Checking in and saying hello

Hello fellow travelers...

Some of you might recall I was active on the forum a few months ago, back when I was first diagnosed. I made the somewhat difficult decision to delay my surgery owing to an important work commitment - I'm currently overseas finishing that assignment, and feeling very certain it was the right call.

My surgery is scheduled for July 1st, so I'm less than a month away from my submitting my application for the zero club. I first became aware of the possibility of PCa back in February - and since then, I've made some lifestyle changes that include diet, exercise and stress management - all of which have contributed to a general sense of well-being. I've lost 10+ pounds (almost at my self-imposed surgery target weight!), and feel that it will be possible (if not always easy) to maintain these changes indefinitely. So to answer a question from another post...yes, I feel something positive has come from the diagnosis - for me, it was a clear and unmistakable wake-up call!

As always, I appreciate the information that can be found on these pages - I just read through the pre-surgery checklist again, and have started thinking about the things I need to get organized when I return home in a few weeks. I've been doing my Kegels every day - I have a follow-up Pelvic Floor Rehab appointment a few days before my surgery to make sure I've got them down. I have an appointment with my GP to be cleared for surgery - and also with a general surgeon who will be doing a hernia repair in the same session as the prostatectomy (I have no desire to be on the operating table again anytime soon!). I'm also having my hair cut - so I think all my bases are pretty well covered!

Some of you may recall I had real concerns about sharing my diagnosis with friends, colleagues and family, particularly my parents. I'm happy to report that those conversations all went much better than I expected - although I'm glad they are behind me. I've kept the info fairly private - other than my family and a few close friends, no one knows - including the people I'm currently working with. I have yet to tell my kids - I'm planning to talk to them a few days before the surgery - I felt it was best that they not have months to worry about things, particularly right at the end of the school year. There will be lots of support for them in place at the time of the surgery and in the following weeks - so they will be well taken care of.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and wish my fellow forum members all the best. Hope everyone is feeling well and looking forward to the summer. And for any newbies who might be reading this...sorry you've got a reason to be here...but you've come to the right place.

Warmly,

DougInLa

DougInLA -

Best of luck with your upcoming surgery. From your post it sounds like you are well organized and getting everything in line ahead of time.

Please do be aware that there are many of us here who have been where you are now, have gone through similar treatment, and are here and ready and happy to answer any questions you may have about your imminent experience. Just ask us.

I am weighing in here because you mentioned that you will be having hernia repair at the same time you are having the prostate surgery. That was my experience, and there have been a few others here who also did that.

I just wanted to say that, while it does add a bit of complication to the process, it is frankly not too much of a deal, and you shouldn't spend too much time worrying about it. You didn't say what kind of hernia, but if it's something like inguinal (mine was) what will happen post-op is that you will have somewhat more pain than from prostate surgery alone (pain meds will help here, but the pain really isn't all that bad), and you will need to be extra careful lifting anything over ten pounds for a while (hospital staff will tell you all about this), but really it's good to get the hernia taken care of while you can, and after just a few days of recovery you'll be doing fine.

Other with similar experience may want to elaborate on this.

Best of luck to you!

Doug-

Could you drop me a quick email (click the envelope icon on the left)? I'd like to contact you off-forum, before your surgery, but you don't make your address public in your profile.

-Gedman

Hello and you'll do just fine. Sounds like you're all set.

and just so you know it can take up to two minutes to get your zero club application approved around here so plan for the extra time. ;)

All the best,
Andrew

Good luck on your surgery.

Doug, I too had a hernia repaired just after the robotic prostatectomy. The second surgeon used the same incision point with his laporoscopic device as the urologist used for the DaVinci. Much less pain involved in having the two done while under a single session of anesthesia.

The only additional advice I can give is to do situps as regularly as you can, all while doing kegels. I learned that if you can limit leakage while doing situps, you are improving dramatically.

Good luck brother, you'll do just fine!

Dave