had directed earlier in the day. "6am is fine. I see you tomorrow and we can begin to put this behind you!" I am 62 and no Doc has ever called me at home.

Happy to speak with your friend directly as well. My email is

( Fred's email is in his profile - I removed it here lest the spammers get it - 142)

Post Edited By Moderator (142) : 12/9/2012 12:10:02 PM (GMT-7)

Moderator,

Thanks for the info. I am working on diet. As a red meat lover, it will be a challenge, but I'm up for it. I am an avid cyclist and am dying to get back on the road. I am going to wait for a few more weeks. I start back at the gym next week. Thanks for the info.

Fred Hill

Hello I read your glowing comments on Dr Laudone I have a consult with Dr Eastham at MSK who is highly respected wondering if you consulted with him or just decided on Dr Laudone, after your review I may just speak to Dr Laudone for a second opinion.......thanks

Gman874-
Have a friend who used Eastham a few months back. He had a few complications but end result is a Zero PSA.

Good luck!

Thank you Zimac.................just wondering if DR Eastham preformed Robotic surgery on your friend I am wondering how many Robotic procedures he has done. I know he has done many open, and I get the impression he is equally proficient in both any info is greatly appreciated my consult is in aprox 4 weeks

Gman,

The surgery my friend had was done robotically. When my husband was a patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering back in 2008, the patient next to him in his room had Dr. Eastham perform his robotic surgery. He was discharged the next day and going home to Europe the same week. We were quite impressed.

If you would like to speak with my friend, I am sure I can connect you via phone or email. If you're interested, let me know.

Glad you're doing all your homework.